Single nucleotide polymorphisms in obesity-related genes and the risk of esophageal cancers

Rates of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus (EAC) and esophagogastric junction (EGJAC) have been rising rapidly in recent decades, in contrast to the declining rates of esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (ESCC). Obesity is a major risk factor for both EAC and EGJAC, but not ESCC, and there is speculation that obesity promotes adenocarcinoma development through endocrine and related pathways. We therefore compared the prevalence of 12 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in nine candidate genes previously implicated in obesity pathways (LEP, LEPR, ADIPOQ, POMC, PPARα, PPARγ, RXRγ, GHRL, and INSIG2) in a large Australian case-control study comprising DNA samples from 260 EAC cases, 301 EGJAC cases, 213 ESCC cases, and 1,352 population controls. No SNPs were associated with EGJAC or ESCC. Although several SNPs seemed to be associated with EAC on crude analysis [ADIPOQ (rs1501299), LEP (5′-untranslated region), PPARγ (H447H), and GHRL (M72L)], effect sizes were modest and none of the associations was significant after correcting for multiple comparisons. Further, we found no consistent evidence that any of the genotypes were associated with risk of EAC or EGJAC within strata of body mass index (30 kg/m2). In conclusion, our data suggest that these SNPs do not play a major role in esophageal carcinogenesis. Copyright © 2008 American Association for Cancer Research.