CHSJ

Curr Health Sci J, vol. 52, no. 3, 2026

Assessment of the KRAS rs61764370 Polymorphism as a Genetic Risk Factor for Colorectal Cancer in a Romanian Population-A Preliminary Study

[Original Paper]

T.C. BERISHA(1,2), M. SCHENKER(2,3), A.M. CIUREA(2,3), A.M. MEHEDINTEANU(2), R.A. SCHENKER(2), SS. SOSOI(4), P. O. STOVICEK(2,5), M.G. CUCU(4,6), B.C. ALBU(1,7), F. BURADA(4,6), M.L. CARA(2,8)


(1)Doctoral School, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Craiova, Romania;
(2)Sf. Nectarie Oncology Center, Romania;
(3)Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Romania;
(4)Human Genomics Laboratory, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Romania;
(5)Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Nursing, Târgu Jiu Subsidiary, “Titu Maiorescu” University, Bucharest, Romania;
(6)Regional Centre of Medical Genetics Dolj, Emergency Clinical County Hospital Craiova, Romania;
(7)Department of Surgery, Emergency Clinical County Hospital, Romania;
(8)Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Romania


Abstract:

Background: The KRAS 3?UTR let-7 complementary site 6 (LCS6) polymorphism rs61764370 has been proposed as a susceptibility marker for colorectal cancer (CRC), but most published work has addressed prognosis and treatment response rather than disease risk, and no case-control data exist for Eastern European populations. Methods: We genotyped rs61764370 by TaqMan allelic discrimination in 107 patients with histologically confirmed colorectal adenocarcinoma and 329 cancer-free controls from South-West Romania. Susceptibility was assessed under codominant, dominant, recessive, and allelic models. Results: Genotype distributions were consistent with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in both cases (p=0.596) and controls (p=1.000). The G allele frequency was 10.3% in cases and 7.0% in controls. The TG genotype was more frequent in cases (20.6%) than controls (13.4%), but no comparison reached significance: codominant OR=1.671 (p=0.074), dominant OR=1.633 (p=0.086), and allelic OR=1.524 (p=0.119). The recessive model could not be reliably estimated, as no GG homozygote was found among cases and only one among controls. Genotype distribution was not significantly associated with sex, tumor location, stage, or histological grade. Conclusions: rs61764370 was not significantly associated with colorectal cancer susceptibility in this Romanian population. Estimates were consistently above unity but imprecise, and the near absence of GG homozygotes precluded evaluation of recessive inheritance. Larger studies are required before a modest susceptibility effect can be excluded.


Keywords: Colorectal cancer risk, KRAS 3?UTR, rs61764370, let-7 binding site, Eastern European population.



Corresponding: Mihai Gabriel Cucu, Human Genomics Laboratory, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Romania, Regional Centre of Medical Genetics Dolj, Emergency Clinical County Hospital Craiova, Romania, e-mail: mihai.cucu@umfcv.ro; Florin Burada, Human Genomics Laboratory, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Romania, Regional Centre of Medical Genetics Dolj, Emergency Clinical County Hospital Craiova, Romania, e-mail: florin.burada@umfcv.ro


DOI 10.12865/CHSJ.52.03.06 - Download PDF
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