Association of the AA genotype of the BCL2 (-938C>A) promoter polymorphism with better survival in ovarian cancer.

Background: Bcl-2 plays a key role in the regulation of apoptosis. Recently, a novel regulatory single nucleotide polymorphism (-938C>A) in the inhibitory P2 BCL2 promoter was described. In this study we investigated its potential association with survival in epithelial ovarian cancer.
Experimental Design: Patients (n=110) with primary epithelial ovarian cancer were retrospectively genotyped by pyrosequencing.
Results: Genotype distribution was not significantly different between 110 ovarian cancer patients and 120 healthy controls, suggesting that genotypes of this polymorphism do not increase the susceptibility to ovarian cancer. Kaplan-Meier curves showed a significant association of the AA genotype with increased survival (p=0.002). Multivariate analysis revealed that the BCL2-938AC/CC genotype (hazard ratio 4.5; p=0.003) was an independent prognostic factor compared to other prognostic factors such as age, histological grade or tumor stage.
Conclusion: The results suggest a role for the BCL2-938C>A polymorphism as a marker for survival in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer.