Background: Thymidylate synthase (TYMS ) polymorphisms are reported to be related to susceptibility to some cancers. However, no study exists on TYMS  polymorphisms and glioma risk. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between two common TYMS  gene variants (rs1059394 C>T, rs2847153 G>A) and glioma susceptibility.
Methods: This case-control study included 605 patients and 1300 cancer-free individuals. Genotyping was performed using Sequenom Mass-ARRAY. We determined odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to estimate the correlations.
Results: The analysis revealed that rs1059394 TT and CT+TT genotype had significantly low glioma risk (TT to CC: OR = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.52–0.97, P  = 0.03; CT+TT to CC: OR = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.55–0.99, P  = 0.04). However, no significant difference was found between rs2847153 and glioma risk in any genetic model (P ﹥0.05). In high-grade gliomas, the GA and GA+AA genotypes of rs2847153 made the majority of genotypes, compared with GG genotype (GA to GG: OR = 2.01, 95% CI = 1.39–2.91, P  < 0.001; GA+AA to GG: OR = 1.78, 95% CI =1.25–2.54, P  < 0.001). Moreover, online expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) analysis indicated that these two polymorphisms may alter TYMS gene expression in transformed fibroblast cells.
Conclusion: Our study provides evidence of the effect of TYMS  rs1059394 on the susceptibility of glioma. In high-grade gliomas, compared with GG genotype, the GA and GA+AA genotypes of rs2847153 comprise a larger proportion.
Keywords: TYMS , glioma, gene variant, susceptibility, case-control study