IRGM rs4958847 polymorphism influences susceptibility to gastric cancer, mainly for the intestinal type.

Epidemiological and experimental evidence indicates chronic inflammation as a risk factor for colorectal cancer. We investigated whether IL-1B -511C>T (rs16944), IL-1B +3954C>T (rs1143634) and IL1-RN +2018T>C (rs419598) cytokine polymorphisms are correlated with colorectal cancer. Blood samples were obtained from 377 Romanian subjects: 144 patients with sporadic colorectal cancer and 233 healthy controls. Polymorphisms were analyzed by allelic discrimination TaqMan PCR assays with specific probes. The results of our study showed that IL-1RN +2018T>C polymorphism is associated with colorectal cancer. We found that there was a significant difference in the frequency of CC genotype between patients with colorectal cancer and the control group (OR 2.42, 95 % CI: 1.06-5.53, p = 0,034) when TT genotype was used as reference. Furthermore, in a stratified analysis, a positive association was found only for IL-1RN +2018CC genotype, that was limited to early I and II stages (OR 2.72, 95 % CI: 1.05-7.03, p = 0,033). We did not find any association between any of the IL-1B polymorphisms and colorectal cancer. In conclusion this study found that IL-1RN +2018T>C polymorphism is associated with colorectal cancer, mainly for localized disease.

VEGF-A has a tendency to over-express in gastro-oesophageal cancers, while VEGF-B does not seem involved in these tumours. Further studies are required to establish the utility of anti-VEGF-A therapy and to find biomarkers for pathogenesis or response to therapy in gastro-oesophageal tumours.

The results suggest that the IL-4R -3223C→T polymorphism may increase the risk of gastric adenocarcinoma, mainly for the noncardia type, in the Romanian population.

Objective:Angiogenesis is a crucial event for pancreatic carcinogenesis, and it also plays an important role in chronic pancreatitis. The aim of our study was to evaluate the mRNA expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in chronic inflammatory or malignant pancreatic pathology in order to elucidate the differences in expression patterns and potential clinical implications.Methods:Thirty-five patients who had undergone endoscopic ultrasonography followed by endoscipic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) of focal pancreatic masses were included in the study. VEGF and EGFR mRNA expression levels in the samples collected by EUS-FNA were analyzed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR).Results:VEGF expression was detected in all chronic pancreatitis and adenocarcinoma samples and in only 62.5% of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. EGFR expression was detected in only 40% of the chronic pancreatitis cases, 76.9% of adenocarcinomas and in 50% of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. Both VEGF and EGFR mRNA levels were significantly higher in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma than those in normal tissue. VEGF expression inversely correlated with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma size, while EGFR expression was related to local invasiveness of adenocarcinoma.Conclusion:Both VEGF and EGFR mRNA expression in EUS-FNA samples may be used as a diagnostic marker associated with invasiveness in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma.