CAG repeat length polymorphism in the androgen receptor gene and breast cancer risk: data on Indian women and survey from the world.
We analyzed the length of the CAG repeats of the androgen receptor gene in Indian women with breast cancer, and compared the data with that of other populations across the world in an attempt to find a potential pattern of association. The study was undertaken on 1,408 individuals comprising 747 breast cancer patients and 661 control individuals recruited from three southern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. The comparison revealed no difference in mean length of the repeat between cases and controls in any of the three groups or in the analysis of pooled data. No significant difference between pre- and post-menopausal cases in any of the three groups or in the analysis of pooled data was observed. Most of the studies to date support either positive association (longer repeats--increased disease risk) or no association, and only 2 out of 20 studies reported negative association (inverse correlation between repeat length and disease risk). Comparison of these data with those from other populations revealed several interesting facts. Particularly notable is that repeat length shows association with breast cancer risk in a population-specific manner with most of the studies on American and Canadian women showing positive association, whereas those on Australian and Israeli women showing no association. Only one study had been conducted on other populations including Asians/South Asians; this restricted us from finding any patterns of association in these populations.
Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Uppal Road, Hyderabad 500 007, India.
Singh
S
Rajender
Amirtharaj
A
Francis
Singh
S
Pooja
Nallala
N
Krupakar
D
D
Surekha
Gopal
G
Reddy
D Raghunatha
DR
Rao
Lakshmi
L
Rao
S
S
Ramachandra
S
S
Vishnupriya
K
K
Ramalingam
K
K
Satyamoorthy
Kumarasamy
K
Thangaraj
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000728:Androgens / Q000235:genetics; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011944:Receptors, Androgen / Q000235:genetics*; D012307:Risk Factors; D020080:Tandem Repeat Sequences
D000728:Androgens; D011944:Receptors, Androgen