Association of glutathione S-transferase omega gene polymorphisms with progression of head and neck cancer

This study investigated the influence of glutathione S-transferase omega 1 (GSTO1) and GSTO2 gene polymorphisms on susceptibility and aggressiveness of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). A case–control study consisting of 300 HNSCC cases and 299 age and sex- matched normal control was performed. Genotyping of GSTO1*A140D and GSTO2*N142D polymorphisms was determined using the polymerase chain reaction—restriction fragment length polymorphism method. Our results revealed that the frequencies of GSTO1 and GSTO2 genotypes were not significantly different between HNSCC cases and controls. No significant differences were found in smoking or drinking status between cases and controls. However, HNSCC individuals with the GSTO1*D140 varient were significantly associated with nodal metastasis (OR?=?0.53, 95?%CI?=?0.31–0.91, P?=?0.020) and advanced pathological stage (OR?=?0.33,95?%CI?=?0.15–0.70, P?=?0.032), while no significant association was observed between GSTO2 genotype and clinicopathological features. Therefore, our findings suggest that the GSTO1*D140 variant genotype in individuals might play a protective role against the aggressiveness of HNSCC.