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Androgen receptor polyglutamine tract length in Egyptian male breast cancer patients

  • Epidemiology
  • Published:
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Abstract

Male Breast Cancer (MBC) is a rare disease in the U.S., accounting for less than 1% of all breast cancers. Rates of MBC in Africa are more variable than in the U.S., therefore, understanding the risk factors involved in a population like Egypt can clarify the nature of MBC. The polyglutamine tract (QT) is a variable region of the androgen receptor (AR), a nuclear receptor which is important in modulating androgen actions and generally inhibits growth in breast tissue. It is hypothesized that a long QT results in weaker AR activity over the lifetime, resulting in less AR mediated control over cellular division and higher risk of MBC. As a corollary, we expect to see a distribution skewed toward longer QTs in MBC patients compared to controls and overall relatively longer QT’s in populations with higher rates of MBC. This study aimed to investigate for the first time the distribution of AR QT lengths among MBC patients in Egypt. Paraffin-embedded tumor tissues from 44 Egyptian MBC patients were analyzed for this polymorphism. Amplification followed by fragment length analysis revealed QT length. For the control series, blood from 43 Egyptian males without a family or personal history of breast or prostate cancers was collected and analyzed similarly. There was no significant difference between patients and controls with respect to mean QT length (P = 0.84; means were 19.5 ± 2.8 and 19.3 ± 4.2, for patients and controls, respectively). Though, short QT lengths were more prevalent among controls (14.0%), but almost absent in cases (2.3%). Although the mean lengths were not different in cases and controls, the near absence of short tracts in cases suggests a possible protective effect of very short QT lengths against MBC. In populations in which there is variable incidence of MBC by region, investigations of the distribution of AR QT lengths are warranted to further delineate its role as a risk factor in MBC.

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Acknowledgments

This research, Samuel Gilbert, and Ashley Strahley, were supported by the Cancer Epidemiology Education in Special Populations Program of the University of Michigan, an R25 Cancer Education Grant from the National Cancer Institute (R25 CA112383). The work was also supported by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the Avon Foundation, the Debbie Strange-Brown Inflammatory Breast Cancer Foundation, and the Tempting Tables Organization. The authors of this study would like to thank Dr. Khaled Daboos of the Tanta Cancer Center for his generous assistance in collecting blood samples to use as controls and Dr. Leon Raskin at the University of Michigan for his valuable guidance in interpreting the allele fragment analyses.

Conflict of interest

The authors do not have any to declare. This study was reported taking into consideration the REMARK guidelines.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, 5626 SPH I, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2029, USA

    Samuel F. Gilbert, Amr S. Soliman, Mohab Eissa, Ashley Strahley & Sofia D. Merajver

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Maria Iniesta & Sofia D. Merajver

  3. Gharbiah Cancer Society and Gharbiah Cancer Registry, Tanta, 31512, Egypt

    Ahmed Hablas & Ibrahim A. Seifeldin

  4. Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Mousumi Banerjee

  5. Center for Global Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, USA

    Sofia D. Merajver

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  1. Samuel F. Gilbert
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Correspondence to Amr S. Soliman.

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Gilbert, S.F., Soliman, A.S., Iniesta, M. et al. Androgen receptor polyglutamine tract length in Egyptian male breast cancer patients. Breast Cancer Res Treat 129, 575–581 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-011-1510-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-011-1510-6

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