title: Catechol-O-Methyltransferase (COMT) gene polymorphism and breast cancer risk in young women.
abstract: Oestrogen exposure has long been considered to be a main risk factor of breast cancer. More recently, interest has also focused on the possible carcinogenic influence from oestrogen metabolites, such as catechol oestrogens. O-methylation, catalysed by Catechol-O-Methyltransferase (COMT), is one pathway by which the potentially carcinogenic catechol oestrogens can be inactivated. The gene coding for COMT protein contains a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), resulting in an amino acid shift Val-->Met, which has been shown to determine high- and low-activity configuration of the enzyme. We hypothesized that the low-activity allele, COMT(Met), may be implicated in early onset breast cancer. In the present case-control study, including 126 young breast cancer patients (<or= 36 years) and 117 healthy female blood donors, we analysed the association between COMT(Met) genotype and risk of breast cancer. No significant difference in the frequency of low-/high-activity alleles was found between cases and controls, indicating that the polymorphism, as a single factor, may not contribute to breast carcinogenesis in young women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine and Surgery, Division of Oncology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University Hospital, S-581 85 Linköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bergman-Jungeström
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wingren
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase / Q000235:genetics*; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D008715:Methionine / Q000737:chemistry; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D018807:Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014633:Valine / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D008715:Methionine; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase; D014633:Valine