Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

No evidence for an association between the earwax-associated polymorphism in ABCC11 and breast cancer risk in Caucasian women

  • Brief Report
  • Published:
Breast Cancer Research and Treatment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

ABCC11 is an ATP-binding cassette transporter responsible for the transport of a diverse range of lipophilic compounds. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) encoding an amino acid change has recently been shown to determine whether cerumen (earwax) is wet or dry. We hypothesised that this ABCC11 SNP may be associated with breast cancer risk because an association has been reported between wet earwax and increased risk of breast cancer. We therefore analysed the frequency of the functional SNP in 1342 cases and 2256 controls from two breast cancer studies of Caucasian women but found no evidence for an association with breast cancer risk.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Kruh GD, Guo Y, Hopper-Borge E, Belinsky MG, Chen ZS (2007) ABCC10, ABCC11, and ABCC12. Pflugers Arch 453(5):675–684. doi:10.1007/s00424-006-0114-1

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Bera TK, Lee S, Salvatore G, Lee B, Pastan I (2001) MRP8, a new member of ABC transporter super-family, identified by EST database mining and gene prediction program, is highly expressed in breast cancer. Mol Med 7(8):509–516

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Martin A, Saathoff M, Kuhn F, Max H, Terstegen L, Natsch A (2010) A functional ABCC11 allele is essential in the biochemical formation of human axillary odor. J Invest Dermatol 130(2):529–540. doi:10.1038/jid.2009.254

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Miura K, Yoshiura K, Miura S, Shimada T, Yamasaki K, Yoshida A, Nakayama D, Shibata Y, Niikawa N, Masuzaki H (2007) A strong association between human earwax-type and apocrine colostrum secretion from the mammary gland. Hum Genet 121(5):631–633. doi:10.1007/s00439-007-0356-9

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Yoshiura K, Kinoshita A, Ishida T, Ninokata A, Ishikawa T, Kaname T, Bannai M, Tokunaga K, Sonoda S, Komaki R, Ihara M, Saenko VA, Alipov GK, Sekine I, Komatsu K, Takahashi H, Nakashima M, Sosonkina N, Mapendano CK, Ghadami M, Nomura M, Liang DS, Miwa N, Kim DK, Garidkhuu A, Natsume N, Ohta T, Tomita H, Kaneko A, Kikuchi M, Russomando G, Hirayama K, Ishibashi M, Takahashi A, Saitou N, Murray JC, Saito S, Nakamura Y, Niikawa N (2006) A SNP in the ABCC11 gene is the determinant of human earwax type. Nat Genet 38(3):324–330. doi:10.1038/ng1733

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Toyoda Y, Sakurai A, Mitani Y, Nakashima M, Yoshiura K, Nakagawa H, Sakai Y, Ota I, Lezhava A, Hayashizaki Y, Niikawa N, Ishikawa T (2009) Earwax, osmidrosis, and breast cancer: why does one SNP (538 g> a) in the human ABC transporter ABCC11 gene determine earwax type? FASEB J 23(6):2001–2013. doi:10.1096/fj.09-129098

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Petrakis NL (1971) Cerumen genetics and human breast cancer. Science 173(994):347–349

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Petrakis NL (1983) Cerumen phenotype and epithelial dysplasia in nipple aspirates of breast fluid. Am J Phys Anthropol 62(1):115–118. doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330620115

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Petrakis NL, King EB, Lee M, Miike R (1990) Cerumen phenotype and proliferative epithelium in breast fluids of U.S.-born vs. Immigrant Asian women: A possible genetic-environmental interaction. Breast Cancer Res Treat 16(3):279–285

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Ing R, Petrakis L, Ho HC (1973) Evidence against association between wet cerumen and breast cancer. Lancet 1(7793):41

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Matsunaga E (1962) The dimorphism in human normal cerumen. Ann Hum Genet 25:273–286

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Catucci I, Verderio P, Pizzamiglio S, Manoukian S, Peissel B, Barile M, Tizzoni L, Bernard L, Ravagnani F, Galastri L, Pierotti MA, Radice P, Peterlongo P (2009) SNPs in ultraconserved elements and familial breast cancer risk. Carcinogenesis 30(3):544–545. doi:10.1093/carcin/bgn289 (author reply 546)

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. De Vecchi G, Verderio P, Pizzamiglio S, Manoukian S, Barile M, Fortuzzi S, Ravagnani F, Pierotti MA, Radice P, Peterlongo P (2009) Evidences for association of the CASP8–652 6N del promoter polymorphism with age at diagnosis in familial breast cancer cases. Breast Cancer Res Treat 113(3):607–608. doi:10.1007/s10549-008-9963-y

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Mann GJ, Thorne H, Balleine RL, Butow PN, Clarke CL, Edkins E, Evans GM, Fereday S, Haan E, Gattas M, Giles GG, Goldblatt J, Hopper JL, Kirk J, Leary JA, Lindeman G, Niedermayr E, Phillips KA, Picken S, Pupo GM, Saunders C, Scott CL, Spurdle AB, Suthers G, Tucker K, Chenevix-Trench G (2006) Analysis of cancer risk and BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation prevalence in the kConFab familial breast cancer resource. Breast Cancer Res 8(1):R12. doi:10.1186/bcr1377

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Beesley J, Jordan SJ, Spurdle AB, Song H, Ramus SJ, Kjaer SK, Hogdall E, DiCioccio RA, McGuire V, Whittemore AS, Gayther SA, Pharoah PD, Webb PM, Chenevix-Trench G (2007) Association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms in hormone metabolism and DNA repair genes and epithelial ovarian cancer: results from two Australian studies and an additional validation set. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 16(12):2557–2565. doi:10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-07-0542

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Milne RL, Benitez J, Nevanlinna H, Heikkinen T, Aittomaki K, Blomqvist C, Arias JI, Zamora MP, Burwinkel B, Bartram CR, Meindl A, Schmutzler RK, Cox A, Brock I, Elliott G, Reed MWR, Southey MC, Smith L, Spurdle AB, Hopper JL, Couch FJ, Olson JE, Wang X, Fredericksen Z, Schurmann P, Bremer M, Hillemanns P, Dork T, Devilee P, van Asperen CJ, Tollenaar RAEM, Seynaeve C, Hall P, Czene K, Liu J, Li Y, Ahmed S, Dunning AM, Maranian M, Pharoah PDP, Chenevix-Trench G, Beesley J, kConFab Investigators, AOCS Group, Bogdanova NV, Antonenkova NN, Zalutsky IV, Anton-Culver H, Ziogas A, Brauch H, Justenhoven C, Ko Y-D, Haas S, Fasching PA, Strick R, Ekici AB, Beckmann MW, Giles GG, Severi G, Baglietto L, English DR, Fletcher O, Johnson N, dos Santos Silva I, Peto J, Turnbull C, Hines S, Renwick A, Rahman N, Nordestgaard BG, Bojesen SE, Flyger H, Kang D, Yoo K-Y, Noh D-Y, Mannermaa A, Kataja V, Kosma V-M, Garcia-Closas M, Chanock S, Lissowska J, Brinton LA, Chang-Claude J, Wang-Gohrke S, Shen C-Y, Wang H-C, Yu J-C, Chen S-T, Bermisheva M, Nikolaeva T, Khusnutdinova E, Humphreys MK, Morrison J, Platte R, Easton DF, on behalf of the Breast Cancer Association Consortium ((2009)) Risk of oestrogen receptor-positive and -negative breast cancer and single-nucleotide polymorphism 2q35-rs13387042. J Natl Cancer Inst 101((14):):1012–1018. doi:10.1093/jnci/djp167

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  17. Hunter DJ, Kraft P, Jacobs KB, Cox DG, Yeager M, Hankinson SE, Wacholder S, Wang Z, Welch R, Hutchinson A, Wang J, Yu K, Chatterjee N, Orr N, Willett WC, Colditz GA, Ziegler RG, Berg CD, Buys SS, McCarty CA, Feigelson HS, Calle EE, Thun MJ, Hayes RB, Tucker M, Gerhard DS, Fraumeni JF Jr, Hoover RN, Thomas G, Chanock SJ (2007) A genome-wide association study identifies alleles in FGFR2 associated with risk of sporadic postmenopausal breast cancer. Nat Genet 39(7):870–874. doi:10.1038/ng2075

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

kConFaB is supported by the National Breast Cancer Foundation, the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, and the Cancer Councils of Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, and Victoria. The Clinical Follow-up Study of kConFaB is funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia (145684 and 288704). GCT and ABS are supported by Fellowships from the NHMRC. The AOCS, which provided control samples only for the study, was supported by the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (DAMD17-01-1-0729), the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (199600), and the Cancer Council Tasmania and Cancer Foundation of Western Australia. MBCSG is funded in part by grants from Fondazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro (Special Project “Hereditary tumours”), Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro (4017), Ministero della Salute (RFPS-2006-3-340203, Extraordinary National Cancer Program 2006 “Alleanza contro il Cancro”, and “Progetto Tumori Femminili”), Ministero dell’Universita’ e Ricerca (RBLAO3-BETH), and by funds from Italian citizens who allocated the 5 × 1000 share of their tax payment in support of the Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, according to Italian laws (INT-Institutional strategic projects “5 × 1000”). We thank kConFab nurses, staff of the Familial Cancer Clinics, Heather Thorne, Eveline Niedermayr, Helene Holland, and Gillian Dite for their contributions to the kConFaB study, and the Clinical Follow-up Study of kConFaB for supplying some data. The AOCS Management Group members include David Bowtell, Adele Green, Penny Webb, Anna DeFazio, and Dorota Gertig.

Conflict of interest

The authors have declared that no conflicts of interest exist.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Genetics and Population Health Division, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, 300 Herston Road, Herston, 4006, Brisbane, Australia

    Jonathan Beesley, Sharon E. Johnatty, Xiaoqing Chen, Amanda B. Spurdle & Georgia Chenevix-Trench

  2. Unit of Molecular Bases of Genetic Risk and Genetic Testing, Department of Preventive and Predictive Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy

    Paolo Peterlongo & Paolo Radice

  3. IFOM, Fondazione Istituto FIRC di Oncologia Molecolare, Milan, Italy

    Paolo Peterlongo & Paolo Radice

  4. Division of Cancer Prevention and Genetics, Istituto Europeo di Oncologia, Milan, Italy

    Monica Barile

  5. Cogentech, Consortium for Genomics Technology, Milan, Italy

    Valeria Pensotti

  6. Unit of Medical Genetics, Department of Preventive and Predictive Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy

    Siranoush Manoukian

Authors
  1. Jonathan Beesley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sharon E. Johnatty
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Xiaoqing Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Amanda B. Spurdle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Paolo Peterlongo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Monica Barile
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Valeria Pensotti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Siranoush Manoukian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Paolo Radice
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Georgia Chenevix-Trench
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Consortia

Australian Ovarian Cancer Study Group

Kathleen Cuningham Consortium for Research in Familial Breast Cancer

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Georgia Chenevix-Trench.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Beesley, J., Johnatty, S.E., Chen, X. et al. No evidence for an association between the earwax-associated polymorphism in ABCC11 and breast cancer risk in Caucasian women. Breast Cancer Res Treat 126, 235–239 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-010-1292-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-010-1292-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation