Survivin -31C/G polymorphism and gastric cancer risk in a Brazilian population

Gastric cancer, despite its decline in incidence, remains a public health problem worldwide, especially in Brazil, where higher incidence indexes are still described. The Survivin gene codifies a multifunctional protein involved in the regulation of the cell cycle and inhibition of the apoptotic pathway, and a polymorphism (-31C/G) located in its promoter region is associated with gene regulation. In order to evaluate the correlation of this polymorphism with gastric cancer risk in a northern Brazil population, we sequenced a fragment containing the polymorphism in individuals with gastric cancer and controls. We observed no differences of alleles and genotype frequencies between cases and controls. However, G carriers of the tumor group had an increased relative risk of developing tumors of diffuse type (OR: 2.22—IC 95%: 0.4835–10.2137), localized in the antrum (OR: 2.16—IC 95%: 0.4811–9.6971) and in younger patients (