Genetic variants in the ITGB6 gene is associated with the risk of radiation pneumonitis in lung cancer patients treated with thoracic radiation therapy

The alpha v beta 6 integrin is a cell surface adhesion molecule that plays critical roles in the injury and inflammation processes. We hypothesized that polymorphisms in alpha v beta 6 integrin genes (ITGAV and ITGB6) might be associated with the risk of radiation pneumonitis (RP) in lung cancer patients treated with thoracic radiation. We genotyped three potentially functional alpha v beta 6 integrin single-nucleotide polymorphisms (rs1839123 and rs4129787 in ITGAV, and rs4665162 in ITGB6) and found that the genotypes of rs4665162 single-nucleotide polymorphisms were predictors of RP development (for grade a parts per thousand yen2 RP, HR = 1.505, 95 % CI 1.069-2.119, P = 0.019; for grade a parts per thousand yen3 RP, HR = 3.006, 95 % CI 1.431-6.313, P = 0.004). Our results showed that AG/GG genotypes of ITGB6 rs4665162 gene were associated with a higher risk of RP in patients with lung cancer receiving radiotherapy and thus may serve as a reliable predictor of RP. Further studies will be needed to confirm these findings.