Oral cancer is among the most common cancers worldwide and has become a major global health problem because of its relatively high morbidity and mortality rates. The sex-determining region on the Y-chromosome-related high-mobility-group box (SOX) transcription factor 11 (SOX11) plays a key role in human development and differentiation and is frequently increased in various human cancers. However, the clinical significance of SOX11 polymorphisms in oral cancer and their association with oral cancer risk are unclear. In this study, we included 1196 patients with oral cancer and 1200 controls. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was applied to analyze three SOX11 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (rs77996007, rs66465560, and rs68114586). Our results shown that SOX11 polymorphisms carriers with betel quid chewing were found to have an 8.38- to 9.23-fold risk to have oral cancer compared to SOX11 wild-type carriers without betel quid chewing. Furthermore, oral cancer patients who carried SOX11 rs77996007 TC + CC variants were significantly associated with large tumor size (AOR, 1.324; 95% CI, 1.047-1.674;p= 0.019). Moreover, a database analysis using the Cancer Genome Atlas suggested that SOX11 mRNA expression was high during the tumor development process. In conclusion, our results suggest that SOX11 rs77996007 is involved in oral cancer progression and clinical characteristics.
