Genetic Variation in DEAD-Box Helicase 20 as a Putative Marker of Recurrence in Propensity-Matched Colon Cancer Patients

Variants of the DEAD-Box Helicase 20 (DDX20), one of the microRNAs (miRNAs) machinery genes, can modulate miRNA/target gene expressions and, hence, influence cancer susceptibility and prognosis. Here, we aimed to unravel the association of DDX20 rs197412 T/C variant with colon cancer risk and/or prognosis in paired samples of 122 colon cancer and non-cancer tissue specimens by TaqMan allelic discrimination analysis. Structural/functional bioinformatic analyses were carried out, followed by a meta-analysis. We found that the T allele was more frequent in cancer tissues compared to control tissues (60.2% vs. 35.7%, p < 0.001). Furthermore, the T variant was highly frequent in primary tumors with evidence of recurrence (73% vs. 47.5%, p < 0.001). Genetic association models, adjusted by age and sex, revealed that the T allele was associated with a higher risk of developing colon cancer under heterozygote (T/C vs. C/C: OR = 2.35, 95%CI = 1.25–4.44, p < 0.001), homozygote (T/T vs. C/C: OR = 7.6, 95%CI = 3.5–16.8, p < 0.001), dominant (T/C-T/T vs. C/C: OR = 3.4, 95%CI = 1.87–8.5, p < 0.001), and recessive (T/T vs. C/C-T/C: OR = 4.42, 95%CI = 2.29–8.54, p = 0.001) models. Kaplan–Meier survival curves showed the shift in the C > T allele to be associated with poor disease-free survival. After adjusting covariates using a multivariate cox regression model, patients harboring C > T somatic mutation were 3.5 times more likely to develop a recurrence (p < 0.001). A meta-analysis of nine studies (including ours) showed a higher risk of CRC (81%) in subjects harboring the T/T genotype than in T/C + C/C genotypes, supporting the potential clinical utility of the specified study variant as a biomarker for risk stratification in CRC cases. However, results were not significant in non-colorectal cancers. In conclusion, the DDX20 rs197412 variant is associated with increased colon cancer risk and a higher likelihood of recurrence in the study population.