engleski

The P53 gene polymorphisms and life and family history of cancer in Croatian elderly population

The P53 gene has been suggested to be associated with various diseases and with longevity due to its important functions in preserving the genome integrity. In this retrospective study we investigated the association of two widely investigated polymorphisms of P53 gene with life and family history of cancer in a sample of Croatian elderly population. We studied the Arg72Pro and PIN3 (+16bp) polymorphisms in 124 persons aged 85-101 yrs. The allele frequencies in senescent sample were similar to those reported for general population of Croatia: 77.3% vs. 75.9% (for Arg) and 86.6% vs. 85.7% (for A1).On total sample level no sex or age differences were found in life and family history variables or in genotype distribution. However, when two age groups were formed - “younger” (85-90 yrs ; N=58) and “older” (91-101 yrs ; N=66) - new relations emerged. In contrast to older subjects showing homogeneity for tumor occurrence across genotypes in both polymorphisms, in younger subjects Arg allele as well as ArgArg genotype of the Arg72Pro polymorphisms was consistently more frequently recorded in persons with life and family history of cancer. As it was frequently found for younger persons the present preliminary study suggests that Arg allele carry increased risk for cancer in aged persons as well. However, it seems that in very old olds (91+ in the present study) the importance of Arg72Pro polymorphism for carcinogenesis diminishes. Further studies considering more narrowly defined pathological substrate are needed to disentangle the reasons for obtained age- related differences.

p53 gene ; cancer ; longevity

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