Functional polymorphisms of ATP citrate lyase gene predicts clinical outcome of patients with advanced colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have demonstrated that ATP citrate lyase (ACLY) plays an important role in the development of many cancers. Our current study aims to assess the effects of functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in ACLY gene on recurrence and survival of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. METHODS: A total of 697 resected Chinese CRC patients were included in this study. Two functional single nucleotide polymorphisms in ACLY gene were examined using the Sequenom iPLEX genotyping system. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards model and Kaplan-Meier curve were used for the prognosis analysis. RESULTS: Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that there was no significant association between SNPs in ACLY gene and the prognosis of total patient cohort. However, in patients with stage III + IV diseases, the two functional SNPs (rs2304497 and rs9912300) exhibited a significant association with the risks of death (HR = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.24–0.90 and HR = 0.59, 95% CI = 0.37–0.92, respectively) and recurrence (HR = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.24–0.86 and HR = 0.54, CI = 0.35–0.83, respectively). Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that those CRC patients carrying heterozygous (WV) or homozygous variant (VV) genotypes in rs2304497 and rs9912300 had significantly better overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS). Moreover, we observed remarkable cumulative effects of these two SNPs on overall survival and recurrence-free survival (P for trend = 0.012 and 0.003, respectively). Compared with patients carrying zero unfavorable genotype, those carrying two unfavorable genotypes had a 2.24-fold and 2.33-fold increase of death and recurrence risks, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The SNPs in ACLY gene may serve as independent prognostic markers for patients with advanced stage CRC. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12957-015-0440-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.