MicroRNAs (miRNAs) can regulate gene expression at post-transcriptional levels, thereby influence cancer risk. The aim of the current study is to investigate association between miR-199a rs74723057 and MET rs1621 and HCC risk in 1032 HCC patients and 1060 cancer-free controls. These two SNPs were genotyped by using the Agena MassARRAY genotyping system. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) were calculated to assess the strength of the associations. We found that compared with the wild-type AA genotype of MET rs1621, the variant GG genotype was associated with a decreased risk for HCC (OR = 0.24, 95% CI = 0.06-0.96, P = 0.043). No association between miR-199a rs74723057 and HCC risk was observed. In addition, an interaction effect on HCC risk between the selected two SNPs was found. Among those who carried the CG/GG genotypes of miR-199a rs74723057, those who carried the GG genotype of MET rs1621 had a reduced risk of HCC, when compared with those who carried the AG/AA genotypes of MET rs1621 (OR = 0.15, 95% CI = 0.03~0.73, P for interaction = 0.018). Our results suggest that MET rs1621 polymorphism, alone and combined with miR-199a rs74723057, may influence susceptibility to HCC. Further large-scale association studies and functional studies are needed to validate our findings.
Keywords: MET; hepatocellular carcinoma; miR-199a; risk; single nucleotide polymorphism.