Lymphoma
A US study [PMID 17018637] of 1,172 lymphoma patients and 982 controls looked at 57 SNPs in 36 immune function genes. The following SNPs in two cytokine genes, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and lymphotoxin-alpha, were associated with a 1.31x increase in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (OR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.06-1.63; P = 0.01) and with a 1.64x increase in the subtype known as diffuse large B cell lymphoma (OR, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.23-2.19; P = 0.0007). The cytokine genes affect inflammatory and innate immune responses.
In the same study, a SNP in the innate immune gene Fc gamma receptor 2A (FCGR2A) was associated with higher risk of follicular and small lymphocytic lymphomas. The risk allele is A. AG and AA genotypes were associated with a 1.26-fold (95% CI, 1.01-1.56) and 1.41-fold (95% CI, 1.10-1.81) increased risk, respectively (P(trend) = 0.006).
