Association of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in PIM-1 Gene with the Risk of Korean Lung Cancer

Abstract

Purpose: The expression of the PIM-1 gene, which is a proto-oncogene that encodes a serine/threonine kinase, is associated with multiple cellular functions such as proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and tumorigenesis. In particular, several studies have reported that the PIM-1 gene is associated with the development of lymphoma, leukemia and prostate cancer. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the association between the single nucleotide polymorphisms in the PIM-1 gene and the risk of lung cancer occurrence in the Korean population. Materials and Methods: To evaluate the role of the PIM-1 gene in the development of lung cancer, the genotypes of the PIM-1 gene were determined in 408 lung cancer patients and 410 normal subjects. Results: We found that the T-C-T-C haplotypes of the PIM-1 gene (−1196 T＞C, IVS4 ＋55 T＞C, IVS4 ＋1416 T＞A and ＋3684 C＞A) were associated with an increased risk of lung cancer [adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 3.98; 95% CI: 1.24∼12.75, p-value: 0.020]. In particular, these haplotypes showed an increased risk of lung cancer in males (aOR: 5.67; 95% CI: 1.32∼24.30, p-value: 0.019) and smokers (aOR: 7.82; 95% CI: 1.75∼34.98, p-value: 0.007). Conclusions: The present results suggest that the T-C-T-C haplotype of the PIM-1 gene could influence the risk of developing smoking-related lung cancer in the Korean population. Additional functional studies with an larger sample sized analysis are warranted to reconfirm our findings.