title: Vitamin D receptor (VDR) polymorphisms and risk of ovarian cancer in Caucasian and African American women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Polymorphisms in the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene have been shown in some studies to be associated with the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) in Caucasian women. There are no published reports among African Americans.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case-control data from the North Carolina Ovarian Cancer Study were analyzed using logistic regression to determine the association between seven VDR polymorphisms and EOC in both Caucasians (513 cases, 532 controls) and African Americans (74 cases, 79 controls). In a larger sample of African-Americans (125 cases, 155 controls), we assessed associations between six SNPs in proximity of rs7975232.
  
  
  RESULTS
  African American women who carried at least one minor allele of rs7975232 were at higher risk for invasive EOC controlling for age and admixture with an odds ratio (OR) for association under the log-additive model of 2.08 (95% confidence interval (CI)=1.19, 3.63, p=0.010). No association was observed between any of the VDR variants and EOC among Caucasians. A larger sample of African Americans revealed a nearly two-fold increased risk of invasive EOC associated with rs7305032, a SNP in proximity to rs7975232 (R(2)=0.369) with a log-additive OR of 1.87 (95% CI=1.20, 2.93, p=0.006).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first report showing VDR variants associated with ovarian cancer risk in African American women. A larger study of African American women is needed to confirm these findings. These results imply that vitamin D exposure is a possible modifiable risk factor of ovarian cancer among African Americans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Cancer Research Program, JLC-Biomedical/Biotechnology Research Institute, North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Delores J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.forename: Cathrine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hoyo
authors.forename: Lucy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Akushevich
authors.forename: Edwin S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Iversen
authors.forename: Regina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Whitaker
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marks
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Berchuck
authors.forename: Joellen M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Schildkraut
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D000077216:Carcinoma, Ovarian Epithelial; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D009375:Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics*; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol / Q000235:genetics*; D012307:Risk Factors; D044465:White People
chemical_list: D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol