Single Nucleotide Polymorphism and Cancer Risk, Tumour Recurrence, or Survival of Head and Neck Cancer Patients

Objective: This paper aims at studying the influence of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on cancer risk, tumor recurrence, and survival in head and neck (H&N) cancer patients. Methods: A total of 45 SNPs in 41 genes were investigated. A total of 174 Caucasian H&N cancer patients and 245 healthy blood donors were enrolled in the study. Results: Ten SNPs were associated with H&N cancer risk, but the identified SNPs differed among males and females. Some of the SNPs were related to immune response genes. The immune response gene SNPs were also related to survival. In particular, we noted that the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) rs1800629 could have an influence on cancer risk, tumor recurrence as well as survival. Conclusion: Genetic variation of the TNFα rs1800629 might be useful as a biomarker in clinical decision-making since it was found to be related to cancer risk, tumor recurrence, and survival of H&N cancer patients.