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University of Toronto and Sunnybrook-Womens College Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1N8, Canada [A. L., W. W. Z., S. A. N.]; Department of Surgery, College of Medicine and Philippine General Hospital, University of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines [M. L. D. L. M.]; Department of Surgery, Davao Regional Hospital, Tagum City, Philippines [A. T.]; and Womens Cancer Research Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California [A. L.]
| Abstract |
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5% of cases are attributed to mutations in high-risk breast cancer susceptibility genes, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2. It is believed that genes of lower penetrance, but of greater prevalence, may also modulate a womans risk of breast cancer. We studied the association of breast cancer and the trinucleotide repeat polymorphism (CAGn) in exon 1 of the androgen receptor gene (AR) in 299 cases of breast cancer and in 229 hospital-based controls from the Philippines. Women for whom the mean length of the CAG repeat allele was
25 units had approximately one-half of the risk of breast cancer compared with women with a mean repeat length of
26 [odds ratio (OR), 0.47; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.280.8). The association with breast cancer risk was particularly strong among older women (
50 years; OR, 0.2; 95% CI, 0.040.94). The association was also observed for the longer of the two AR alleles; there was a 5% increase in breast cancer risk for each unit increase in CAG repeat number. These findings support the theory that short trinucleotide repeat genotypes of the AR gene protect against breast cancer. | Introduction |
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The AR2 is involved in the differentiation, development, and regulation of breast cell growth (1 , 2) . The role of androgens in breast cancer development and carcinogenesis remains unclear (3 , 4) . Androgens may influence breast cancer risk indirectly through their conversion to estradiol or by competing for steroid binding proteins, or directly by binding to the AR and either promoting or opposing breast cell growth (5) . Among postmenopausal women, circulating androgen levels appear to be positively associated with breast cancer risk (6) , but it is not known whether these effects are mediated by the AR.
The AR is a ligand-dependent transcriptional activator, and the AR gene contains a highly polymorphic trinucleotide repeat (CAGn) in the first exon, which encodes a glutamine tract. It is hypothesized that the shorter the length of this tract, the greater the affinity of androgens to the AR and the greater the androgenic effects (7 , 8) . The length of this tract varies between individuals but is typically in the range of 1040 repeat units. The role of the CAGn polymorphism of AR in cancer predisposition is supported by association studies of breast and prostate cancer risk. For breast cancer, a significantly decreased risk has been observed with smaller repeat lengths (9) . Giguère et al. (9) reported an OR of 0.5 (95% CI, 0.30.83; P = 0.007) for women with small alleles (such as CAGn <20). In that study a particularly strong effect was seen among postmenopausal women (OR, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.190.7; P = 0.003). Suter et al. (10) found a modest increase in premenopausal breast cancer risk associated with a repeat length of >22 units (OR, 1.3; 95% CI, 1.01.7). Other studies found no associations between breast cancer risk and CAG repeat length (11, 12, 13) . These studies included mainly younger women and used different cut-off points. We tested the hypothesis that the length of the polyglutamine polymorphism (CAGn) in AR is positively associated with breast cancer susceptibility in a case-control study of women from the Philippines. We studied 299 women with incident invasive breast cancers, and 229 control subjects from the Philippine General Hospital in Manila.
| Materials and Methods |
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Our control group comprised 229 women who attended the PGH breast clinic but who did not have breast cancer, 163 of whom had a negative biopsy and 66 for whom a breast biopsy was not believed to be indicated after clinical breast examination. Approximately 95% of subjects were of Malay ethnicity, including combinations of Malay with Chinese or Spanish. All of the women completed a risk factor questionnaire by interview with a research assistant. Questions asked about reproductive, hormonal, dietary, and adolescent exposures, among others.
Molecular Analysis.
DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes using standard protocols. The AR exon 1 CAG trinucleotide repeat was amplified by a nested PCR protocol using outside primers (forward primer 5'-GTGGAAGATTCAGCCAAGCT-3' and reverse primer 5'-TTGCTGTTCCTCATCCAGGA-3') and inside primers (forward primer 5'-CCCGGCGCCAGTTTGCTGCTG-3' labeled with cyanine-5, reverse primer is the same with the first PCR). The final products were analyzed by electrophoresis on 6% denaturing polyacrylamide gels. After direct sequencing of PCR products, the CAG repeats were calculated from the size of the predominant PCR product in relation to a series of previously determined CAG size standards (15)
. Information on 16 carriers of mutations in genes BRCA1 or BRCA2 is described in detail elsewhere (14)
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Statistical Methods.
Allele lengths were compared between cases and controls. Comparisons were made for the mean allele length, and separately for the shorter and the longer alleles. Dichotomous categories for CAG repeats were generated at all of the possible cut-points. These categories were analyzed using
2 and Fishers exact tests for comparisons. Student t test was performed for the comparison of continuous variables. Breast cancer risk was also assessed using multivariate unconditional logistic regression. All of the Ps are two-tailed and set at 0.05 for significance. Analyses were performed using SPSS statistical package for Windows (Version 11).
| Results |
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25 repeat units (OR, 0.47; P, 0.005).
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50; however, this subgroup was relatively small (Table 3)
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| Discussion |
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Giguère et al. (9) examined the inverse association of CAG repeat length on breast cancer risk in Québec, but used different cutoff points for their classification of genotypes. They reported an OR of 0.5 (95% CI, 0.30.83) for women with mean allele sizes of 20 CAG repeats or less. Elhaji et al. (17) described a 2.4-fold increased risk of breast cancer associated with allele lengths of 26 CAG repeats or greater. In a study based on 368 breast cancer cases and 284 control subjects, Spurdle et al. (11) did not find any association between CAG repeats of 22 units or less and breast cancer in women <40 years of age. Dunning et al. (12) also did not find any association with breast cancer using a mean cutoff of 22 CAG repeats. In the Nurses Health Study (13) , several cut-points were examined, and no association was observed.
Our data indicate that there is no clear cut-point that can be used to dichotomize women into high- or low-risk groups (Table 1)
. There appears to be a continuous gradient of risk associated with alleles of different sizes. Although our P was most significant when a cut-point of 25 CAG units was used, this reflects the power of the study; i.e., this cut-point divided the study sample into two groups of roughly equal size and, thereby, maximized study power. Similar effect sizes were seen for cutpoints of 23 and 24 repeat units (Tables 2
and 4
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By conducting our study in the Philippines, we were able to limit the effect of ethnic variation, a potential confounder in association studies of genetic polymorphisms. The Philippines represents an ethnically heterogeneous population of >70 million inhabitants, with >100 cultural and racial groups. The majority of the population is of Malay, Chinese, and Spanish ancestry. Malay refers to the original ancestors of Filipinos who were of Malay stock from the southeastern Asian mainland, as well as from what is now Indonesia. Our control subjects were comprised mainly of women under investigation for a breast complaint (63%). Women attending the breast clinic of the PGH in Manila were recruited before the determination of their case or control status. In this way, the cases and controls are well matched on demographic and other variables (18) .
The AR may act in breast tumorigenesis by moderating androgen signaling acting at the level of the mammary epithelial cell. Because AR is located on the X chromosome (Xp1112), breast epithelial cells in women express only one of the two AR alleles that a woman has inherited; the other is inactivated. Thus, each cell is under the influence of only a single "active" AR allele. Because breast cancers are clonal, each cancer should have a single allele consistently activated. Shan et al. (19) demonstrated the loss of the active AR allele in female breast cancers.
Our results suggest that breast cancer risk might be likely related to androgenic activity, and that shorter trinucleotide repeat length genotypes of AR (which have been associated with increased androgenic activity; Refs. 7 , 8 ) are protective. This is consistent with experiments on breast cancer cell lines, which find that androgens decrease breast epithelial cell proliferation (20 , 21) . However, most epidemiologic studies find elevated circulating androgen levels to be a risk factor for breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women. The reason for this inconsistency is not known.
The AR polymorphism has also been related to the risk of prostate cancer. However, the proposed associations of risk for prostate cancer and breast cancer are in opposite directions, i.e., longer CAG repeats are protective in prostate cancer (22, 23, 24) . The contrasting associations for cancers of the prostate and breast might be the result of stimulation and inhibition of prostate and breast cell proliferation, respectively, with increased androgenic activity (20 , 21 , 25) .
The AR CAGn polymorphism has also been shown to modify the risk of breast cancer in BRCA1 carriers. Rebbeck et al. (26) reported a relative risk of 1.81 (95% CI, 1.063.08) for breast cancer in BRCA1 carriers who carried at least one CAG repeat allele of 28 or greater. Kadouri et al. (27) were not able to replicate this association.
It has been suggested that androgens may act independently, or may be mediated by estrogen metabolites (aromatization products) or by secondary effects of androgens on estrogen bioavailability and metabolism (sex hormone binding globulin effects). Testosterone may have an indirect effect on breast cancer risk because of its association with estrogen levels. Testosterone levels affect estrogen bioavailability, which may be of importance, because an increase in serum testosterone levels could lead to a decrease in the percentage of estradiol bound to sex hormone binding globulin.
In conclusion, trinucleotide repeat length genotypes of AR were associated positively with breast cancer risk in the Philippines. Our data support the previous observations by Giguère et al. (9)
, of a particularly strong effect among women
50 years. Additional work is necessary to elucidate the specific mechanisms by which androgens and the AR, which influence breast epithelial cell proliferation and carcinogenesis.
| Footnotes |
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1 To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at the Center for Research in Womens Health, 790 Bay Street, Suite 750A, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1N8, Canada. E-mail: steven.narod{at}swchsc.on.ca ![]()
2 The abbreviations used are: AR, androgen receptor; OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; PGH, Philippine General Hospital. ![]()
Received 11/30/01; accepted 5/28/03.
| References |
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. Cancer Res., 59: 4864-4869, 1999.This article has been cited by other articles:
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