title: Inconsistent association between the STK15 F31I genetic polymorphism and breast cancer risk.
abstract: STK15 may be a low-penetrance breast cancer susceptibility gene, and several reports suggest that women who are homozygous for the polymorphic variant F31I have an increased risk of breast cancer. To evaluate this potential breast cancer allele, we genotyped 507 patients with two primary breast cancers and 875 population-based control subjects for the STK15 F31I polymorphism. All statistical tests were two-sided. The Ile/Ile homozygous genotype was not associated with an increased risk in white women of British descent. The odds ratio for developing two primary breast cancers) in Ile/Ile homozygotes was 0.63 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.34 to 1.13), which corresponds to an odds ratio of 0.79 (95% CI = 0.58 to 1.06) for a first primary breast cancer. A meta-analysis of this study and other published studies showed statistically significant heterogeneity in the odds ratio estimates (P<.001). This heterogeneity could reflect either population-specific linkage disequilibrium with a functional variant or artifacts such as population stratification or publication bias.
authors.affiliation: The Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre, Institute of Cancer Research, 237 Fulham Road, London SW3 6JB, UK. olivia.fletcher@icr.ac.uk
authors.forename: Olivia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Fletcher
authors.forename: Nichola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Palles
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: dos Santos Silva
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: McCormack
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Whittaker
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ashworth
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peto
mesh_terms: D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics; D064096:Aurora Kinase A; D064127:Aurora Kinases; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D006801:Humans; D007532:Isoleucine; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010649:Phenylalanine; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics*; D017594:Publication Bias; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D007532:Isoleucine; D010649:Phenylalanine; C576917:AURKA protein, human; D064096:Aurora Kinase A; D064127:Aurora Kinases; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases