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EGF promoter SNPs, plasma EGF levels and risk of breast cancer in Chinese women

  • Epidemiology
  • Published:
Breast Cancer Research and Treatment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Epidermal growth factor (EGF), a potent mitogenic peptide, plays an important role in the development of cancers, including breast cancer. Previous studies showed that plasma EGF levels may influence the risk of cancer. In the current study, we hypothesized that genetic variants in the promoter region of EGF may influence plasma EGF levels and therefore are associated with breast cancer susceptibility. We genotyped three EGF polymorphisms (G61A, G-1380A, and A-1744G) in the promoter region by PCR-RFLP and measured plasma EGF levels using an enzyme immunoassay in a case–control study of Chinese women. We found that the mean plasma EGF levels in breast cancer patients (249.06 ± 197.54 pg/ml) were significantly lower than those in controls (982.41 ± 375.57 pg/ml, P < 0.001). There was a significant difference of plasma EGF levels among different genotypes carriers of the G-1380A locus in 654 controls (P = 0.007). After adjustment for age, body mass index, family history of cancer, age at menarche, and menopause status, EGF-1380AA carriers had significantly higher plasma EGF levels than -1380GG carriers did (P = 0.003). However, we did not find any significant associations between the three EGF polymorphisms (G61A, G-1380A, and A-1744G) and the risk of breast cancer. These findings indicated that plasma EGF levels served as a protective marker against breast cancer in our study and EGF G-1380A variant might be a modifier on it. Further studies are warranted to verify these findings.

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Abbreviations

EGF:

Epidermal growth factor

EGFR:

Epidermal growth factor receptor

ER:

Estrogen receptor

PR:

Progesterone receptor

SNP:

Single nucleotide polymorphism

OR:

Odds-ratio

CI:

Confidence interval

BMI:

Body mass index

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by the Innovative Key Grant of Department of Education of China (no. 705023); National Key Basic Research Program Grants 2002CB512908, Jiangsu Natural Science Foundation BK2004145.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Cancer Research Center of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China

    Yan Wang, Zhibin Hu, Guangfu Jin, Hongxia Ma, Xinru Wang & Hongbing Shen

  2. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Cancer Research Center of Nanjing Medical University, 140 Hanzhong Rd, Nanjing, 210029, China

    Yan Wang, Tian Tian, Zhibin Hu, Xiang Huo, Jun Gao, Qiao Ke, Guangfu Jin, Hongxia Ma, Xinru Wang & Hongbing Shen

  3. Department of General Surgery, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Nanjing, China

    Jinhai Tang & Jianwei Qin

  4. Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China

    Shui Wang

  5. Department of General Surgery, Nanjing Gulou Hospital, Nanjing, China

    Xuechen Wang

Authors
  1. Yan Wang
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  2. Tian Tian
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  3. Zhibin Hu
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  11. Guangfu Jin
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  13. Xinru Wang
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  14. Hongbing Shen
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Correspondence to Hongbing Shen.

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Wang, Y., Tian, T., Hu, Z. et al. EGF promoter SNPs, plasma EGF levels and risk of breast cancer in Chinese women. Breast Cancer Res Treat 111, 321–327 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-007-9784-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-007-9784-4

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