[Cytotoxic T lymphocyte associated molecule -4 [CTLA-4] gene polymorphisms in ovarian cancer patients]

Ovarian cancer is a relatively common cancer among postmenopausal women. Nowadays, there is controversy about immunotherapy of ovarian cancer patients with interleukins such as interferon to reach better out come in prognosis of patients under chemotherapy. CTLA-4 is a gene, which has an important role in homeostasis and regulation of immune response. Inhibitory nature of CTLA-4 is proved to be of significance in autoimmune diseases as well as in cancer. In this study we intend to find out the relationship between polymorphisms of this gene at the sites of +49 A/G and -318 C/T and ovarian cancer. The polymorphisms of the CTLA-4 gene at the sites of +49 A/G exon and -318 C/T promoter were investigated. Blood samples of 73 patients with ovarian cancer and 115 healthy subjects used for DNA extraction. Two groups genotypes and alleles were determined using PCR method and compared by statistical t-student test. There was no statistically significant difference in genotypes and alleles prevalence of +49 A/G and -317 C/T between two groups [p>0.05]. Further researches with larger sample size while paying attention to the relation between the gene polymorphism and stage and type of tumor is recommended

CTLA-4 Exon one +49 A/G gene variants in patients with superficial and invasive bladder cancer: a study in southern Iran

Cytotoxic T-cell lymphocyte antigen 4 [CTLA-4] is a member of the superfamily of immunoglobulins that are mainly expressed by activated T cells. It is established that blockade of CTLA-4 receptors leads to the enhancement of an immune response. Different polymorphisms of the CTLA-4 gene have been described which cause increased susceptibility to various malignancies such as lymphoma or multiple myeloma. Considering that bladder cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide, we have evaluated the role of CTLA-4 gene polymorphism at position +49 A/G in the formation or progression of bladder cancer in southern Iran. A total of 226 individuals between February 2005 and June 2006 were included and placed into two subgroups: patients diagnosed with bladder cancer and a control group. Demographic data and risk factors were collected from both groups. The DNA of all subjects was extracted from their blood samples. Different genotypes of the CTLA-4 gene were determined using the restriction fragment length polymorphism [RFLP] technique and data were compared in both groups by using Pearson's chi-square test. The prevalence of AA, AG and GG genotypes at position 49, according to the PCR-RFLP method, were 57.5%, 37.2% and 5.3% in the control group, respectively. In the patient group, the prevalence of these genotypes was: AA in 57.5%, AG in 32.7% and GG in 9.8%. Statistical analysis of data showed no significant difference in both groups [P value=0.40]. Also there was no correlation between different genotypes of the CTLA-4 gene and invasiveness of the disease in our cases. Although polymorphism of the CTLA-4 gene at position 49 of exon-1 increases susceptibility to several malignancies, our study showed no relationship between polymorphism at this position and genetic susceptibility to the development of bladder cancer, nor was there any association with disease progression