17HSD 2 may be higher in African-American breast cancer and is associated with estrogen receptor-negative tumors.
BACKGROUND
African-American women develop more aggressive breast cancers and at an earlier age compared with Caucasian women.


METHODS
We compared gene expression profiles of breast cancer cell lines that were developed from African-American and Caucasian patients to identify biological differences in breast cancers that develop in these groups. Real-time PCR was used to evaluate mRNA expression in cell lines and in a series of breast cancer cases. Gene microarray signal intensities were also analyzed in the International Genomics Consortium Expression Project for Oncology (expO) dataset.


RESULTS
17,-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (17HSD 2) gene and mRNA expression were significantly higher in the African-American cell lines (p<0.05). However, 17HSD 2 expression did not differ significantly between the two cohorts in either our clinical series or the expO dataset. 17HSD 2 expression was found to be predictive of younger age at diagnosis and estrogen receptor status.


CONCLUSIONS
Overexpression of 17HSD 2 in African-American breast cancer may contribute to the increased proportion of estrogen receptor-negative breast cancers and worse clinical outcome among African-American patients.
Yaeger
Rona
R
Department of Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY 10032, USA.
Nolan
Patricia C
PC
Su
Tao
T
Avila-Bront
Alexa
A
Wang
Xiaomei
X
Cheung
Ying Kuen K
YK
Liu
Hui
H
Rangarajan
Vibhav S
VS
Hibshoosh
Hanina
H
Powell
Charles A
CA
Joe
Andrew K
AK
D015067:17-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001741:Black or African American; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004960:Estradiol Dehydrogenases; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D010641:Phenotype; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000378:metabolism*
D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D015067:17-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases; D004960:Estradiol Dehydrogenases; C523763:HSD17B2 protein, human