Variants Of Cell-Cycle Regulatory Genes Are Associated With The Risk Of An Early Adverse Reaction After Radiotherapy For Cervical Cancer

Cancer patients exhibit individual variability in their normal tissue reactions after radiation therapy (RT). The observed adverse reactions to RT are quiet complex and individual genetic factors may contribute in part to causing such reactions. Cervical cancer is the second most common malignancy among women worldwide and the currently preferred therapeutic modality for cervical cancer is concomitant chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Little is known about the genetic factors capable of generating biological outcomes that are associated with adverse reactions to RT in cervical cancer patients.Treatment of cervical cancer with RT can result in other tissues with a high radiosensitivity being exposed to the radiation field. In particular, the intestines show significant radiation sensitivity and contain highly proliferative cryptic cells. Previously, we have shown that variants of cell-cycle regulatory genes are associated with the risk of an early adverse skin reaction, which may damage the self-renewing cells of the epidermis.In this study, we analyzed the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 13 cell-cycle regulatory or related genes with the risk of adverse intestinal reactions after RT. DNA was sampled from 208 cervical cancer patients who qualified for RT. SNP typing was performed using the MassARRAY system (Sequenom, CA) according to the manufacturer\u27s instructions. Each SNP in genes such as /TP53/ and /AURKA/ was associated with the risk of adverse reaction. We conclude that that the radiosensitivity of an individual cervical cancer patient can be determined by polymorphisms in multiple loci. Furthermore, our findings may lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the genetic variation in either radiation sensitivity or resistance among cancer patients.Biotecnologia Habana 2009, Medical Applications of Biotechnolog