The Effects of Functional Polymorphisms in the TGFβ1 Gene on Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Susceptibility

Objective. Transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1) promotes tumor growth and metastasis in the later stage of cancer development. In this study, we explored whether TGFβ1 polymorphisms were associated with increased risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in a Chinese population.Design. Case-control study.Setting. Hospitals of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery.Subjects and Methods. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms of TGFβ1 gene promoter -509C/T (rs1800469) and 869T/C (Leu 10 Pro, rs1800470) at exon 1 were analyzed in 522 NPC patients and 712 age- and sex-matched controls in a Chinese population, using polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis. Functional relevance of the polymorphism was determined by biochemical assays.Results. The -509T allele carriers were associated with a significantly reduced risk of NPC as compared with the noncarriers (odds ratio [OR], 0.67; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.53-0.89 and OR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.31-0.6...