Heterozygotes of rs10759637 at 3'UTR was associated with severe thrombocytopenia (odds ratio [OR]: 2.69; <i>P</i> = 0.012) and shorter overall survival (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.24; <i>P</i> = 0.005).
In stratification analyses, rs10759637 and rs2233914 consistently correlated with overall survival in specific subgroups such as men, smoker, patients older than 58 years, or with ECOG PS 0-1, or with squamous cell carcinoma. rs10759637 could change the local structure of 3'UTR harboring putative binding sites for hsa-miR-29, whose transfection into 16HBE cells resulted in remarkable suppression of gene expression.