Aim: The relationship between COX-2 gene and childhood leukemia risk is ambiguous. In this study, the association of genotypic polymorphisms in cyclooxygenase 2 (Cox-2) with childhood leukemia were investigated.
Materials and methods: A total of 266 patients with childhood leukemia and 266 healthy controls recruited from the China Medical Hospital in central Taiwan were genotyped by PCR-RFLP method. Six polymorphic variants of Cox-2 were investigated, including G-1195A, G-765C, T+8473C, intron 1, intron 5, and intron 6, and the associations of specific genotypes with susceptibility to childhood leukemia were analysed.
Results: The data showed that although there was no difference in the distribution for each genotype of Cox-2 G-1195A, G-765C, T+8473C, intron 1, intron 5, and intron 6, between the childhood leukemia and control groups (p>0.05), the analysis of combined effect for COX-2 G-765C and intron 6 showed that individuals with GC at G-765C and GG or AG+AA at intron 6 present a slightly higher potential for developing childhood leukemia than other groups.
Conclusion: These findings suggest that the C allele of COX-2 G-765C may be responsible for childhood leukemia and may be useful in early detection of child leukemia.