L-myc restriction fragment length polymorphism in Japanese patients with esophageal cancer

L-myc polymorphism is a representative genetic trait related to an individu als susceptibility to several cancers. However, there have been no reports concerning the association between esophageal cancer and L-myc polymorphism . To analyze the distribution of polymorphism in Japanese patients with eso phageal cancer, a molecular genotyping method using a polymerase chain reac tion-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was used. Ba sed on an analysis of 65 Japanese patients with esophageal cancer and 107 h ealthy control subjects, a significant difference was observed in either th e distribution of genotypes (P = 0,012) or of allele frequencies between th e two groups (P = 0.004). The relative risk of esophageal cancer for genoty pes including the shorter allele was 2.9 compared to the longer allele homo zygote. Furthermore, the patients with S-allele had a tendency for poor pro gnosis among those with three genotypes, A significant difference between t he distribution of genotypes and the incidence of lymph node metastasis was found based on the clinicopathological features of the cancers. These resu lts suggest that L-myc polymorphism may be implicated as a genetic trait af fecting an individual's susceptibility to esophageal cancer, at least among Japanese patients.