title: The p53 codon 72 polymorphism, sunburns, and risk of skin cancer in US Caucasian women.
abstract: The p53 gene is involved in the control of cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis. The germline Arg72Pro polymorphism alters the protein's biochemical functions, and may confer individual susceptibility to skin cancer. We evaluated the association of the Arg72Pro polymorphism with skin cancer risk among Caucasians in a nested case-control study within the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) (219 melanoma, 286 squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and 300 basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and 874 controls). Compared to the Arg/Arg genotype, the Pro/Pro genotype had an OR of 1.57 (95%CI, 0.81-3.06) for melanoma risk, and an OR of 1.79 (95%CI, 1.01-3.17) for BCC risk. The positive association of the Pro allele with BCC risk was only limited to women with two or fewer lifetime sunburns (P, trend, 0.002; P, interaction, 0.02). No association was observed between the polymorphism and SCC risk. We also observed that the Pro allele was inversely associated with the risk of childhood sunburn among Caucasian participants pooled from four nested case-control studies within the NHS. This study suggests that the Arg72Pro polymorphism may play a role in skin carcinogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Jiali
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: Graham A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Colditz
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hunter
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D001120:Arginine / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D003062:Codon / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006200:Hair Color / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012306:Risk; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D013471:Sunburn / Q000235:genetics*; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000235:genetics*; D044465:White People
chemical_list: D003062:Codon; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D001120:Arginine