This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Tamimi, R. M. Articles by Hunter, D. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Tamimi, R. M. Articles by Hunter, D. J.

The HRAS1 Variable Number of Tandem Repeats and Risk of Breast Cancer

¹ Departments of Epidemiology, ² Biostatistics, and ³ Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts; ⁴ Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; ⁵ Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention, Boston, Massachusetts; and ⁶ Division of Molecular Medicine, City of Hope National Medical Center, Beckman Research Center, Duarte, California

Rare alleles at the HRAS1 variable number of tandem repeats (VNTRs) locus have been implicated in breast cancer risk. We assessed the association of rare HRAS1 alleles and breast cancer in a case-control study nested within the Nurses’ Health Study cohort. Using PCR-based methods, 717 incident breast cancer cases and 798 controls were genotyped for the HRAS1 VNTRs. The prevalence of the rare alleles in breast cancer cases was not different compared with controls (10.7 versus 12.0%, respectively; P = 0.45, two-sided Cochran-Mantel-Haenzel ² test). There was no evidence that women heterozygous (multivariate odds ratio, 0.97; 95% confidence interval, 0.73–1.27) or homozygous (multivariate odds ratio, 0.83; 95% confidence interval, 0.32–2.14) for rare alleles were at an increased risk of breast cancer or that a positive gene-dose effect existed. The results did not vary by menopausal status. Although as a group the rare alleles were not associated with breast cancer, one class of rare alleles between the common alleles of a3 and a4 was associated with a significantly increased risk. These results suggest that there is no overall association between rare alleles of the HRAS1 VNTR and breast cancer.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. P. A. Ioannidis Common genetic variants for breast cancer: 32 largely refuted candidates and larger prospects. J Natl Cancer Inst, October 4, 2006; 98(19): 1350 - 1353. [Full Text] [PDF]

				O. Fletcher, L. Gibson, N. Johnson, D. R. Altmann, J. M.P. Holly, A. Ashworth, J. Peto, and I. d. S. Silva Polymorphisms and Circulating Levels in the Insulin-Like Growth Factor System and Risk of Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev., January 1, 2005; 14(1): 2 - 19. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]