title: EGF promoter SNPs, plasma EGF levels and risk of breast cancer in Chinese women.
abstract: Epidermal growth factor (EGF), a potent mitogenic peptide, plays an important role in the development of cancers, including breast cancer. Previous studies showed that plasma EGF levels may influence the risk of cancer. In the current study, we hypothesized that genetic variants in the promoter region of EGF may influence plasma EGF levels and therefore are associated with breast cancer susceptibility. We genotyped three EGF polymorphisms (G61A, G-1380A, and A-1744G) in the promoter region by PCR-RFLP and measured plasma EGF levels using an enzyme immunoassay in a case-control study of Chinese women. We found that the mean plasma EGF levels in breast cancer patients (249.06 +/- 197.54 pg/ml) were significantly lower than those in controls (982.41 +/- 375.57 pg/ml, P < 0.001). There was a significant difference of plasma EGF levels among different genotypes carriers of the G-1380A locus in 654 controls (P = 0.007). After adjustment for age, body mass index, family history of cancer, age at menarche, and menopause status, EGF-1380AA carriers had significantly higher plasma EGF levels than -1380GG carriers did (P = 0.003). However, we did not find any significant associations between the three EGF polymorphisms (G61A, G-1380A, and A-1744G) and the risk of breast cancer. These findings indicated that plasma EGF levels served as a protective marker against breast cancer in our study and EGF G-1380A variant might be a modifier on it. Further studies are warranted to verify these findings.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Cancer Research Center of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tian
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Zhibin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Jinhai
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Shui
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xuechen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jianwei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huo
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Qiao
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ke
authors.forename: Guangfu
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Hongxia
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Xinru
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hongbing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor