Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, Vol 6, Issue 3 189-192, Copyright © 1997 by American Association for Cancer Research

ARTICLES

A polymorphism of the 5 alpha-reductase gene and its association with prostate cancer: a case-control analysis

PW Kantoff, PG Febbo, E Giovannucci, K Krithivas, DM Dahl, G Chang, CH Hennekens, M Brown and MJ Stampfer
Department of Adult Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.

Prostate cancer (CaP) is the most commonly diagnosed, nondermatological cancer in the United States. The development and progression of CaP is influenced by androgens. 5 alpha-Reductase, type II, converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone and is critical to the development of the prostate. A TA dinucleotide repeat polymorphism exists in the 3' untranslated region of the 5 alpha-reductase type II gene. 5 alpha-Reductase alleles with longer TA repeats are more common in African-Americans, the group with the highest incidence of CaP. It has been hypothesized that the longer TA repeat alleles might be associated with increased risk of CaP. We studied this potential association within the Physician's Health Study, a predominantly Caucasian cohort study. Using PCR we identified the TA genotype in 590 men with CaP and 802 age-matched controls. The frequency of each allele in the controls was TA(0), 0.87, TA(9), 0.13, and TA(18), 0.01. Homozygotes for the longer TA alleles, TA(9) and TA(18), were underrepresented among cases with an odds ratio of 0.47 (confidence interval, 0.20-1.12), but this was not statistically significant (P = 0.08, two tailed). Our analysis does not support the prior hypothesis that longer TA alleles confer an increased risk of CaP in a predominantly Caucasian population; in fact, longer TA alleles are more prevalent in men without CaP.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. Ntais, A. Polycarpou, and J. P. A. Ioannidis SRD5A2 Gene Polymorphisms and the Risk of Prostate Cancer: A Meta-Analysis Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev., July 1, 2003; 12(7): 618 - 624. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. E. Allen, J. K. V. Reichardt, H. Nguyen, and T. J. Key Association between Two Polymorphisms in the SRD5A2 Gene and Serum Androgen Concentrations in British Men Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev., June 1, 2003; 12(6): 578 - 581. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. G. Giles, G. Severi, R. Sinclair, D. R. English, M. R. E. McCredie, W. Johnson, P. Boyle, and J. L. Hopper Androgenetic Alopecia and Prostate Cancer: Findings from an Australian Case-Control Study Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev., June 1, 2002; 11(6): 549 - 553. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. B. Spurdle, J. L. Hopper, X. Chen, G. S. Dite, M. R. E. McCredie, G. G. Giles, D. J. Venter, M. C. Southey, D. M. Purdie, and G. Chenevix-Trench The Steroid 5{alpha}-Reductase Type II TA Repeat Polymorphism Is Not Associated with Risk of Breast or Ovarian Cancer in Australian Women Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev., December 1, 2001; 10(12): 1287 - 1293. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. W. Hsing, C. Chen, A. P. Chokkalingam, Y.-T. Gao, D. A. Dightman, H. T. Nguyen, J. Deng, J. Cheng, I. A. Sesterhenn, F. K. Mostofi, et al. Polymorphic Markers in the SRD5A2 Gene and Prostate Cancer Risk: A Population-based Case-control Study Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev., October 1, 2001; 10(10): 1077 - 1082. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. Modugno, J. L. Weissfeld, D. L. Trump, J. M. Zmuda, P. Shea, J. A. Cauley, and R. E. Ferrell Allelic Variants of Aromatase and the Androgen and Estrogen Receptors: Toward a Multigenic Model of Prostate Cancer Risk Clin. Cancer Res., October 1, 2001; 7(10): 3092 - 3096. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Sasaki, T. Habuchi, K. Sato, T. Akao, H. Kakinuma, Z. Li-Qing, W. Lizhong, S. Matsuo, S. Sasaki, O. Ogawa, et al. The Clinical Utility of Measuring Total PSA, PSA Density, {gamma}-Seminoprotein and {gamma}-Seminoprotein/Total PSA in Prostate Cancer Prediction Jpn. J. Clin. Oncol., August 1, 2000; 30(8): 337 - 342. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. C. Bosland Chapter 2: The Role of Steroid Hormones in Prostate Carcinogenesis J Natl Cancer Inst Monographs, July 1, 2000; 2000(27): 39 - 66. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. Bharaj, A. Scorilas, M. Giai, and E. P. Diamandis TA Repeat Polymorphism of the 5{{alpha}}-Reductase Gene and Breast Cancer Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev., April 1, 2000; 9(4): 387 - 393. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				P. G. Febbo, P. W. Kantoff, E. A. Platz, D. Casey, S. Batter, E. Giovannucci, C. H. Hennekens, and M. J. Stampfer The V89L Polymorphism in the 5{{alpha}}-Reductase Type 2 Gene and Risk of Prostate Cancer Cancer Res., December 1, 1999; 59(23): 5878 - 581. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. M. Lunn, D. A. Bell, J. L. Mohler, and J. A. Taylor Prostate cancer risk and polymorphism in 17 hydroxylase (CYP17) and steroid reductase (SRD5A2) Carcinogenesis, September 1, 1999; 20(9): 1727 - 1731. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. Ruijter, C. van de Kaa, G. Miller, D. Ruiter, F. Debruyne, and J. Schalken Molecular Genetics and Epidemiology of Prostate Carcinoma Endocr. Rev., February 1, 1999; 20(1): 22 - 45. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				S. J. Santner, B. Albertson, G.-y. Zhang, G.-h. Zhang, M. Santulli, C. Wang, L. M. Demers, C. Shackleton, and R. J. Santen Comparative Rates of Androgen Production and Metabolism in Caucasian and Chinese Subjects J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., June 1, 1998; 83(6): 2104 - 2109. [Abstract] [Full Text]