The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of MCP-1 and its receptor CCR2 gene polymorphisms on the susceptibility and clinicopathological characteristics of oral cancer, as well as the synergistic effect between these gene polymorphisms and well-known risk factors including alcohol, tobacco, and areca consumptions. Using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique for polymorphism analysis, 344 healthy controls and 216 oral cancer patients were recruited to reveal a significant association between V64I CCR2 gene polymorphism and oral cancer susceptibility. After adjusting for other confounders, individuals with GA (AOR=1.84; 95%CI=1.10-3.20) or at least one A allele (AOR=1.78; 95%CI=1.05-3.02) had a higher risk for oral cancer, compared to GG genotypes. Moreover, results also revealed that for subjects with GA or at least one A allele of V64I CCR2 gene polymorphism, those exposed to environmental risk factors possessed a significantly higher risk for oral cancer than those unexposed subjects. Therefore, genetic polymorphism of CCR2-64I may contribute to the susceptibility to oral cancer.
