Vitamin D Receptor Polymorphisms and Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer Risk: A Case-Control Study

• Published in: Journal of clinical medicine Vol. 9; no. 12; p. 3819
• Main Authors: Morgado-Águila, Carolina, Rey-Sánchez, Purificación, Gil-Fernández, Guadalupe, Costa-Fernández, María Carmen, Rodríguez-Velasco, Francisco José
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 25-11-2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Age; Clinical medicine; Dermatology; Gene expression; Laboratories; Melanoma; Physiology; Plastic surgery; Polymorphism; Radiation; Sample size; Skin cancer; Surgeons; Variables; Vitamin D; White people; United States > US; Spain; basal cell carcinoma; squamous cell neoplasms; skin cancers; vitamin D3 receptors
• ISSN: 2077-0383; 2077-0383
• DOI: 10.3390/jcm9123819

Exposure to sunlight is the major source of vitamin D and the main environmental cause of non-melanocytic skin cancers. Vitamin D, partly mediated through the vitamin D receptor (VDR), has potential therapeutic applications in skin cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of
and
VDR polymorphisms among patients with non-melanoma cancers and controls. An observational case-control study was conducted in a sample of 154 subjects. We observed no significant effects between these polymorphisms and skin cancer risk. When stratified for gender, GG and AG
polymorphisms significantly increased the risk of basal cell carcinomas in males. In relation to
, all three polymorphisms significantly increased the risk of basal cell carcinoma in males. When stratified for age, we found that being 70 years of age or younger was a protective factor against both skin cancers. Being a female and 70 years old or younger was a protective factor for basal cell carcinoma. A comparison of the frequencies of the VDR genotypes in patients older than 70 years vs. 70 years or younger also revealed age-dependent variations in patients with non-melanoma skin cancer. Our study suggests a role for VDR polymorphisms in non-melanoma skin cancer development.