TNF α –308G/A Polymorphism as a Risk Factor for HPV Associated Cervical Cancer in Indian Population

Background : Investigation of the potential association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at –308 G/A and –238 G/A of Tumor necrosis factor α (TNF α ) with susceptibility to HPV‐16 associated cervical cancer in Indian women. Methods : The study included 165 histologically confirmed cases with 45 precancer and 120 cancer patients and an equal number (165) of healthy controls with normal cervical cytology. PCR‐RFLP was employed to analyze TNF α promoter polymorphisms, which were confirmed by direct sequencing. Both patients and controls were screened for Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Results : The frequency of –308 A allele in TNF α was significantly higher in cases compared with control subjects (21% in cases vs. 9% in controls; p < 0.01), with an odds ratio of 2.7 (95% CI = 1.41–5.15). Also, women carrying A allele for this locus presented 3 times increased susceptibility to HPV 16 infection as evident from carrier genotype distribution between HPV positive cases and control subjects (24% in HPV positive cases vs. 9% in controls; p < 0.01; OR = 3.1; 95% CI = 1.60–6.03). No such association was found for TNF α –238 (G/A) polymorphism with the risk of development of cervical cancer. Conclusion : It suggests that SNP at –308 (G/A) of TNF α promoter may represent an increased risk for HPV infection and development of cervical cancer in Indian women.