Investigation of Vitamin D Receptor Gene Polymorphism in Pediatric Patients with Brain Cancer

AIM In recent years, it is believed that Vitamin D may play a protective role in some cancer types. Certain regions of the Vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene may show a genetic difference in structure. The most frequent polymorphisms in this gene are in Taq-1, Fok-1, and Bsm-1 regions. Some adult cancer types are associated with VDR gene polymorphism such as; colorectal carcinoma, breast carcinoma, and prostate carcinoma. Reviewing the medical literature, no such study had been done on children so far. MATERIALS AND METHODS We investigated the association of the three most common gene polymorphisms (Taq-1, Fok-1, and Bsm-1 regions) in VDR gene in 32 children with brain tumors and forty control healthy volunteers. RESULTS We could not find any relationship between childhood brain tumors and VDR gene polymorphism in these three regions. CONCLUSION The present results suggest that the Taq-1, Fok-1, and Bsm-1 polymorphism in the VDR gene and pediatric brain cancers have no association.