| Abstract: | The most important anti‐tumour immune response is mediated by T lymphocytes. Cytotoxic T lymphocyte‐associated protein 4 (CTLA4) plays a critical role in the immune surveillance against tumours as an inhibitory immune checkpoint molecule of T‐cell activation. This study was designed to explore the association of CTLA4 polymorphisms with the susceptibility to oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and prognosis of patients with ESCC in a high‐incidence population from northern China. CTLA4 rs5742909 C/T and rs231775 G/A single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction–ligase detection reaction (PCR‐LDR) method in 577 ESCC patients and 580 controls. Upper gastrointestinal cancer family history increased the risk of ESCC (the sex‐, age‐ and smoking status‐adjusted OR = 1.383, 95%CI = 1.094–1.749). The genotype frequencies of these two SNPs in the patients with ESCC were similar to that in the controls. Survival analyses were conducted in 204 patients with ESCC with five‐year survival information. The mean survival time of ESCC patients with rs231775 SNP A/A genotype in age over 60 years group was 23.2 months, significantly shorter than that of those with G/G genotype (47.3 months). The A/A genotype was associated with increased death risk of patients with ESCC older than 60 years (adjusted HR = 4.544, 95%CI = 1.913–10.790). CTLA4 rs231775 SNP might be used as genetic marker of worse prognosis for patients with ESCC over 60 years in a high‐incidence population from northern China. |
