Variants in the HEPSIN gene are associated with susceptibility to prostate cancer.
BACKGROUND
HEPSIN (HPN) gene is one of the most consistently overexpressed genes in patients with prostate cancer; furthermore, there is some evidence supporting an association between HPN gene variants and the risk of developing prostate cancer. In this study, sequence variants in the HPN gene were investigated to determine whether they were associated with prostate cancer risk in a Korean study cohort.


METHODS
We evaluated the association of 17 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the HPN gene with prostate cancer risk and clinical characteristics (Gleason score and tumor stage) in Korean men (240 case subjects and 223 control subjects) using unconditional logistic regression.


RESULTS
The statistical analysis suggested that three SNPs (rs45512696, rs2305745, rs2305747) were significantly associated with the risk of prostate cancer (odds ratio (OR)=2.22, P=0.04; OR=0.73, P=0.03; OR=0.76, P=0.05, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study suggest that, in Korean men, some polymorphisms in the HPN gene might be associated with the risk of developing prostate cancer.
Advanced Urogenital Disease Research Center, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
H J
HJ
Kim
J H
JH
Han
I H
IH
Chang
W
W
Kim
S C
SC
Myung
D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics; D015331:Cohort Studies; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000235:genetics*
D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; C055645:hepsin