How to turn off left column for one category and all of its sub categories?

[WayneStephens]

I've used the following code in the templates/CUSTOM/common/tpl_mainpage.php file to disable the left column for a particular category:

if ($current_page_base == 'index' and $cPath == '275') {
	$flag_disable_left = true;
	}

However, I would like to be able to do the same for all the subcategories under that category, without having to list them all (there is a lot). Is this possible using a wildcard of some sort? For instance:

if ($current_page_base == 'index' and $cPath == '275***') {
	$flag_disable_left = true;
	}

Thanks in advance for any help.