Relationship between polymorphism of angiotensin-converting enzyme gene insertion/deletion and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in a Chinese Dai population.

Yong Zha,Qin Liu,Ping Gan,Jing Tan

doi:10.1177/1470320314539829

Abstract

The angiotensin-converting enzyme gene (ACE) is directly involved in the process of cancer cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and angiogenesis. It also plays a vital role in inducing liver fibrosis and developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between ACE insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism and the risk of HCC in a Chinese Dai population. We conducted a study including 210 patients with HCC and 206 healthy controls in Yunnan Cancer Hospital between January 2012-January 2014. I/D genotypes of ACE were determined with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of DNA from peripheral blood leukocytes. The ACE D allele was more frequent in the HCC cases than in the controls (51.7% vs 44.4%, p=0.036). Individuals with DD genotypes were associated with increased HCC risk compared with those with the II genotypes (odds ratio (OR), 1.911; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.081-3.379; p=0.025). However, the ACE I/D polymorphism were not significantly associated with any clinicopathological characteristics such as the tumor stage, serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level, and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The DD genotypes of ACE I/D polymorphism might contribute to the prediction of HCC risk in a Chinese Dai population.

Highlights

The angiotensin-converting enzyme gene (ACE) is directly involved in the process of cancer cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and angiogenesis
DD carriers were associated with increased hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk compared with II carriers (OR, 1.911; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.081–3.379; p=0.025) (Table 2)
No significant correlation was found between the polymorphic genotypes of ACE and the clinical pathological variables such as hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, serum AFP level, tumor stage, and Child-Pugh grade in HCC patients (Table 3)

Summary

Introduction

The angiotensin-converting enzyme gene (ACE) is directly involved in the process of cancer cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and angiogenesis. It plays a vital role in inducing liver fibrosis and developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer, and the third most common cause of cancer death worldwide.[1] Its incidence is still increasing in China, with more than 330,000 new cases every year It is the second most common cause of cancer-related death in China.[2] Some risk factors such as hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, sustained alcohol use, cirrhosis, environmental factors, and a great number of complex genetic variants have been identified to be potentially associated with HCC risk.[3]. Some studies have shown that tumor angiogenesis occurs at the early stage of tumor formation, which plays a vital role in promoting progressive tumor growth.[4,5,6] Any tumor, including HCC, depends on the formation of a vascular network to provide its with oxygen and essential nutrients.[5,6]

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