Association of vitamin D receptor polymorphisms with the risk of prostate cancer in the Han population of Southern China.
BACKGROUND
Molecular epidemiological studies have shown that gene polymorphisms of vitamin D receptor (VDR) are associated with prostate cancer risks. However, previous results from many molecular studies remain inconsistent.


METHODS
Blood samples were collected from 122 prostate cancer patients and 130 age-matched control subjects in the Han population of Southern China. The differences of VDR gene polymorphism between cancer cases and controls were determined by PCR-RFLP, examiming FokI (exon 2), BsmI, Tru9I, ApaI (intron 9), and TaqI (exon 9). Associations between the VDR gene polymorphism and prostate cancer risk were calculated in an unconditional logistic regression model. Linkage disequilibrium and haplotypes were analyzed with the SHEsis software.


RESULTS
Of five polymorphisms, BsmI was shown to associate with prostate cancer, while FokI, Tru9I, ApaI, and TaqI did not show any significant association. After adjustment for age, the BsmI 'B' allele was associated with an almost 1/3-fold risk (OR = 0.35, 95%CI: 0.15-0.80) of the occurrence of prostate cancer, a 1/5-fold risk (OR = 0.20, 95%CI: 0.06-0.68) of poorly differentiated prostate cancer, and a 1/10-fold risk (OR = 0.10, 95%CI: 0.01-0.78) of aggressive prostate cancer compared with the 'b' allele, especially among older men (>71 years). In addition, haplotype analysis revealed that the 'F-b-U-A-T' was more frequent found in cases than in controls (3.4% vs 0.0%, P = 0.0035), while the frequency of haplotype 'F-B-U-a-T' was 0.8% in cases, significantly lower than in controls (3.9%, P = 0.019).


CONCLUSIONS
Our experiments provide evidences that genetic polymorphisms in the VDR gene may be potential risk factors for prostate cancer in the Han population of southern China and the susceptibility to prostate cancer is associated with ethnicity and geographic location.
Bai
Yongheng
Y
Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Laboratory Medicine and Life Science, Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou 325035, PR China.
Yu
Yaping
Y
Yu
Bin
B
Ge
Jianrong
J
Ji
Jingzhang
J
Lu
Hong
H
Wei
Jia
J
Weng
Zhiliang
Z
Tao
Zhihua
Z
Lu
Jianxin
J
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005006:Ethnicity; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol / Q000235:genetics*; D012307:Risk Factors
D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol