Role of genetic variants of deleted in colorectal carcinoma (DCC) polymorphisms and esophageal and gastric cancers risk in Kashmir Valley and meta-analysis

Genetic alterations in the deleted in colorectal carcinoma (DCC) gene have been a priori reported to associate with metastasis in variety of human cancers. We investigated the association between potentially functional SNPs in DCC and susceptibility to esophageal (EC) and gastric (GC) cancers in Kashmir Valley. We genotyped two SNPs DCC rs714 (A>G) and DCC rs2229080 (C>G) of DCC in 135 EC patients, 108 GC patients, and 195 controls matched by age and sex in Kashmir Valley by polymerase chain reaction–RFLP method. Risk for developing EC and GC was estimated by binary logistic regression by using SPSS. We also performed a meta-analysis on DCC rs714 (A>G) and evaluated the association between the DCC rs714 (A>G) polymorphisms and cancer risk. A significant difference in DCC rs714 (A>G) genotype distribution between EC and GC cases and corresponding control groups was observed (odds ratio (OR) = 1.92; P = 0.03; P-trend = 0.04; false discovery rate (FDR) Pcorr = 0.03: OR = 2.15; P = 0.02; P-trend = 0.01; FDR Pcorr = 0.03). But no such association was observed in DCC rs2229080 (C>G). Further, DCC rs714 (A>G) AA genotype showed significantly increased risk for both gastric squamous cell carcinoma (OR = 5.63; P = 0.02; FDR Pcorr = 0.01) and gastric adenocarcinoma (OR = 2.15; P = 0.02; FDR Pcorr = 0.01). Smoking and salted tea are independently associated with both EC and GC, but gene–environment interaction did not further modulate the risk. Meta-analysis also suggested both independent and overall association of DCC rs714 (A>G) polymorphism with cancer (P = 0.000). In conclusion, genetic variations in DCC rs714 (A>G) modulate risk of EC and GC in high-risk Kashmir population.