(CAG)nCAA and GGN repeats in the human androgen receptor gene are not associated with prostate cancer in a French-German population

Alleles of the CAG and the GGC repeat in the first exon of the human androg en receptor (AR) gene have been shown to be associated with the risk of (ad vanced) prostate cancer. These studies had been carried out in the United S tates. We have analysed these polymorphisms in a French-German collection o f 105 controls, 132 sporadic cases, and a sample of prostate cancer familie s comprising 85 affected and 46 not affected family members. The allele dis tributions mere very similar in all four groups and chi square statistics o n contingency tables did not detect any significant differences. The relati ve risk (odds ratio, OR) were calculated using logistic regression and did not reach significance despite sufficient numbers of patients and controls. Typical results were OR = 1.007; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.97-1.1, P = 0.87 for CAG as continuous variable and OR = 1.2 (95% CI 0.7-2.0), P = 0. 47 for CAG classes < 22 and > = 22 repeats. Similar results were obtained f or subgroups defined by age or Gleason score. We conclude that these polymo rphisms can not be used as predictive parameters for prostate cancer in the French or German population.