Association of a single nucleotide polymorphism at 6q25.1, rs2046210, with endometrial cancer risk among Chinese women

A recent genome-wide association study identified a new susceptibility locus for breast cancer, rs2046210, which is a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) located upstream of the estrogen receptor α (ESR1) gene on chromosome 6q25.1. Given that endometrial cancer shares many risk factors with breast cancer and both are related to estrogen exposure and that rs2046210 is in close proximity to the ESR1 gene, we evaluated the association of SNP rs2046210 with endometrial cancer risk among 953 cases and 947 controls in a population-based, case-control study conducted in Shanghai, China. Logistic regression models were used to derive odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) after adjusting for potential confounders. We found that the A allele of rs2046210, linked to an increased risk of breast cancer, was associated with increased but not statistically significant risk of endometrial cancer (OR = 1.16, 95% CI = 0.96-1.41 for the GA and AA genotypes compared with the GG genotype); the association was stronger among post-menopausal women (OR = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.00-1.65). The association tended to be stronger among women with higher or longer estrogen exposure than among women with relatively lower or shorter exposure to estrogen. Our study suggests that rs2046210 may play a role in the etiology of endometrial cancer. Additional studies are needed to confirm our findings.

Re-evaluation of ABO gene polymorphisms detected in a genomewide association study and risk of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in a Chinese population

Pancreatic cancer is a fatal malignancy with an increasing incidence in Shanghai, China. A genomewide association study(GWAS) and other work have shown that ABO alleles are associated with pancreatic cancer risk. We conducted a population-based case-control study involving 256 patients with pathologically confirmed pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma(PDAC) and 548 healthy controls in Shanghai, China, to assess the relationships between GWAS-identified ABO alleles and risk of PDAC. Carriers of the C allele of rs505922 had an increased cancer risk [adjusted odds ratio(OR) = 1.42, 95% confidence interval(CI): 1.02-1.98] compared to TT carriers. The T alleles of rs495828 and rs657152 were also significantly associated with an elevated cancer risk(adjusted OR = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.17-2.14; adjusted OR = 1.51, 95% CI: 1.09-2.10). The rs630014 variant was not associated with risk. We did not find any significant gene-environment interaction with cancer risk using a multifactor dimensionality reduction(MDR) method. Haplotype analysis also showed that the haplotype CTTC was associated with an increased risk of PDAC(adjusted OR = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.12-1.91) compared with haplotype TGGT. GWAS-identified ABO variants are thus also associated with risk of PDAC in the Chinese population.