The KIF1B (rs17401966) Single Nucleotide Polymorphism is not Associated with the Development of HBV-related Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Thai Patients

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection can become chronic and if left untreated can progress to hepatocellularcarcinoma (HCC).Thailand is endemic for HBV and HCC is one of the top five cancers, causing deaths amongThai HBV-infected males. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at the KIF1B gene locus, rs17401966,has been shown to be strongly associated with the development of HBV-related HCC. However, there are noThai data on genotypic distribution and allele frequencies of rs17401966. Thai HBV patients seropositivefor HBsAg (n=398) were therefore divided into two groups: a case group (chronic HBV with HCC; n=202)and a control group (HBV carriers without HCC; n=196). rs17401966 was amplified by polymerase chainreaction (PCR) and analyzed by direct nucleotide sequencing. The genotypic distribution of rs174019660for homozygous major genotype (AA), heterozygous minor genotype (AG) and homozygous minor genotype(GG) in the case group was 49.5% (n=100), 40.1% (n=81) and 10.4% (n=21), respectively, and in controlswas 49.5% (n=97), 42.3% (n=83) and 8.2% (n=16). Binary logistic regression showed that rs17401966 wasnot statistically associated with the risk of HCC development in Thai chronic HBV patients (p-value=0.998,OR=1.00 and 95% CI=0.68-1.48). In conclusion, the KIF1B gene SNP (rs174019660) investigated in thisstudy showed no significant association with HBV-related HCC in Thai patients infected with HBV,indicating that there must be other mechanisms or pathways involved in the development of HCC.