title: Lactase persistence and ovarian carcinoma risk in Finland, Poland and Sweden.
abstract: Ovarian carcinoma is the fourth most common cause of cancer death in women. The cause and pathogenesis of this disease has remained obscure. Galactose, the hydrolyzing product of the milk sugar lactose, has been hypothesized to be toxic to ovarian epithelial cells and consumption of dairy products and lactase persistence has been suggested to be a risk factor for ovarian carcinoma. In adults, downregulation of lactase depends on a variant C/T-13910 at the 5' end of the lactase gene. To explore whether lactase persistence is related to the risk of ovarian carcinoma we determined the C/T-13910 genotype in a cohort of 782 women with ovarian carcinoma. The C/T-13910 genotype was defined by solid phase minisequencing from 327 Finnish, 303 Polish, 152 Swedish patients and 938 Finnish, 296 Polish and 97 Swedish healthy individuals served as controls. Lactase persistence did not associate significantly with increased risk for ovarian carcinoma in the Finnish (odds ratio [OR]=0.77, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.57-1.05, p=0.097), in the Polish (OR=0.95, 95% CI=0.68-1.33, p=0.75), or in the Swedish populations (OR=1.63, 95% CI=0.65-4.08, p=0.29). Our results do not support the hypothesis that lactase persistence increases the ovarian carcinoma risk. On the contrary, lactase persistence may decrease the ovarian carcinoma risk at least in the Finnish population.
authors.affiliation: National Public Health Institute, Department of Molecular Medicine, Helsinki, Finland. mikko.kuokkanen@ktl.fi
authors.forename: Mikko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kuokkanen
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Butzow
authors.forename: Heli
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rasinperä
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Medrek
authors.forename: Mef
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nilbert
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Malander
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lubinski
authors.forename: Irma
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Järvelä
mesh_terms: D002288:Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous / Q000201:enzymology / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018269:Carcinoma, Endometrioid / Q000201:enzymology / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D018284:Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous / Q000201:enzymology / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D043322:Lactase / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009375:Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial / Q000201:enzymology / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012307:Risk Factors; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D043322:Lactase