The (-174) G/C polymorphism in the interleukin-6 gene is associated with risk of papillary thyroid carcinoma in Turkish patients.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Interleukins and cytokines play an important role in the pathogenesis of many cancers.We aimed to evaluate the interleukin (IL)-6 gene polymorphisms in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and control subjects. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this study, 42 patients with PTC and 340 healthy controls were included. Peripheral blood samples were taken from control group and patients, and blood samples were preserved at -80 C in tubes containing Na-EDTA. RESULTS: We also found a statistically significant difference between patients with PTC and the control group with respect to IL-6 genotype (p<0.05). IL-6 gene polymorphism in patients with PTC patients did not reveal statistically significant difference between the 2 groups (size of tumor >1 cm and <1 cm), multicentricity, RET-PTC types and capsule invasion (p>0.05).We also did not find a statistically significant difference between patients with PTC and the control group with respect to IL-6-gene allele frequency (p>0.05). DISCUSSION: Our data suggest that the IL-6 G-174 C polymorphism could play a role in thyroid cancer risk, but there is no effective role as a prognostic factor.