Association of MDR1 genotypes with susceptibility to colorectal cancer in older non-smokers

Objective The multidrug resistance gene 1 (MDR1) seems to play a role in the carcinogenesis of colorectal tumors. The importance of MDR1 SNPs 2677G > T/A in exon 21 and 3435G > T in exon 26 for cancer susceptibility, however, has not yet been clearly defined. Methods Two hundred and eighty-five colorectal cancer patients and 275 controls from five hospitals in the European part of Russia were genotyped for the polymorphisms -129T > C (rs3213619) in exon 1b, 2677 > T/A (rs2032582), and 3435C > T (rs1045642) in this population-based case-control study. Genotype-phenotype analysis was performed with simultaneous consideration of lifestyle risk factors. Results Our analysis confirmed the preponderate impact of smoking on colorectal cancer development. The risk of heavy smokers (>= 60 pack years) to develop colorectal cancer by far exceeded that of lifelong non-smokers (OR=3.9, 95% CI: 1.4 to 10.6). Smoking is a more potent risk factor than is the genetic influence of MDR1 in our study. However, a smoking and age-stratified analysis, revealed a statistically significant association between MDR1 genotypes and colorectal cancer in life-long non-smokers with an age >= 63 years (the median age in our sample). The association was stronger for rectal cancer than for colon cancer. Patients who carried the genotypes (-129TT; 2677GG; 3435CC) or (-129TT; 2677TT; 3435TT) developed more frequently colorectal cancer than others (OR=3.9; 95% CI: 2.0 to 7.7). Conclusions Our results show that the interaction of genetic and lifestyle risk factors should be taken into account to elucidate the genetic influence of MDR1 variability on cancer susceptibility.