title: Genetic polymorphism in ornithine decarboxylase and risk of breast cancer.
abstract: Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), the first enzyme in the biosynthesis of polyamines, has increased activity in breast cancer tissue compared with benign and normal tissues. The ODC gene contains a single nucleotide polymorphism in which a guanine is substituted for an adenine. This study investigated whether the ODC +316 G > A polymorphism (rs2302615) was associated with the risk of developing breast cancer. A case-control study involving 121 controls, without breast cancer, 46 patients with breast cancer but without a family history, and 130 breast cancer cases with a family history of breast cancer was conducted. A nested PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism procedure and the TaqMan 5' nuclease assay was used to genotype individuals. Risk was significantly lower for heterozygote (GA genotype) individuals [odds ratio (OR) = 0.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.17-0.86, P = 0.018], or individuals with at least one A allele (OR = 0.44, 95% CI 0.21-0.92, P = 0.027), without family history. This protective effect of having at least one copy of the variant A allele was not as strong, however, in those with a family history of the disease. In sporadic breast cancer, the presence of at least one A allele is protective against the disease. The influence of this polymorphism may be less important in individuals with an inherited breast cancer predisposition.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine & Dentistry, College of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Aberdeen, Medical School, Foresterhill, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, UK. i.brown@abdn.ac.uk
authors.forename: Iain
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Halliday
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Greig
authors.forename: Steven D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Heys
authors.forename: Heather M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.forename: Andrew C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Schofield
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009955:Ornithine Decarboxylase / Q000235:genetics*; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D009955:Ornithine Decarboxylase