Association between genetic variants in pre-miRNA and colorectal cancer risk in a Chinese population

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in pre-miRNAs may alter microRNA expression levels or processing and then contribute to the susceptibility of cancer development. We hypothesized that SNPs in pre-miRNAs may be associated with the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). We genotyped four common polymorphisms (i.e., rs11614913, rs3746444, rs2910164, and rs2292832) in pre-miRNAs of 353 CRC patients and 540 healthy controls to investigate the association between the SNPs and the risk of CRC using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay. The rs11614913 CT, TT genotypes, and T allele were associated with an increased risk of CRC compared with the CC genotype and C allele (CT vs. CC: OR = 7.34, 95 % CI 3.76-14.34; TT vs. CC: OR = 13.66, 95 % CI 6.76-27.6; T vs. C: OR = 1.99, 95 % CI 1.63-2.42, respectively). Interestingly, using the rs2910164 GG genotype as a reference, the rs2910164 GC genotype was associated with an increased risk of CRC (OR = 1.49, 95 % CI 1.02-2.18), whereas the rs2910164 CC genotype was associated with a decreased risk of CRC (OR = 0.58, 95 % CI 0.37-0.93). When compared with the rs2910164G allele, rs2910164 C allele was associated with a reduced risk of CRC (OR = 0.80, 95 % CI 0.66-0.97, p = 0.02). These findings suggest that rs11614913 and rs2910164 polymorphisms may be associated with the etiology of CRC.