A Polymorphism in the CASP10 Gene is associated with survival in ovarian cancer patients

Introduction: Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) are proven to have an influence in cancer susceptibility and prognosis of several cancers. Aim of our study was to analyze six SNPs with regard to survival in a group of ovarian cancer (OC) patients.

Patients and methods: 121 patients with primary OC were included in our analysis. All patients were recruited to our study prospectively. Six SNPs were analyzed. Genes included are ESR, PGR, ERCC, CASP10, CYP19 and TNF-alpha. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier-Curves and log-rank-test.

Results: ESR, ERCC, CYP19 and TNF-alpha polymorphisms could not discriminate the survival of ovarian cancer patients significantly. The analyzed SNP in Caspase–10 separated the homozygous variant group of patients with a DFS of 41.2% from the heterozygous group with a DFS of 26.1% and the homozygous contiguous group with a DFS of 0% (p=0.004). In a multivariate analysis the CASP10 genotype could achieve borderline significance (p=0.056). Furthermore the SNP in the progesterone receptor also showed a borderline significance (p=0.079) comparing homozygous contiguous patients (OS 36.7%) with patients being either heterozygous or homozygous mutated (OS 50.8%).

Conclusion: SNPs as a prognostic marker in OC patients could be helpful in identifying high and low risk groups. Previously other SNPs in the PGR gene were associated with an increased susceptibility for OC. Our data suggest, that alterations in the CASP10 and PGR gene may attribute to the risk to the prognosis of OC patients.

CASP10 - SNP - ovarian cancer - progesterone receptor