Background: Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is highly lethal worldwide. Factors involved in the inflammation and hormone-associated signaling pathway play vital roles in EOC carcinogenesis. The transforming growth factor-β- (TGF-β-) activated kinase 1 (MAP3K7) binding protein 2 (TAB2), mediating convergence of inflammatory and estrogen, may be implicated in EOC. The present study is aimed at exploring the association between the TAB2 gene polymorphisms and EOC.
Methods: Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs237028, rs521845, and rs652921) of TAB2 were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) in 221 patients and 252 healthy controls. Associations between SNPs and clinical characteristics were performed either with the χ 2 test or with Fisher's exact test. The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazard models were used to detect associations between genotypes and overall survival.
Results: The rs237028 polymorphism was significantly associated with an increased risk of EOC with an allelic genetic model (A vs. G; OR = 1.45; 95%CI = 1.07-1.96; P = 0.016), dominant genetic model (AA vs. AG-GG; OR = 1.66; CI 1.14-2.41; P = 0.008), and overdominant genetic model (AA-GG vs. AG; OR = 1.60; CI 1.08-2.36; P = 0.017). However, no significant association was observed between rs237028 polymorphism and overall survival.
Conclusions: Our study indicated that the rs237028 polymorphism in the TAB2 gene was associated with EOC susceptibility and the TAB2 gene might contribute to the initiation of EOC.