Association between interleukin gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to gastric cancer in the Qinghai population

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the associations between interleukin (IL) gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to gastric cancer in the Qinghai population, China. METHODS: Patients with gastric cancer and cancer-free controls were enrolled into the study from Qinghai Provincial People’s Hospital between September 2016 and September 2018. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped with the Sequenom MassARRAY® SNP genotype system. The Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium in allele and genotype frequencies, and general characteristics between patients with gastric cancer and cancer-free controls, were evaluated using χ(2)-test. Potential associations between interleukin gene variants and the risk of gastric cancer were analysed by logistic regression. RESULTS: Among eight candidate SNPs, the allele and genotype frequency distribution of IL-1B rs1143634 polymorphism was significantly different between patients with gastric cancer (n = 190) and cancer-free controls (n = 186). The IL-1B rs1143634 GA genotype and IL-1B rs1143634 GA + AA genotype were associated with a reduced risk of gastric cancer, however, the remaining SNPs were not statistically associated with gastric cancer risk in the Qinghai population. CONCLUSION: The IL-1B rs1143634 polymorphism might be associated with a decreased risk of gastric cancer, and may be a protective factor against gastric cancer.