Association between lncRNA‐H19 polymorphisms and hepatoblastoma risk in an ethic Chinese population

H19 polymorphisms are associated with increased susceptibility to several cancers; however, their role in hepatoblastoma remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the association between three H19 polymorphisms (rs2839698 G>A, rs3024270 C>G, rs217727 G>A) and hepatoblastoma susceptibility in 213 hepatoblastoma patients. The rs2839698 and rs3024270 polymorphisms were associated with significantly increased hepatoblastoma risk, with the GG genotype associated with a higher risk of hepatoblastoma than the CC genotype at the rs3024270 locus. The rs217727 polymorphism was associated with significantly decreased hepatoblastoma risk, with the AG genotype associated with a lower risk of hepatoblastoma than the GG genotype. These findings were confirmed by combined analysis, and stratification analysis revealed that age, gender and clinical stage were associated with increased hepatoblastoma susceptibility. The GGG and AGG haplotypes were significantly associated with increased hepatoblastoma risk compared with the GCA reference (rs2839698, rs3024270, rs217727). The rs2839698 and rs3024270 polymorphisms correlated with decreased MRPL23‐AS1 expression, whereas the rs217727 polymorphism was associated with increased MRPL23‐AS1 expression. Overall, the H19 rs2839698, rs3024270 and rs217727 polymorphisms were associated with hepatoblastoma susceptibility in a Chinese Han population.