Genetic and environmental factors in breast cancer

[kkmalaysia]

Genome analysis has identified several low penetrance breast cancer loci but little is known about interactions between these loci and environmental factors. Researchers in Oxford, England and Paris, France have correlated environmental risk factors and 12 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) known to be associated with breast cancer.

The study included 7,610 women with breast cancer, and 10,196 controls. The 12 SNPs were correlated with 10 environmental risk factors (age at menarche, parity, age at first birth, breastfeeding, menopausal status, age at menopause, use of hormone replacement therapy [HRT], BMI, height, and alcohol consumption). None of the 120 comparisons showed evidence of gene-environment interaction. Use of HRT did not affect genotypic relative risks either overall or for oestrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer. Carriers of one high-risk allele were significantly shorter than non-carriers.

This study showed no interaction between the 12 SNPs and the 10 environ­mental risk factors.

Source: Medical Progress