Genetic variants in AKT1 gene were associated with risk and survival of OSCC in Chinese Han Population

Background AKT1 is an important downstream effector of PTEN/PI3K/AKT signal transduction pathway. Aberrant expression and genetic variant of AKT1 gene are suggested to be involved in several types of human cancers, including OSCC. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible association between AKT1 gene polymorphisms and OSCC in Chinese Han Population. Methods A total of 182 OSCC patients and 207 cancer-free controls were enrolled for this hospital-based study. Five single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on AKT1 (rs1130214, rs1130233, rs2494732, rs3730358, rs3803300) were investigated and genotyped by Sequenom Mass ARRAY & iPLEX-MALDI-TOF technology. Chi-square test, SHEsis software, and Kaplan–Meier method were used to evaluate the relationship between selected SNPs and OSCC susceptibility and progression. Results Significant difference of genotype distribution was observed between cases and control group at SNP sites rs1130214 (P = 0.006) and rs3803300 (P = 0.033, P = 0.003 for heterozygote and homozygous mutant, respectively). In the haplotype analysis, haplotype H4 which contained mutant-type allele of rs1130214 and rs3803300 was also related to OSCC risk (OR = 1.974, 95% CI = 1.048–3.718). Moreover, CT genotype of rs3730358 was associated with higher risk of OSCC progression (HR = 2.466, 95% CI = 1.017–5.981). Conclusion Our results indicated that rs1130214 and rs3803300 were related to OSCC susceptibility in Chinese Han Population. In addition, rs3730358 might be associated with progression-free survival time of OSCC patients, suggesting that this SNP could be a potential prognosis marker for OSCC.