title: Association of MDM2 SNP309, age of onset, and gender in cutaneous melanoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In certain cancers, MDM2 SNP309 has been associated with early tumor onset in women. In melanoma, incidence rates are higher in women than in men among individuals less than 40 years of age, but among those older than 50 years of age, melanoma is more frequent in men than in women. To investigate this difference, we examined the association among MDM2 SNP309, age at diagnosis, and gender among melanoma patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospectively enrolled melanoma patients (N = 227) were evaluated for MDM2 SNP309 and the related polymorphism, p53 Arg72Pro. DNA was isolated from patient blood samples, and genotypes were analyzed by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Associations among MDM2 SNP309, p53 Arg72Pro, age at diagnosis, and clinicopathologic features of melanoma were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median age at diagnosis was 13 years earlier among women with a SNP309 GG genotype (46 years) compared with women with TG+TT genotypes (59 years; P = 0.19). Analyses using age dichotomized at each decade indicated that women with a GG genotype had significantly higher risks of being diagnosed with melanoma at ages <50 years compared with women >or=50 years, but not when the comparison was made between women <60 and >or=60 years. At ages <50 years, women with a GG genotype had a 3.89 times greater chance of being diagnosed compared with women with TG+TT genotypes (P = 0.01). Similar observations were not seen among men.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data suggest that MDM2 may play an important role in the development of melanoma in women. The MDM2 SNP309 genotype may help identify women at risk of developing melanoma at a young age.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Elnaz F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Firoz
authors.forename: Melanie
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authors.lastname: Warycha
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zakrzewski
authors.forename: Danuta
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pollens
authors.forename: Guimin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shapiro
authors.forename: Russell
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Berman
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pavlick
authors.forename: Prashiela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Manga
authors.forename: Harry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ostrer
authors.forename: Julide Tok
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Celebi
authors.forename: Hideko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kamino
authors.forename: Farbod
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Darvishian
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rolnitzky
authors.forename: Judith D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Goldberg
authors.forename: Iman
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Osman
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Polsky