The androgen receptor exon 1 trinucleotide repeat does not act as a modifier of the age of presentation in breast cancer

The CAG repeat in exon 1 of the androgen receptor (AR) genes has been postu lated as both a susceptibility allele and phenotypic modifier in BRCA1-asso ciated breast cancers. We have analysed this repeat in a set of 178 breast cancer cases who have been selected only for age of presentation at 65 year s or less. No effect of repeat length on age of presentation was found and there was no association between repeat length and family history. In combi nation with the data from other workers, our findings suggest that the andr ogen receptor repeat does not act as a modifier gene or susceptibility locu s outside the context of the hereditary breast/ovarian cancer syndrome. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.