PhD candidate Universidad de Guadalajara Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Abstract Text:
Introduction: The incidence of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is constantly increasing, becoming a major public health problem. Genetic variants in several genes that codify immune proteins are highly related to NMSC. CTLA-4 is a key player in the control of immune regulation. It has been established that short repeats alleles in (AT)n genetic variants of the CTLA-4 gene are associated with a higher susceptibility to some types of cancer. This study aims to establish the possible association between some (AT)n genetic variants in the CTLA-4 gene with the susceptibility of NMSC carcinogenesis in people from western Mexico.
Methods: A total of 450 individuals participated in this study: 150 patients with BCC, 150 patients with SCC, and 150 individuals as the reference group. For the analysis of the (AT)n genetic variants of the CTLA-4 gene, an endpoint PCR was performed, followed by electrophoresis on 7% polyacrylamide gels to genotype the samples.
Results: in BCC, the statistical analysis showed that 104/104 bp genotype may be associated as a risk factor (OR=2.92, p=0.03), whereas 106/106 bp genotype may be associated as a less risk factor (OR=0.13, p=0.01). In SCC, the 106/106 bp genetic variant may also be associated as a less risk factor (OR=0.32, p=0.01).
Discussion: our results show that in the western Mexican population, short repeats of (AT)n genetic variants in the CTLA-4 gen are associated with a risk factor in BCC and SCC, while long repeats may be a lower risk factor in BCC.
