title: GGC and StuI polymorphism on the androgen receptor gene in endometrial cancer patients.
abstract: Androgens have an anti-proliferative effect on endometrial cells. Human androgen receptor (AR) gene contains two polymorphic short tandem repeats of GGC and CAG, and a single-nucleotide polymorphism on exon 1 that is recognized by the restriction enzyme, StuI. Prior studies have shown that the lengths of the CAG repeat are inversely and linearly related to AR activity and associated with endometrial cancer. However, little is known about the GGC repeat and the StuI polymorphism of the AR gene. Thus, we investigated whether these AR polymorphisms are risk factors for endometrial cancer. To test this hypothesis, the genetic distributions of these polymorphisms were investigated in blood samples from endometrial cancer patients and healthy controls. The allelic and genotyping profiles were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), and direct DNA sequencing, and analyzed statistically. The GGC repeat was significantly longer in endometrial cancer patients as compared to normal healthy controls. In general, an increased risk of endometrial cancer was found with increasing GGC repeat. The relative risk for the 17 GGC repeat was greater than 4, as compared to controls. However, the StuI polymorphism was not significantly different between patients and controls. The findings suggest that increased numbers of GGC repeat on the AR gene may be a risk factor for endometrial cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University of California, San Francisco and Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karube
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Karube
authors.forename: Michiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watari
authors.forename: Noriaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sakuragi
authors.forename: Seiichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
authors.forename: Rajvir
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dahiya
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D015252:Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific / Q000378:metabolism; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011944:Receptors, Androgen / Q000235:genetics*; D012306:Risk
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D011944:Receptors, Androgen; C028868:AGGCCT-specific type II deoxyribonucleases; D015252:Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific