Erythropoietin (EPO) is a circulating glycosylated protein hormone and has been implicated in the development and progression of non-hematopoietic tissue tumors. The objective of the present study was to determine if the EPO rs576236 polymorphism was associated with the risk of adrenal tumors. We genotyped the EPO rs576236 polymorphism in a case-control study of 288 adrenal tumor patients and 456 cancer-free controls by using the TaqMan method, and assessed the association between the polymorphism and the adrenal tumor risk by logistic regression. Furthermore, 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to assess the genetic association between the polymorphism and the risk of adrenal tumor. Compared with the TT genotype, the TC genotype had a significantly increased risk of adrenal tumor [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.12-2.22]. Furthermore a significantly increased risk of adrenal tumor was found in the combined variant genotypes TC+CC compared with the TT genotype (adjusted OR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.12-2.21). Our present study suggests that the rs576236 polymorphism of EPO confers susceptibility to adrenal tumor in the Chinese population.
Keywords: adrenal tumor; erythropoietin; genetic susceptibility; polymorphism.