Genetic variants in the ZNF208 gene are associated with esophageal cancer in a Chinese Han population

Previous studies showed an association between the ZNF208 gene and gastric cancer. In this study, we investigated the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in ZNF208 and the risk of esophageal cancer in a Chinese Han population. We conducted a case-control study that included 386 cases and 495 controls. Five SNPs were selected from previous genome-wide association studies and genotyped using the Sequenom MassARRAY platform. Unconditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals after adjustment for age and gender. Logistic regressionl analysis showed that two SNPs (rs8103163 and rs7248488) were associated with an increased risk of esophageal cancer under different inheritance models after Bonferroni correction. Haplotype analysis suggested that the four variants comprised one block, and that the G(rs2188972)C(rs2188971)C(rs8103163)C(rs7248488) haplotype was significantly correlated with an increased risk of esophageal cancer. Our data indicate that variants in ZNF208 are contribute to the susceptibility to esophageal cancer in a Chinese Han population.