Association study on IL-4, IL-4Rα and IL-13 genetic polymorphisms in Swedish patients with colorectal cancer

Background: Interleukin 4 (IL-4) and interleukin 13 (IL-13) are anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory cytokines which share a common cellular receptor IL4R alpha and are involved in the same signaling pathways. Our purpose was to assess whether genetic variants within IL-4, IL-13 and IL-4R alpha are associated with the risk or clinical outcome of colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods: Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were screened in 466 patients with CRC and 445 healthy controls. The selected SNPs were IL-4 SNP rs2243250, IL-4R alpha SNP rs1801275 and IL-13 SNP rs1800925. Results: We found that the genotype variant T/T in IL-13 gene was associated with a higher risk of CRC. Kaplan Meier analysis showed that the cancer specific survival differed between C/C and CT + TT for IL-4 SNP. Moreover, the carriers of the T allele were associated with the highest risk of CRC death with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.57, 95% CI 1.06-2.36, p = -.024. The observed effect of the T allele was restricted to stage III patients. Conclusion: Our results indicate IL-13 SNP rs1800925 as a risk factor for CRC and that IL-4 SNP rs2243250 could be a useful prognostic marker in the follow-up and clinical management of patients with CRC especially in stage III disease.