E-cadherin (CDH-1) is a cell-cell adhesive molecule which maintains cell integrity and communication between the intracellular and extracellular environment. CDH-1 may consequently be related to carcinogenesis or metastasis. And cytokines are reported to be associated with the inhibition of cancer or formation of prostate cancer. Our aim was to investigate 3’-UTR of the CDH-1 gene, C/T polymorphisms of the interleukin-2 (IL-2) gene and interleukin-2 receptor β (IL-2Rβ) gene are associated with prostate cancer. We compared the frequency of the polymorphisms of CDH-1 gene, IL-2 gene and IL-2 Rβ gene between 96 patients with prostate cancer and 114 healthy male volunteers from the same area (age >60 years). They were followed for at least 5 years. There was a significant difference in distribution of the genotype of the CDH-1 (p<0.001) and IL-2 (p=0.017) gene polymorphism between the prostate cancer group and the control group. There was no significant difference in the distribution of the genotype of the IL-2Rβ gene polymorphism between controls and cancer patients (p=0.388). There was also no significant difference according to age, pathological grading, clinical staging, and responsiveness to hormone therapy among patients. However, no significant statistical difference was found between the polymorphism of the IL-2 gene and prostate cancer in survival analysis during a 5-year follow up period (log rank test p=0.19). This study suggests that the CDH-1 and IL-2 gene may be associated with susceptibility to prostate cancer in the Taiwan population.
