Associations between the functional polymorphisms in the ABCB1 transporter gene and colorectal cancer risk: a case-control study in Turkish population

Colorectal cancer is among the most common cancer types in the world and its etiology involves the interaction of genetic and environmental factors. ABCB1 is highly expressed in the apical surface of colonic epithelial cells and acts as an efflux pump by transporting toxic endogenous substances, drugs and xenobiotics out of cells. ABCB1 polymorphisms may either change its protein expression or alter its function. Several studies have reported a possible association between ABCB1 variants and colorectal cancer, but no consistent conclusion has been arrived at. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the relationship between colorectal cancer and the functional common variants of ABCB1 (1236C>T; 2677G>T/A; 3435C>T). The distributions of the variants were determined in 103 patients with colorectal cancer and 150 healthy volunteers using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism methods. ABCB1 1236C>T was statistically significantly associated with colorectal cancer risk (OR, odd ratio = 1.91; 95% CI, confidence interval = 1.09-3.35; p = 0.034). In haplotype-based analysis, the proportion of individuals with the ABCB1 haplotype C-1236-G(2677)-T-3435 was significantly more common in patients than in controls (OR = 11.96; 95% CI = 2.59-55.32; p = 0.0004). We believe that the findings may be beneficial to the development of efficacious preventive strategies and therapies for colorectal cancer.