Association study of cyclooxygenase 2 single nucleotide polymorphisms and childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia in Taiwan.

AIM The relationship between COX-2 gene and childhood leukemia risk is ambiguous. In this study, the association of genotypic polymorphisms in cyclooxygenase 2 (Cox-2) with childhood leukemia were investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 266 patients with childhood leukemia and 266 healthy controls recruited from the China Medical Hospital in central Taiwan were genotyped by PCR-RFLP method. Six polymorphic variants of Cox-2 were investigated, including G-1195A, G-765C, T+8473C, intron 1, intron 5, and intron 6, and the associations of specific genotypes with susceptibility to childhood leukemia were analysed. RESULTS The data showed that although there was no difference in the distribution for each genotype of Cox-2 G-1195A, G-765C, T+8473C, intron 1, intron 5, and intron 6, between the childhood leukemia and control groups (p>0.05), the analysis of combined effect for COX-2 G-765C and intron 6 showed that individuals with GC at G-765C and GG or AG+AA at intron 6 present a slightly higher potential for developing childhood leukemia than other groups. CONCLUSION These findings suggest that the C allele of COX-2 G-765C may be responsible for childhood leukemia and may be useful in early detection of child leukemia.