Association study on IL-4, IL-4Rα and IL-13 genetic polymorphisms in Swedish patients with colorectal cancer

Interleukin 4 (IL-4) and interleukin 13 (IL-13) are anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory cytokines which share a common cellular receptor IL4Rα and are involved in the same signaling pathways. Our purpose was to assess whether genetic variants within IL-4, IL-13 and IL-4Rα are associated with the risk or clinical outcome of colorectal cancer (CRC). Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were screened in 466 patients with CRC and 445 healthy controls. The selected SNPs were IL-4 SNP rs2243250, IL-4Rα SNP rs1801275 and IL-13 SNP rs1800925. We found that the genotype variant T/T in IL-13 gene was associated with a higher risk of CRC. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the cancer specific survival differed between C/C and CT + TT for IL-4 SNP. Moreover, the carriers of the T allele were associated with the highest risk of CRC death with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.57, 95% CI 1.06–2.36, p = .024. The observed effect of the T allele was restricted to stage III patients. Our results indicate IL-13 SNP rs1800925 as a risk factor for CRC and that IL-4 SNP rs2243250 could be a useful prognostic marker in the follow-up and clinical management of patients with CRC especially in stage III disease. •Genotype variant in IL-13 gene is associated with a higher risk of colorectal cancer.•Cancer specific survival differed between genotypes of the IL-4 gene.•A genotype of the IL-4 gene is associated with stage III colorectal cancer.