Ds. Yim et al., Relationship between the Val(158)Met polymorphism of catechol O-methyl transferase and breast cancer, PHARMACOGEN, 11(4), 2001, pp. 279-286
A case-control study was performed to assess the potential influence of cat
echol O-methyl transferase (COMT) genotype on the risk of breast cancer in
Korean women, One hundred and sixty-three histologically confirmed incident
breast cancer cases and 163 age- and menopausal status-matched control ind
ividuals with no present or previous history of cancer were selected as stu
dy subjects. COMT genetic polymorphism was determined by gel electrophoresi
s after NlaIII enzyme digestion of amplified DNA. Odds ratios and 95% confi
dence intervals were estimated by unconditional logistic regression after a
djustment for known or suspected risk factors of breast cancer, Women with
at least one COMT lower enzyme activity associated allele (COMT-L) were at
elevated risk for breast cancer (OR = 1.7, 95% CI= 1.04-2.78) compared with
those homozygous for high enzyme activity associated COMT-H alleles, Among
women with low (greater than or equal to 23.1) body mass index the COMT-L
allele containing genotypes posed a marginally significant increased risk o
f breast cancer compared to the COMT-HH genotype (OR = 1.8, 95% CI = 0.95-3
.48). Women with at least one COMT-L allele who had experienced a full-term
pregnancy when aged over 30 years or were nulliparous had 2.7-fold increas
ed risk; however, this increase did not reach statistical significance (OR
= 2.7, 95% CI = 0.64-11.35), Furthermore, never-drinking and never-smoking
women with at least one COMT-L allele were at increased risk of breast canc
er compared to those with COMT-HH genotype with ORs of 2.0 (95% CI=1.23-3.3
8) and 1.7 (95% CI=1.04-2.62), respectively, These results are consistent w
ith studies showing that COMT genotype of lower enzyme activity might be re
lated to increase in risk of breast cancer, and extend this finding to Kore
an women. Pharmacogenetics 11:279-286 (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkin
s.