Polymorphisms in the H19 gene and the risk of lung Cancer among female never smokers in Shenyang, China

BACKGROUND: Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) H19 is a hot spot in tumor development, progression and metastasis. This study assessed the association between H19 genetic polymorphisms and the susceptibility of lung cancer. METHODS: The case-control study was conducted to evaluate the association between four selected single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs217727, rs2107425, rs2735469 and rs17658052) in H19 gene and the risk of lung cancer. There were 556 female never smoking lung cancer patients and 395 cancer-free controls. Unconditional logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the associations between four SNPs and lung cancer risks by calculating the odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals. The gene-environment interactions were assessed on both additive and multiplicative scales. RESULTS: Compared with carriers carrying homozygous CC genotype, there was a statistically significant increased risk of lung cancer for carriers of the rs2107425 TT genotype (odds ratio = 1.599, 95%CI = 1.106–2.313, P = 0.013). In both dominant and recessive models, significant associations were found between rs2107425 and lung cancer risk, and the corresponding odds ratios were 1.346 (1.022–1.774) and 1.400 (1.011–1.937), with P values 0.035 and 0.043, respectively. There was no significant correlation between lung cancer risk and rs2735469, rs217727 and rs17658052. Interaction analysis showed that their combined effects had a greater impact on lung cancer than individual effects of polymorphism and cooking smoke exposure. However, further analysis showed that the both additive model and the multiplicative model were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The polymorphism rs2107425 in H19 gene was associated with the risk of lung cancer among female who never smokes in Shenyang, China. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-018-4795-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.