The EPIC-Norfolk Study
No association between a polymorphism in the steroid metabolism gene CYP17 and risk of breast cancer.
British journal of cancer 1998 ; 77: 2045-7.
Dunning AM, Healey CS, Pharoah PD, Foster NA, Lipscombe JM, Redman KL, Easton DF, Day NE, and Ponder BA
DOI : 10.1038/bjc.1998.340
PubMed ID : 9667690
PMCID : PMC2150340
URL : https://www.nature.com/articles/bjc1998340
Abstract
A recent study showed an association between a single base substitution, T-->C, in the promotor region of the CYP17 gene, the risk of breast cancer and age at menarche in Asian, African-American and Latino women from California and Hawaii. The C allele was associated with increased risk of breast cancer, significantly so for patients presenting with advanced disease, whereas the TT genotype was associated with later age at menarche in control subjects. We attempted to confirm these findings in a large case-control study in East Anglia, England (835 cases and 591 control subjects). We found no evidence of an increased risk of breast cancer [odds ratio (OR) 1.10, confidence interval (CI) 0.89-1.37] or advanced breast cancer (OR 0.88, CI 0.38-2.01) in C allele carriers, nor any association between age at menarche and genotype. We conclude that these alleles do not significantly alter breast cancer risk in the English population.