Genetic polymorphisms and plasma levels of BCL11A contribute to the development of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma

OBJECTIVE We investigated the association between B-cell lymphoma/leukaemia 11A (BCL11A) rs11886868 and rs4671393 polymorphism, plasma BCL11A concentration, and the hazard of developing laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). PARTICIPANTS AND METHOD In this research, 330 LSCC patients, 310 healthy controls, and 155 vocal leukoplakia patients were genotyped for the BCL11A (rs11886868 C/T and rs4671393 A/G) genotypes by pyrosequencing; the BCL11A concentration was measured using ELISA. RESULTS LSCC Patients had a notably higher occurrence of CT at rs11886868 (OR = 2.64, P = 0.025) than the control group; they also had higher GG at rs4671393 (OR = 2.53, P = 0.018). Advanced (III and IV) stage LSCC patients had a notably greater frequency of CT at rs11886868 than those with initial (I and II) stage LSCC (OR = 2.71, P = 0.044 vs. OR = 2.58, P = 0.051). Additionally, there was a 1.59 fold increase in susceptibility for initial stage LSCC related to the G allele (AG/GG) at rs4671393 (P = 0.005); while for patients of advanced stage LSCC the OR was 1.73 (P = 0.002). Moreover, the OR of lymph node metastasis patients at rs4671393 G alleles was 2.41 (P < 0.01); it was 1.38 (P = 0.035) in patients without lymph metastasis. Patients with high incidences of the rs4671393 variation genotype had high plasma BCL11A levels. CONCLUSIONS BCL11A rs11886868 and rs4671393 genotype variations and correspondingly high BCL11A plasma levels are related to LSCC, besides, differences in plasma levels and genotype distribution may be related to lymph node metastasis status and the stage of LSCC.