Potentially functional polymorphisms in IL-23 receptor and risk of esophageal cancer in a Chinese population

Interleukin‐23 (IL‐23)/IL‐23 receptor (IL‐23R) is essential for Th17 cell‐mediated immune response, involved in autoimmune diseases and cancer pathogenesis. Two potentially functional genetic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; IL‐23R rs6682925 T>C and rs1884444 T>G) were found to contribute to cancer susceptibility. In our study, we conducted a case–control study including 1,645 patients with esophageal cancer and 1,694 cancer‐free controls in a Chinese population to assess the association between the two SNPs and the risk of esophageal cancer. We found that IL‐23R rs6682925 TC/CC and rs1884444 TG/GG variant genotypes were associated with significantly increased risk of esophageal cancer [rs1884444: adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.16, 95% confidence intervals (CIs) =1.01–1.33; rs6682925: adjusted OR = 1.23, 95% CIs = 1.07–1.42], compared to their corresponding wild‐type homozygotes. Furthermore, the increased risks associated with the two SNPs were independent from smoking and alcohol drinking status. These findings indicated that genetic variants in IL‐23R may contribute to esophageal cancer risk in our Chinese population.