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Polymorphisms in the KDR and POSTN Genes: Association with Breast Cancer Susceptibility and Prognosis

  • Epidemiology
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Abstract

Angiogenesis is an important step in the development of cancer. Vascular endothelial growth factor is a major regulator of breast cancer angiogenesis, the effects of which are transmitted through the kinase domain receptor (KDR). Up-regulation of KDR by periostin (POSTN) induces angiogenesis. We screened the KDR and the POSTN genes for published single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and chose two SNPs in each gene for further analyses. We carried out a case–control study consisting of 412 familial and 912 unselected breast cancer cases together with ethnically and geographically selected controls. Genotype, haplotype and genotype combination analyses were carried out to evaluate their effect on susceptibility to and prognosis of breast cancer. A haplotype in the POSTN gene was associated with an increased risk even after correction for multiple comparisons. Nominal associations between the SNPs and prognostic indicators were also observed. Tumors of the KDR 472His allele carriers were less often progesterone receptor negative according to both genotype and haplotype analyses (OR 0.61, 95%CI 0.40–0.92 and OR 0.60, 95%CI 0.40–0.91, respectively). The POSTN -33G allele carriers had more often high grade and estrogen receptor negative tumors (OR 1.75, 95%CI 1.02–3.01 and OR 1.70, 95%CI 1.04–2.78, respectively). The overall and cancer specific survival after 15 years of follow-up was more than 75%, and it did not depend on the genotype. Although a major effect of the SNPs in the KDR and the POSTN genes on breast cancer susceptibility and prognosis was excluded, the effect of the POSTN C-33G SNP on prognosis needs further characterization.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Umeå Center for Genome Research and Pia Osterman (UCGR, Medical and Clinical Genetics, Umeå University, Sweden) for genotyping the Swedish samples and Åsa Ågren (Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine/Nutritional Research, Umeå University, Sweden) for her efficiency and skill in keeping track of samples and data. The Northern Sweden Breast Cancer Group is thanked for providing the clinical data. The project was partially funded by Wallenberg Consortium North, Sweden. This study was supported by the grants from State Committee for Scientific Research (PBZ-KBN-040/P04/2001 to E.G) and a grant from EU (LSHC-CT-2004-503465 to E.G and K.H).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Molecular Genetic Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Asta Försti, Andrea Altieri, Kerstin Wagner & Kari Hemminki

  2. Department of Biosciences at Novum, Karolinska Institute, Huddinge, Sweden

    Asta Försti, Qianren Jin & Kari Hemminki

  3. Department of Oncology, Norrlands University Hospital, Umeå, Sweden

    Robert Johansson, Göran Hallmans & Per Lenner

  4. Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine/Nutritional Research, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

    Kerstin Enquist

  5. Department of Molecular Biology, Centre of Oncology, Maria Sklodowska-Curie Institute, Gliwice, Poland

    Ewa Grzybowska, Jolanta Pamula & Wioletta Pekala

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  1. Asta Försti
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  2. Qianren Jin
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  3. Andrea Altieri
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  4. Robert Johansson
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  6. Kerstin Enquist
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  7. Ewa Grzybowska
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  8. Jolanta Pamula
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  9. Wioletta Pekala
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  10. Göran Hallmans
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  11. Per Lenner
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  12. Kari Hemminki
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Correspondence to Asta Försti.

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Försti, A., Jin, Q., Altieri, A. et al. Polymorphisms in the KDR and POSTN Genes: Association with Breast Cancer Susceptibility and Prognosis. Breast Cancer Res Treat 101, 83–93 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-006-9265-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-006-9265-1

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