Interaction Between Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Gene Polymorphism and Smoking on Gastric Cancer Risk in Chinese Han Population

Aim: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the associations of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and its interaction with current smoking with gastric cancer (GC) risk in the Chinese Han population. Methods: We used logistic regression model to test the association between VEGF gene polymorphism and the risk of GC. The association strength was evaluated by odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) calculated using logistic regression. Generalized multifactor dimensionality reduction (GMDR) was used to analyze the effect of the interaction between VEGF gene and current smoking on GC risk. Results: Logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of GC was significantly higher in rs10434 -G allele carriers than that in AA genotype carriers (AG + GG and AA), and the adjusted OR (95% CI) = 1.64 (1.24–2.08). In addition, we found a significantly higher GC risk in subjects with rs833061-T allele than those with CC allele (CT + TT and CC), adjusted or (95% CI) = 1.43 (1.10–1.87). We also found a statistically significant two- locus model (p = 0.018), including rs10434 and current smoking, indicating a significant interaction between rs10434 and current smoking on the risk of GC. Hierarchical analysis found that current smokers with AG or GG genotype have the highest GC risk, compared to never- smokers with AA genotype, OR (95% CI) = 2.43 (1.64–3.28). Conclusion: We found that rs10434 -G and rs833061-T alleles, gene- environment interaction between rs10434, and current smoking were all related to increased GC risk.