ASSOCIATION OF THE TNFA2 MICROSATELLITE ALLELE WITH THE PRESENCE OF COLORECTAL-CANCER

Independently, our two groups collaborating in this report performed a ssociation studies to consider the influence of the TNF region within the human MHC on the presence of colorectal cancer. In the Glasgow Stu dy, 84 colorectal cancer patients were compared with 91 controls at th e TNFa microsatellite locus. Analysis of individual alleles by Fisher' s exact test revealed a significant overrepresentation of the TNFa2 al lele in the colorectal cancer group, after correcting for multiple com parisons. In the Essen Study, 47 colorectal cancer patients were compa red with 117 matched controls, and the hypothesis of TNFa2 overreprese ntation in colorectal cancer was confirmed. These data provide evidenc e for the involvement of the TNF locus in the pathogenetic etiology of colorectal cancer.