We undertook a hospital-based case-control study to examine the associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in selected immunoregulatory genes and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) risk in a Chinese population. One hundred and sixty-nine NHL patients diagnosed according to the World Health Organization (WHO) 2001 standard and 421 controls were recruited. Nine SNPs in three genes (IL-10, IL-1RN, and TNF-α) were selected based on predicted functions and previous study findings. Genetic association analysis was performed using the Cochran-Armitage trend test and multiple logistic regression. Four SNPs were associated with an increased risk of overall NHL: odds ratio per minor allele [ORper-minor-allele] and 95% confidence interval [CI] were 2.64 (1.75-3.98) for IL-10 rs1800893, 2.67 (1.72-4.16) for IL-1RN rs4251961, 1.80 (1.24-2.63) for TNF- α rs1800630, and 1.55 (1.02-2.37) for TNF- α rs2229094. These SNPs were also associated with an increased risk of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). In addition, another SNP (TNF- α rs1041981) was associated with an increased risk of DLBCL (ORper-minor-allele=1.73, 95% CI 1.14-2.61). The findings provide evidence on the role of these immunoregulatory gene variants in NHL etiology.
Keywords: genetic susceptibility; non-Hodgkin lymphoma; single nucleotide polymorphism.