Role of multidrug resistance gene 1 polymorphism in prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma patients treated with liver transplantation

AIM: To evaluate the relationship between three multidrug resistance gene 1 (MDR1) polymorphisms (C1236T, G2677A/T, C3435T) and the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Chinese liver transplantation (LT) patients.METHODS: Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis was applied to determine the genotypes of MDR1 gene in 50 HCC patients treated with LT. The tumor-free survival and overall survival were compared among these patients according to the polymorphisms of MDR1 by Kaplan-Meier method, multivariate regression analysis was also performed.RESULTS: No significant association was found between C1236T, G2677T, C3435T and prognosis of these patients. But interestingly, 2677A carrier group had significantly higher tumor-free survival rate than 2677A noncarrier group (P<0.05). The multivariate regression analysis revealed that 2677A carrier genotype was one of the independent factors for predicting tumor-free survival (RR=0.143, P<0.01).CONCLUSION: MDR1 2677A carrier genotype is correlated with the tumor-free survival. MDR1 2677A carrier genotype may be a useful independent prognostic factor in HCC patients treated with LT.