| Summary: | The long noncoding RNA, Growth arrest-specific 5 (GAS5) plays a crucial role in the development of oral cancer. However, potential genetic variants in <i>GAS5</i> that affect the susceptibility and progression of oral cancer have rarely been explored. In this study, two loci of <i>GAS5</i> single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs145204276 and rs55829688) were genotyped by using the TaqMan allelic discrimination in 1125 oral cancer patients and 1195 non-oral-cancer individuals. After statistical analyses, the distribution of both the <i>GAS5</i> SNP rs145204276 and <i>GAS5</i> SNP rs55829688 frequencies were similar between the study and control groups. However, the patients with <i>GAS5</i> SNP rs145204276 variants (Ins/Del or Del/Del) showed a higher tendency of moderate to poor cell differentiation of oral cancer (OR: 1.454, 95% CI: 1.041–2.031, <i>p</i> = 0.028). Moreover, the <i>GAS5</i> SNP rs145204276 variants (Ins/Del or Del/Del) in the non-alcohol-drinking population were associated with significantly advanced tumor stage (OR: 1.500, 95% CI: 1.081–2.081, <i>p</i> = 0.015) and larger tumor size (OR: 1.494, 95% CI: 1.076–2.074, <i>p</i> = 0.016). Furthermore, individuals with the <i>GAS5</i> SNP rs145204276 variant were associated with a higher expression of GAS5 in the GTEx database (<i>p</i> = 0.002), and the higher GAS5 level was associated with poor cell differentiation, advanced tumor stage and larger tumor size in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma from the TCGA database (all <i>p</i> < 0.05). In conclusion, the <i>GAS5</i> SNP rs145204276 variant is related to poor-differentiation cell status in oral cancer. Besides, the presence of the <i>GAS5</i> SNP rs145204276 variant is associated with a worse tumor stage and tumor size in oral cancer patients without alcohol drinking.
|
|---|