Effects of ALOX5, IL6R and SFTPD gene polymorphisms on the risk of lung cancer: A case-control study in China

Background: ALOX5, IL6R and SFTPD are all immune related genes that may be involved in the development of lung cancer. We sought to explore the effect of polymorphisms of these genes on the risk of lung cancer. Methods: Six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped using a MassARRAY platform in a case-control cohort including 550 patients with lung cancer and 550 healthy controls. Results: The rs4845626-T and rs4329505-C alleles were associated with a decreased risk of lung cancer (p < 0.001), while the rs745986-G and rs2245121-A alleles were correlated with an increased risk of lung cancer (p < 0.01). The rs4845626-GT/GG and rs4329505-TC genotypes were protective against lung cancer (p < 0.001). However, the rs745986-AG and rs2245121-AG/AA genotypes were associated with an increased risk of lung cancer (p < 0.01). Stratification analysis showed that the rs4845626 and rs4329505 polymorphisms of IL6R were associated with a reduced risk of lung cancer in both smokers and nonsmokers (p < 0.05). However, rs892690, rs745986 and rs2115819 of ALOX5 were associated with an increased risk of disease in nonsmokers, while rs2245121 of SFTPD was correlated with a higher risk of disease in smokers (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Our results provide candidate SNPs for early screening for lung cancer and new clues for further study of the pathogenesis of the disease.