The aim of this study was to estimate whether the Ile184Arg polymorphism of the Interferon, alpha 17 (IFNA17) gene might be correlated with the risk and prognosis of cervical squamous cell carcinoma (SCCA). Genomic DNA from 173 patients with invasive cervical SCCA and from 198 non-cancer controls (NCC) was examined for the Ile184Arg polymorphism with a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism-based assay. All P values are from two-sided tests. The distribution of IFNA17 Ile184Arg genotype among SCCA cases (Ile/Ile, 21%; Arg/Ile, 57%; and Arg/Arg, 22%) was different significantly from that among NCC (Ile/Ile, 32%; Arg/Ile, 56%; and Arg/Arg, 12%) (P=0.0345). A significant increase in 184Ile homozygote frequency was found in the SCCA patients compared with the NCC group (odds ratio 2.96; 95% confidence interval 1.53-5.73; P=0.001). However, differences in clinicopathologic prognostic factors and in the 5 year survival rate were not significant among the subjects of each genotype group (P>0.05). The results of this study suggest that the 184Ile homozygote of the IFNA17 gene may represent an important susceptibility biomarker for cervical cancer risk.