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CAG repeat length polymorphism in the androgen receptor gene and breast cancer risk: data on Indian women and survey from the world

  • Epidemiology
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Abstract

We analyzed the length of the CAG repeats of the androgen receptor gene in Indian women with breast cancer, and compared the data with that of other populations across the world in an attempt to find a potential pattern of association. The study was undertaken on 1,408 individuals comprising 747 breast cancer patients and 661 control individuals recruited from three southern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. The comparison revealed no difference in mean length of the repeat between cases and controls in any of the three groups or in the analysis of pooled data. No significant difference between pre- and post-menopausal cases in any of the three groups or in the analysis of pooled data was observed. Most of the studies to date support either positive association (longer repeats—increased disease risk) or no association, and only 2 out of 20 studies reported negative association (inverse correlation between repeat length and disease risk). Comparison of these data with those from other populations revealed several interesting facts. Particularly notable is that repeat length shows association with breast cancer risk in a population-specific manner with most of the studies on American and Canadian women showing positive association, whereas those on Australian and Israeli women showing no association. Only one study had been conducted on other populations including Asians/South Asians; this restricted us from finding any patterns of association in these populations.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the CSIR and ICMR, Govt. of India for funding this study. We are indebted to the study participants for their cooperation and the samples provided for this study. We are thankful to Mr. Mircea Iliescu and Mr. Guy Jacobs for editing the manuscript for language.

Conflict of interest

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Uppal Road, Hyderabad, 500 007, India

    Singh Rajender, Nallala Krupakar & Kumarasamy Thangaraj

  2. Endocrinology Division, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, India

    Singh Rajender & Singh Pooja

  3. Department of Advanced Zoology and Biotechnology, Government Arts College, Nandanam, Chennai, India

    Amirtharaj Francis & K. Ramalingam

  4. Department of Genetics, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India

    D. Surekha & S. Vishnupriya

  5. Department of Biochemistry, MNJ Cancer Hospital, Hyderabad, India

    Gopal Reddy

  6. Department of Biochemistry, Osmania General Hospital, Hyderabad, India

    Gopal Reddy

  7. Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, India

    D. Raghunatha Rao

  8. Department of Pathology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Manipal, India

    Lakshmi Rao

  9. Department of Surgery, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Manipal, India

    S. Ramachandra

  10. Manipal Life Sciences Center, Manipal University, Manipal, India

    K. Satyamoorthy

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  1. Singh Rajender
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Correspondence to Kumarasamy Thangaraj.

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Rajender, S., Francis, A., Pooja, S. et al. CAG repeat length polymorphism in the androgen receptor gene and breast cancer risk: data on Indian women and survey from the world. Breast Cancer Res Treat 127, 751–760 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-010-1263-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-010-1263-7

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