NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) Pro187Ser Polymorphism and Colorectal Cancer Predisposition in the Ethnic Kashmiri Population

The C609T single nucleotide polymorphism of the NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) gene hasbeen identified as an important risk parameter for the susceptibility to colorectal cancer. We here carried out acase-control study and examined the genotype distribution of NQO1 C609T (Pro189Ser) using the polymerasechain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) approach, to investigate the possiblerole of this SNP as a risk factor in colorectal cancer development in Kasmir, India. We investigated the genotypedistribution in 86 CRC cases in comparison with 160 healthy subjects and also focused on clinicopathologicalvariables in the CRC cases. The observed genotype frequencies in cases and controls were significantly different[OR=1.64; 95%CI=0.94-2.86]. We also found a significant association between the Ser/Ser variant form withage group, smoking status, tumor location, nodal status/ higher tumor grade and with exposure to pesticides.Therefore, we suggest that the NQO1 C609T SNP is involved either in susceptibility or development of CRC inthe ethnic Kashmiri population.