[Polymorphism of catechol-O-methyltransferase gene in relation to the risk of endometrial cancer].
OBJECTIVE
The 4- and 16-hydroxylated metabolites of estrogens have been implicated in carcinogenesis, whereas its 2-hydroxylated metabolites have been shown to have antiangiogenic effects. We aimed to examine whether the polymorphisms of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) involved in the estrogen metabolism are associated with endometrial cancer risk.


METHODS
Polymerase chain reaction-restrictive fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis was used to study the variant allele frequency distributions of COMT Val158Met genetic polymorphism in a population based case-control study with 132 endometrial cancer cases and 110 controls. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated by unconditional logistic regression after adjustment for known or suspected risk factors for endometrial cancer.


RESULTS
The most frequent genotype was COMT(Val/Val) (47.2%, 52/110) in control group and COMT(Val/Met) (58.3%, 77/132) in endometrial cancer group. The difference between the two groups was of statistical significance (P < 0.05). Compared with COMT(Met/Met) genotype, the COMT(Val/Val) genotype was inversely correlated with endometrial cancer risk, and the adjusted OR value was 0.262 (95% CI: 0.080 - 0.862, P = 0.027).


CONCLUSIONS
Among the genotypes in women in South China, genotype COMT(Val/Val) is mostly seen, followed by COMT(Val/Met), and COMT(Met/Met) is the least in control group. The endometrial cancer susceptivity of genotype COMT(Val/Val) carriers may be lower than COMT(Met/Met) carriers.
Zhao
Xiao-Miao
XM
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China.
Xie
Mei-Qing
MQ
Yang
Dong-Zi
DZ
Wang
Liang-An
LA
Li
Shi-Jie
SJ
Zhuang
Yan-Yan
YY
Tang
Xue-Lian
XL
D000328:Adult; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase / Q000235:genetics*; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors
D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase