Association of MYC Gene Polymorphisms with Neuroblastoma Risk in Chinese Children: A Four-center Case-control Study

Background: Neuroblastoma is one of the most common malignant tumors in childhood. Polymorphisms in proto-oncogene MYC are implicated in many cancers, although their role in neuroblastoma remains unclear. In the present study, we attempted to investigate the association between MYC gene polymorphisms and neuroblastoma susceptibility in Chinese children.

Methods: We included two MYC polymorphisms (rs4645943 and rs2070583) and assessed their effects on neuroblastoma risk in 505 cases and 1070 controls via the Taqman method.

Results: In single and combined locus analysis, no significant association was found between the two selected polymorphisms and neuroblastoma susceptibility. In stratification analysis, the rs4645943 CT/TT genotypes were significantly associated with a decreased neuroblastoma risk in subjects with tumors originating from other sites [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 0.42, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.21-0.84, p = 0.013]. Meanwhile, the presence of one or two protective genotypes was significantly associated with a decreased neuroblastoma risk in subjects with tumors arising from other sites (adjusted OR = 0.50, 95% CI = 0.26-0.96, p = 0.036).

Conclusions: The present study indicates that MYC gene polymorphisms may have a weak effect on the neuroblastoma risk, which neeeds to be verified further.