Association of THBS1 rs1478605 T>C in 5'-untranslated regions with the development and progression of gastric cancer

Thrombospondin 1 (THBS1) plays an important role in angiogenesis and tumor progression. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (rs1478605 and rs3743125) in the untranslated regions of the THBS1 gene on the development and progression of gastric cancer. In the case-control study, 275 gastric cancer patients and 275 cancer-free controls were successfully genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. The data demonstrated that THBS1 rs1478605 genotypic distributions significantly differed between the patient and control groups (P=0.005). Carriers of the CC genotype exhibited a decreased risk of developing gastric cancer compared to the carriers of the CT and TT genotypes [adjusted odd ratio (OR), 0.56; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.39-0.79; P=0.001]. The CC genotype of rs1478605 was negatively associated with gastric cancer lymph node metastasis (OR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.23-0.71; P=0.001) and was associated with a reduced risk of lymph node metastasis in male patients (OR, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.14-0.52; P<0.001). The THBS1 CT haplotype was associated with a reduced risk of developing gastric cancer (OR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.33-0.93; P=0.02). By contrast, no association was observed between THBS1 rs3743125 and the development and progression of gastric cancer. These results suggest that THBS1 rs1478605 represents a potential molecular marker for gastric cancer.