Genetic polymorphisms in IL10RA and TNF modify the association between blood transfusion and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma

We conducted a population-based case-control study in Connecticut women to test the hypothesis that genetic variations in Th1 and Th2 cytokine genes may modify the association between blood transfusion and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Compared with women without blood transfusion, women with a history of transfusion had an increased risk of NHL if they carried IL10RA (rs9610) GG genotype [odds ratio (OR) = 1.9, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.1-3.2] or TNF (rs1800629) AG/AA genotypes (OR = 1.6, 95% CI: 0.9-2.7). We also found women with a history of transfusion had a decreased risk of NHL if they carried IL10RA (rs9610) AG/AA genotypes (OR = 0.6, 95% CI: 0.4-0.9) or TNF (rs1800629) GG genotype (OR = 0.7, 95% CI: 0.5-1.0). A similar pattern was also observed for B-cell lymphoma but not for T-cell lymphoma. Statistically significant interactions with blood transfusion were observed for IL10RA (rs9610) (P(forinteraction) = 0.003) and TNF (rs1800629) (P(forinteraction) = 0.012) for NHL overall and IL10RA (rs9610) (P(forinteraction) = 0.001) and TNF (rs1800629) (P(forinteraction) = 0.019) for B-cell lymphoma. The results suggest that genetic polymorphisms in TNF and IL10RA genes may modify the association between blood transfusion and NHL risk.