Association of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene polymorphisms with endometriosis

AIMS: To investigate the association between polymorphism in the gene encoding the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and susceptibility to endometriosis among women in southwest China. METHODS: A case-control study involving 201 endometriosis patients and 237 control women without endometriosis was carried out at West China Second Hospital of Sichuan University from June 2016 to December 2017. Two tag single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of EGFR gene, rs11977660 and rs2072454 were selected, and the distribution of genotypes and alleles was compared between the 2 groups using the chi-squared test with 2-sided contingency tables. RESULTS: Genotype at rs11977660 was significantly associated with endometriosis (P < .05 for genotype and allele). T/T+C/T genotypes were associated with significantly higher risk of developing endometriosis than the C/C genotype (OR 2.129, 95%CI 1.411–3.212). No significant association was found between genotype at rs2072454 and endometriosis. CONCLUSION: Genotypes with a T nucleotide at rs11977660 may significantly increase risk of endometriosis in Chinese.