Association of interleukin-10 promoter polymorphisms and corresponding plasma levels with susceptibility to laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Interleukin (IL)-10 is critically involved in tumorigenesis. In the present study, the association between the IL-10 −1082/−819/−592 promoter polymorphisms, the plasma IL-10 levels and the risk of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) was investigated in a prospective, case-control study. In total, 146 patients with LSCC, 61 with vocal leukoplakia and 119 healthy controls were genotyped for the IL-10 gene (IL-10 −1082 A/G, −819 T/C and −592 A/C) using pyrosequencing, and their plasma IL-10 levels were analyzed by ELISA. The patients with LSCC had a significantly higher frequency of AC at position −592 and −819 (OR, 1.82 and P=0.024) compared with the control, and a higher frequency of AG at position −1082 (OR, 2.20 and P=0.037). The patients with advanced LSCC had a significantly higher frequency of AG+GG at position −1082 compared with those with early-stage LSCC (OR, 3.13 and P=0.008 vs. OR, 2.06 and P=0.068). The patients with lymph node metastasis had a significantly higher frequency of AG+GG at position −1082 compared with the patients with no lymph node metastasis (OR, 2.97 and P=0.048 vs. OR, 2.23 and P=0.035). In addition, the patients with high frequencies of each genotype polymorphism had high plasma IL-10 concentrations. The present study indicates that the IL-10 −1082/−819/−592 promoter polymorphisms and corresponding high plasma IL-10 concentrations are associated with LSCC, and that variations in genotype distribution and plasma IL-10 concentrations may be associated with the stage and the lymph node metastasis status of LSCC.