The effect of lysyl oxidase polymorphism on susceptibility and prognosis of nonsmall cell lung cancer

Lysyl oxidase (LOX) is a copper-dependent amine oxidase that plays important roles in development and homeostasis of the lungs. The aim of this study was to investigate whether polymorphisms in the LOX gene were associated with susceptibility to nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We sequenced the promoter region of LOX gene and tested the previously reported polymorphism 473 G/A in the Han Chinese population. A novel polymorphism, -22 G/C, was identified in the promoter region of LOX. However, it did not show any correlation with NSCLC. Frequencies of the 473AA genotype and 473A allele were significantly higher in the NSCLC cases than in control group (p = 0.004 and p = 0.006, respectively). Further, our results showed that survival time of NSCLC patients with 473AA genotype was significantly shorter compared to the cases carrying 473 G allele (20.0 months vs. 28.0 months, p = 0.011). These data indicate that LOX 473 G/A polymorphism is associated with increased risk of NSCLC and can be a prognostic predictor for this disease.