Polymorphisms of the stem cell marker gene <i>CD133</i> are associated the clinical outcome in a cohort of Chinese non-small cell lung cancer patients.

Abstract

To evaluate the prognostic relevance of four functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in <i>CD133</i> (<i>rs2240688</i>A>C, <i>rs10022537</i>T>A, <i>rs7686732</i>C>G, and <i>rs3130</i>C>T) on overall survival (OS) of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Retrospective cohort study. Department of General Surgery, in a general hospital, Henan Province, China. NSCLC patients aged ≥18 years, who were not receiving preoperative neoadjuvant therapies and had a blood sample available for genotyping, were eligible for inclusion. Those participants who were pregnant or breastfeeding, had a previous history of cancer, had other primary tumours, or who had had primary tumours of the skin and nasopharynx, were excluded from the study. The primary endpoint was OS, which was calculated from the date of enrolment until the date of death or date of last follow-up. There was a total of 1383 participants, with a median age of 63 years; 726 (52.5%) were male. Compared with the<i>rs2240688</i> AA genotype, the variant AC/CC genotypes were independently associated with OS (HR 1.27, 95% CI 1.12 to 1.45 for AC genotype; HR 2.32, 95% CI 1.91 to 2.80 for CC genotype). Higher hazard ratios for associations between <i>CD133 rs2240688</i> polymorphism and OS were observed in patients with adjuvant chemotherapy (HR 1.86, 95% CI 1.52 to 2.26) and radiotherapy for curative intent (HR 1.90, 95% CI 1.55 to 2.33). The study confirmed the significant association between the SNP <i>rs2240688 A>C</i> of CD133 and OS of NSCLC patients. Larger population-based studies in different ethnic groups are necessary to further validate the role and mechanisms of <i>CD133</i> in NSCLC.