Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1α Gene (HIF1A) rs11549465 (1772 C>T) Polymorphism, Body Mass Index, Smoking, and Cutaneous Melanoma: An Observational Case–Control Study
TL;DR
Head/neck melanoma showed higher frequencies of the rs11549465 CC genotype combined with obesity and several smoking-related exposures than melanomas at other sites and healthy controls, and these findings should be considered exploratory.
Abstract
Simple Summary Cutaneous melanoma may be influenced by genetic background and lifestyle-related hypoxia and oxidative stress. We examined HIF1A rs11549465 (C>T) in 132 Italian patients with cutaneous melanoma and 312 healthy controls. The variant alone was not associated with melanoma susceptibility. Within the melanoma group, smoking for ≥20 years remained associated with metastatic disease after adjustment for body mass index (BMI), age at diagnosis, and sex. Compared with healthy controls, both BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 and smoking for ≥20 years remained independently associated with metastatic melanoma. Head/neck melanoma showed higher frequencies of the rs11549465 CC genotype combined with obesity and several smoking-related exposures than melanomas at other sites and healthy controls. Because some subgroup analyses involved small numbers and multiple correlated comparisons, these findings should be considered exploratory. Larger independent studies are needed to establish whether the HIF1A genotype modifies the effects of body weight or smoking on melanoma development/progression and localization.