OBJECTIVETo investigate the association of p53 codon 72 polymorphism with susceptibility to esophageal cancer and lung cancer in the northern Chinese population.

METHODSp53 codon 72 genotyping was performed by amplifying DNA fragments with sequence specific primers among 173 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, 98 with non-small cell lung carcinoma as well as 136 healthy controls.

RESULTSNo significant difference of p53 allelotype and genotype distribution was observed between esophageal cancer and lung cancer patients. The Pro allele frequency was significantly higher among esophageal cancer and lung cancer patients than among healthy controls (P value was 0.024 and 0.027 respectively). There were no significant differences in Pro/Arg and Arg/Arg genotype frequency among cancer patients and healthy controls (P > 0.05). However, the Pro/Pro genotype frequency was significantly higher among esophageal cancer and lung cancer patients than among healthy controls (P value was 0.041 and 0.026 respectively). The risk of Pro homozygotes for both esophageal cancer and lung cancer was about 2 times against Arg homozygotes with adjusted odds ratio of 2.12 (95% CI = 1.13 - 4.01) and 2.30 (95% CI = 1.13 - 4.93), respectively. There was no interaction between p53 Pro/Pro genotype and smoking status to the risk for esophageal cancer and lung cancer.

CONCLUSIONIn the northern Chinese population, p53 Pro/Pro genotype is an independent risk factor for both esophageal cancer and lung cancer. The possible common genetic basis of the development of these two cancers is suggested by this study.