Exploratory Analysis of Candidate Gene SNPs in Relation to Cervical Cancer Susceptibility in Georgian Women

IntroductionCervical cancer (CC) is the third most prevalent malignancy among women worldwide. Candidate gene studies have identified multiple single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that are associated with an increased risk of CC. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between 8 specific single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the risk of cervical cancer in the Georgian population.MethodsThe present study employed a prospective case-control design, with 40 patients diagnosed with CC and 45 healthy women. A total of 8 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped using the TaqMan genotyping assay: rs7579014, rs11263763, rs7726159, rs6897196, rs2853672, rs635634, rs231775, and rs2304204.ResultsOur analysis demonstrated that rs7579014 (<i>BCL11A,</i> G/A), rs7726159 (<i>TERT</i>, C/A), and rs6356634 (<i>ABO</i>, T/A) were associated with an increased risk of cervical cancer in Georgian patients. However, following the implementation of the Benjamini-Hochberg correction, only rs6356634 (<i>ABO</i> T/A) and rs7579014 (<i>BCL11A</i> G/A) remained statistically significant. A lack of statistically significant correlation was identified between the genetic variants rs11263763, rs6897196, rs2853672, rs2304204, and rs231775 and susceptibility to cervical cancer.ConclusionsThis study represents the first attempt to investigate SNP associations in women with cervical cancer in Georgia. The findings indicate that SNP-based analysis may hold promise for the early identification of susceptibility to cervical cancer, and potentially to other cancers. Nevertheless, further research involving larger sample sizes is required to validate and strengthen these preliminary observations.