Influences of apolipoprotein E polymorphism on the risk for breast cancer and HER2/neu status in Taiwan

Abstract

Apolipoprotein E (APOE) polymorphism plays an important role in lipid metabolism. Preliminary evidence suggests that APOE genotype appears to be a risk factor for not only cardiovascular disease, but also Alzheimer's disease and cancer. We screened the APOE genotype in 290 breast cancer patients and 232 non-cancer controls and determined the relationship between APOE gene polymorphism and breast cancer in Taiwan. We found risk for breast cancer was associated with the APOE genotype (xi(2) = 8.652, p = 0.013). Carriers of the epsilon4 allele were more common in breast cancer cases than carriers of epsilon3 allele (p = 0.004, OR = 1.786, 95% CI: 1.197-2.664). In addition, the epsilon4 allele is also associated with HER2/neu negative status in breast cancer patients (p = 0.006, OR = 0.277, 95% CI: 0.111-0.693). No significant associations between APOE genotype and tumor grade, TN classification, progesterone receptor, estrogen receptor, lymphatic invasion, or recurrence of breast cancer were in evidence. These results suggest that the APOE epsilon4 allele may be a risk factor for breast cancer and correlates with HER2/neu negative status.

Polymorphisms of Genes in the Lipid Metabolism Pathway and Risk of Biliary Tract Cancers and Stones: A Population-Based Case-Control Study in Shanghai, China

“…In addition, the inhibitory effect of apolipoprotein E on endothelial and tumor cell proliferation suggests its possible involvement in angiogenesis, tumor cell growth, and metastasis (33,34). Although the APOE gene has not been investigated previously in biliary tract cancer, it has been related to increased risk of other malignancies, including breast, colon/rectum, and prostate (35)(36)(37). In our study, the effects of the APOE IVS1+69C>G marker on biliary stones and cancer were limited to men, suggesting a gender-specific role of APOE.…”

Association between the apolipoprotein E genotypes and breast cancer patients in Taiwanese

“…Many studies explored the association between the polymorphism of Apo E and some diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease [15], ischemic cerebrovascular disease [16], type 2 diabetic patients with nephropathy [17], and breast cancer [18] in the Taiwanese population. In order to investigate whether different Apo E isoforms contribute to the occurrence of breast cancer in the Taiwanese population, we explored the association of APOE genotypes between normal controls and breast cancer patients.…”

A Case-Control Study on the Effect of Apoliprotein E Genotype on Head and Neck Cancer Risk

“…The effect of apoE genotypes has been investigated in relation to breast, colorectal, biliary tract, prostate cancer and hematologic malignancies (7,(16)(17)(18)35), with conflicting results. Trompet et al (19) recently addressed the relationship between cholesterol and cancer by studying both the effect of plasma cholesterol levels and apoE isoforms on overall cancer risk during a 3-year follow-up study in a large elderly cohort (19).…”

“…This approach has been called "Mendelian randomization" (14,15), and it has been recently adopted to evaluate the association between cholesterol levels and cancer risk by using the apoE genotype as a surrogate for cholesterol levels. Results, however, are largely conflicting (7,(16)(17)(18). Trompet et al (19) recently reported the results of a large cohort study measuring the apoE genotype, plasma cholesterol levels, and overall cancer incidence and mortality during a 3-year follow-up period.…”