Association of the +936 C/T Single Nucleotide Polymorphism of the VEGF-A Gene with Renal Cell Cancer in an Eastern Indian Population

Aims: Renal cell cancer is one of the major killer cancers affecting mankind. Various polymorphisms in different genes have been found to be associated with the disease. +936 C/T SNP in the VEGF gene has been reported to be associated with spread of metastasis in several parts of the world. In the present study, we decided to study its association with renal cell cancer in the Eastern Indian population.

Study Design: A hospital based cross sectional study.

Place and Duration of Study: A tertiary care medical college & hospital in Kolkata, West Bengal having study duration of one year from January 2018 to January 2019.

Methodology: DNA was extracted from whole blood using phenol chloroform extraction method from 30 case and 40 control subjects. A section of the VEGF-A gene consisting of the base pair where the SNP occurs and small regions adjacent to it was then amplified from the genomic DNA by PCR. The PCR product was treated with restriction enzyme HinDIII and the restriction digestion pattern was analysed.

Results: In our results, the prevalence of the wild C and the mutant T alleles in the study group were found to be 60% and 40% respectively. The prevalence of the homozygous non-mutant (CC), heterozygous (CT) and the homozygous mutant (TT) genotypes were found to be 45%, 30% and 25% respectively.

Conclusion: It is likely that there is a significant association between the +936 C/T SNP and renal cell cancer in the Eastern Indian population. Also, majority of the renal cell cancer patients from this region are prone to worse cancer prognosis and therefore may need a more active medical management including anti VEGF therapy. Further studies are required to confirm the association and to determine its nature.