MDM4 is a p53-interacting protein and plays an important role in carcinogenesis. In this study of 1,077 gastric cancer (GCa) cases and 1,173 matched cancer-free controls, we investigated associations between three tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs11801299 G>A, rs1380576 C>G and rs10900598 G>T) in MDM4 and gastric cancer risk in an Eastern Chinese Population. In logistic regression analysis, a significantly decreased GCa risk was associated with the rs1380576 GG variant genotype (adjusted odds ratio [OR] =0.74, 95% confidence interval [CI] =0.56-0.98) under a recessive model, which remained significant after correction by the false-positive reporting probability. This risk was more evident in subgroups of older subjects, males, never smokers, never drinkers and cancers of non-cardia. We then performed SNP-mRNA expression correlation analysis and found that the GG variant genotype was associated with significantly decreased expression of MDM4 mRNA in normal cell lines for 44 Chinese (P=0.032 for GG vs. CC) as well as for 269 multi-ethnic subjects (P<0.0001 for GG vs. CC). Our results suggest that the MDM4 rs1380576 G variant may be markers for GCa susceptibility. Larger, independent studies are warranted to validate our findings.
Keywords: MDM4; case-control study; gastric adenocarcinoma; genetic susceptibility; polymorphism.