Abstract
High penetrance genes such as BRCA1 or BRCA2 account for only a small proportion of familial breast cancer in Chinese population. Estrogen has been proposed to participate in the proliferation and carcinogenesis of breast cancer. To investigate the association between genetic polymorphisms in genes encoding estrogen metabolizing, estrogen biosynthesizing enzyme and estrogen receptor and the breast cancer risk in BRCA1/BRCA2 negative Shanghai women, we conducted a case-control study including 114 cases with early-onset breast cancer or affected relatives and 121 healthy controls. The genotypes of estrogen receptor alpha (ERα), aromatase (CYP19), and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) genes were analyzed by direct DNA-sequencing. Compared with H/H genotype of COMT Val158Met, COMT Val158Met L/L genotype was associated with a nonsignificantly elevated risk of breast cancer (OR: 3.72; 95% CI: 0.99–13.96, P = 0.051). There was no statistically significant difference in genotype frequency of the ERα PvuII, ERα XbaI and CYP19 Arg264Cys polymorphism between controls and cases. When stratified by menopausal status, COMT Val158Met L/L (OR: 11.94; 95% CI: 1.48–96.03, P = 0.02) and ERα PvuII P/p genotypes (OR: 2.67; 95% CI: 1.01–7.05, P = 0.048) were associated with a significantly elevated risk of breast cancer in premenopausal women, and there was a association between ERα XbaI x/x genotype and the nonsignificantly increased risk of breast cancer in premenopausal women (OR: 6.88; 95% CI: 0.80–59.15, P = 0.079). The multigenic analysis showed maybe these high risk genotypes had combined effect on breast cancer risk. Our findings suggest that polymorphism of genes involving estrogen-metabolizing pathway, estrogen- biosynthesizing pathway and estrogen receptor pathway may play an important role in the etiology of BRCA1/2 negative breast cancer with hereditary predisposing factors.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ford D, Easton DF, Stratton M, Narod S, Goldgar D, Devilee P et al (1998) Genetic heterogeneity and penetrance analysis of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in breast cancer families. Am J Hum Genet 62:676–689
Nathanson KL, Wooster R, Weber BL, Nathanson KN (2001) Breast cancer genetics: what we know and what we need. Nat Med 7:552–556
Antoniou AC, Pharoah PD, McMullan G, Day NE, Ponder BA, Easton D (2001) Evidence for further breast cancer susceptibility genes in addition to BRCA1 and BRCA2 in a population-based study. Genet Epidemiol 21:1–18
Peto J, Collins N, Barfoot R, Seal S, Warren W, Rahman N et al (1999) Prevalence of BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations in patients with early-onset breast cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 91:943–949
Clark JH, Schrader WT, O’Malley BW (1992) Mechanism of action of steroid hormone. In: Wilson JD, Foster DW (eds) Textbook of endocrinology. WB Saunders, New York, pp 35–90
Cavalieri EL, Stack DE, Devanesan PD, Todorovic R, Dwivedy I, Higginbotham S, Johansson SL, Patil KD, Gross ML, Gooden JK, Ramanathan R, Cerny RL, Rogan EG (1997) Molecular origin of cancer: catechol estrogen-3,4-quinones as endogenous tumor initiators. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 94:10937–10942
Yager JD, Liehr JG (1996) Molecular mechanisms of estrogen carcinogenesis. Annu Rev Pharmacol Toxicol 36:203–232
Zhu BT, Conney AH (1998) Is 2-methoxyestradiol an endogenous estrogen metabolite that inhibits mammary carcinogenesis? Cancer Res 58:2269–2277
Yaich L, Dupont WD, Cavener DR, Parl FF (1992) Analysis of the PvuII restriction fragment-length polymorphism and exon structure of the estrogen receptor gene in breast cancer and peripheral blood. Cancer Res 52:77–83
Zuppan PJ, Hall JM, Ponglikitmongkol M, Spielman R, King MC (1989) Polymorphisms at the estrogen receptor (ESR) locus and linkage relationships on chromosome 6q. Cytogenet Cell Genet 51:1116
Andersen TI, Heimdal KR, Skrede M, Tveit K, Berg K, Borresen A-L (1994) Oestrogen receptor (ESR) polymorphisms and breast cancer susceptibility. Hum Genet 94:665–670
Parl FF, Cavener DR, Dupont WD (1989) Genomic DNA analysis of the estrogen receptor gene in breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat 14:57–64
Shin A, Kang D, Nishio H et al (2003) Estrogen receptor alpha gene polymorphisms and breast cancer risk. Breast Cancer Res Treat 80:127–131
Cai Q, Shu XO, Jin F et al (2003) Genetic polymorphisms in the estrogen receptor alpha gene and risk of breast cancer: results from the Shanghai breast cancer study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 12:853–859
Boyapati SM, Shu XO, Ruan ZX, Cai Q, Smith JR, Wen W, Gao YT, Zheng W (2005) Polymorphisms in ER-alpha gene interact with estrogen receptor status in breast cancer survival. Clin Cancer Res 11:1093–1098
Shen Y, Li DK, Wu J, Zhang Z, Gao E (2006) Joint effects of the CYP1A1 MspI, ER alpha PvuII, and ER alpha XbaI polymorphisms on the risk of breast cancer: results from a population-based case-control study in Shanghai, China. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 15:342–347
Zhu BT, Conney AH (1998) Functional role of estrogen metabolism in target cells: review and perspectives. Carcinogenesis 19:1–27
Lachman HM, Papolos DF, Saito T, Yu YM, Szumlanski CL, Weinshilboum RM (1996) Human catechol-O-methyltransferase pharmacogenetics: description of a functional polymorphism and its potential application to neuropsychiatric disorders. Pharmacogenetics 6:243–250
Thompson PA, Shields PG, Freudenheim JL, Stone A, Vena JE, Marshall JR, et al. (1998) Genetic polymorphisms in catechol-O-methyltransferase, menopausal status, and breast cancer risk. Cancer Res 58:2107–2110
Mitrunen K, Jourenkova N, Kataja V, Eskelinen M, Kosma VM, Benhamou S, Kang D, Vainio H, Uusitupa M, Hirvonen A (2001) Polymorphic catechol-O-methyltransferase gene and breast cancer risk. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 10:635–640
Millikan RC, Pittman GS, Tse CKJ, Duell E, Newman B, Savitz D, Moorman PG, Boissy RJ, Bell DA (1998) Catechol-O-methyltransferase and breast cancer risk. Carcinogenesis (Lond) 19:1943–1947
Lavigne JA, Helzlsouer KJ, Huang H-Y, Strickland PT, Bell DA, Selmin O, Watson MA, Hoffman S, Comstock GW, Yager JD (1997) An association between the allele coding for a low activity variant of catechol-Otable methyltransferase and the risk for breast cancer. Cancer Res 57:5493–5497
Matsui A, Ikeda T, Enomoto K, Nakashima H, Omae K, Watanabe M, Hibi T, Kitajima M (2000) Progression of human breast cancers to the metastatic state is linked to genotypes of catechol-O-methyltransferase. Cancer Lett 150:23–31
Hamajima N, Matsuo K, Tajima K, Mizutani M, Iwata H, Iwase T et al (2001) Limited association between a catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) polymorphism and breast cancer risk in Japan. Int J Clin Oncol 6:13–18
Yim DS, Parkb SK, Yoo KY, Yoon KS, Chung HH, Kang HL et al (2001) Relationship between the Val158Met polymorphism of catechol O-methyl transferase and breast cancer. Pharmacogenetics 11:279–286
Huang C-S, Chern H-D, Chang K-J, Cheng C-W, Hsu S-M, Shen C-Y (1999) Breast cancer risk associated with genotype polymorphism of the estrogenmetabolizing genes CYP17, CYP1A1, and COMT: a multigenic study on cancer susceptibility. Cancer Res 59:4870–4875
Mendelson CR, Means GD, Mahendroo MS, Corbin CJ, Steinkampf MP, Graham-Lorence S et al (1990) Use of molecular probes to study regulation of aromatase cytochrome P-450. Biol Reprod 42:1–10
O’Neill JS, Elton RA (1988) MillerWR.Aromatase activity in adipose tissue from breast quadrants: a link with tumour site. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 296:741–743
Hefler LA, Tempfer CB, Grimm C, Lebrecht A, Ulbrich Eva, Heinze G, Leodolter S, Schneeberger C, Mueller MW, Muendlein A, Koelbl H (2004) Estrogen-metabolizing gene polymorphisms in the assessment of breast carcinoma risk and fibroadenoma risk in caucasian women. Cancer 101:264–269
Lee KM, Abel J, Ko Y, Harth V, Park WY, Seo JS et al (2003) Genetic polymorphisms of cytochrome P450 19 and 1B1, alcohol use, and breast cancer risk in Korean women. Br J Cancer 88:675–678
Miyoshi Y, Iwao K, Ikeda N, Egawa C, Noguchi S (2000) Breast cancer risk associated with polymorphism in CYP19 in Japanese women. Int J Cancer 89:325–328
Hu Z, Wu J, Liu CH, Lu JS, LuoJM, Han QX, Shen ZZ, Shao ZM (2003) The analysis of BRCA1 mutations in eastern Chinese patients with early onset breast cancer and affected relatives. Hum Mutat 22(1):104
Song CG, Hu Z, Wu J, Luo JM, Shen ZZ, Huang W, Shao ZM (2006) The prevalence of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in Chinese women with breast cancer. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 132(10):617–626
Hill SM, Fuqua SA, Chamness GC, Greene GL, McGuire WL (1989) Estrogen receptor expression in human breast cancer associated with an estrogen receptor gene restriction fragment length polymorphism. Cancer Res 49:145–148
Ahsan H, Whittemore AS, Chen Y, Senie RT, Hamilton SP, Wang Q, Gurvich I, Santella RM et al (2005) Variants in estrogen-biosynthesis genes CYP17 and CYP19 and breast cancer risk: a family-based genetic association study. Breast Cancer Res 7:R71–R81
Ahsan H, Chen Y, Whittemore AS, Kibriya MG, Gurvich I, Senie RT, Santella RM (2004) A family-based genetic association study of variants in estrogen metabolism genes COMT and CYP1B1 and breast cancer risk. Breast Cancer Res Treat 85:121–131
Acknowledgment
This research was supported in part by the Outstanding Young Investigator Award of National Natural Science Foundation of China (30025015), National Key Project of China (2001BA703BO5), National Natural Science Foundation of China (30371580, 30572109, 30570695), the Grant from Shanghai Science and Technology Committee (03J14019, 32R14021) and the Young Investigator Award of Fudan University (JKF159002).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Zhen Hu and Chuan-Gui Song contributed equally to the work.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hu, Z., Song, CG., Lu, JS. et al. A multigenic study on breast cancer risk associated with genetic polymorphisms of ER Alpha, COMT and CYP19 gene in BRCA1/BRCA2 negative Shanghai women with early onset breast cancer or affected relatives. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 133, 969–978 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-007-0244-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-007-0244-7