Background: Elevated serum levels of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1beta) have been previously observed in patients with oral cancer. Considering the demonstrated effect of other interleukins to the development of oral cancer, this study investigated whether the +3953 C/Tpolymorphism in the IL-1beta gene is associated with this malignancy.
Patients and methods: The +3953 C/T polymorphism was examined in DNA samples of 108 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma and 156 healthy controls.
Results: The detected allele and carrier frequencies of the high expression T allele in the control group were 28.8% and 48.1%, respectively. In the patient group there was a slight decrease both in allele and carrier frequencies (24.1% and 38.9%, respectively), but these findings were not statistically significant. The same pattern was observed in subgroups of patients regarding cancer stage, family history of cancer or thrombosis, as well as smoking or heavy drinking habits.
Conclusion: The +3953 C/T polymorphism, was not found to be associated with risk for oral cancer. It seems that IL-1beta does not play a primary role in oral oncogenesis, since other interleukins, already associated with this malignancy, appear to exert a more prominent effect.