A new polymorphism (Ser362Thr) of the L-myc gene is not associated with lung adenocarcinoma risk and prognosis

The non-coding variation in the second intron of the L-myc gene, generating an EcoRI polymorphism, is associated with lung cancer risk and prognosis. We carried out sequence analysis of the L-myc gene in lung adenocarcinoma (ADCA) patients to identify functional polymorphisms and identified a new single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the third exon of the gene causing a Ser362Thr conservative amino acid change in the C-terminus of the encoded protein. This polymorphism showed significant linkage disequilibrium with the L-myc EcoRI polymorphism located at 1751 bp distance. Genotyping of the Ser362Thr SNP in 220 Italian ADCA patients and in 230 general population controls revealed a similar low frequency (0.10-0.11) of the Thr allele in both groups. The multivariate odds ratio was 0.68 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.38-1.22). In the ADCA patients, no significant association between the Ser/Thr polymorphism and survival was observed. Thus, the present results do not support candidacy of the L-myc Ser362Thr polymorphism for the functional polymorphism of the L-myc genomic region.