Combined effects of p73 and MDM2 polymorphisms on the risk of lung cancer

p73, a structural and functional homologue of p53, plays an important role in modulating cell-cycle control and apoptosis. MDM2 represses the transcriptional activity of p73 and thus attenuates its activity. Based on the interaction between p73 and MDM2 in cell-cycle control and apoptosis, we investigated the association between p73 G4C14-to-A4T14 and MDM2 309T > G polymorphisms, alone and in combination, on the risk of lung cancer in a Korean population. The p73 and MDM2 genotypes were determined in 582 lung cancer patients and in 582 healthy control subjects who were frequency-matched for age and gender. The p73 AT/AT and MDM2 309 GG genotypes were associated with a nonsignificant increased risk of lung cancer (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.37, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.83-2.24; and adjusted OR = 1.29, 95% CI = 0.92-1.80, respectively), compared with their wild-type genotypes, respectively. When the p73 and MDM2 polymorphisms were combined, the risk of lung cancer increased in a dose-dependent manner as the number of variant alleles increased (P_trend = 0.01). Subjects with three or four variant alleles were at a significantly increased risk of lung cancer (adjusted OR = 1.74, 95% CI = 1.11-2.74, P = 0.02) compared to subjects with zero variant allele. These results suggest an additive effect of the p73 and MDM2 variant alleles on an increased risk of lung cancer.