Association between the TP53 codon72 polymorphism and oral cancer risk and prognosis

The TP53 codon72 polymorphism has recently been extensively studied to determine the risk factor for carcinogenesis. However, there are few reports about the relationship between the TP53 codon72 polymorphism and oral cancer risk or post treatment prognosis. We evaluated the genotypic distribution of the TP53 codon72 polymorphism in 100 oral cancer cases and 271 non-cancer controls. There were no significant differences in the frequencies of the three genotypes (Arg/Arg, Arg/Pro, Pro/Pro) of the TP53 codon72 polymorphism between oral cancer cases and controls. However, stratifying by smoking status, we found that the adjusted odds ratio for non-smokers with the Pro/Pro genotype was significantly increased (adjusted OR = 2.70, 95% confidence interval = 1.07–6.82). We also found that the cases with the Pro/Pro genotype tended to have a shorter post-treatment survival compared with those with the Arg/Pro genotype (p = 0.06). Our results suggest the Pro/Pro genotype of the TP53 codon72 polymorphism increases oral cancer risk in non-smokers and worsens their prognosis.