The effect of susceptibility variants, identified in never-smoking female lung cancer cases, on male smokers

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Genome wide and candidate gene association studies have identified polymorphisms associated with the risk of lung cancer in never-smokers. This study was conducted to evaluate the association between 11 polymorphisms identified in female never smokers and the lung cancer risk in male smokers. METHODS: This study included 714 lung cancer patients and 626 healthy controls. The polymorphisms were genotyped using SEQUENOM MassARRAY iPLEX assay or Taq-Man assay. RESULTS: Two polymorphisms were associated with the risk of lung cancer in male smokers, as in female never smokers. Male smokers carrying the rs4975616 variant allele had a significantly decreased risk of lung cancer (in a codominant model: odds ratio, 0.77; 95% confidence interval, 0.61 to 0.96; p = 0.02). The rs9387478 polymorphism also reduced lung cancer risk in male smokers (in a codominant model: odds ratio, 0.85; 95% confidence interval, 0.73 to 0.997; p = 0.046). In a stratified analysis, the association between these polymorphisms and the risk of lung cancer was predominant in lighter smokers and for cases of adenocarcinoma. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that a subset of polymorphisms known to be associated with the risk of lung cancer in female never smokers is also associated with the risk of lung cancer in male smokers.