How Do Genetic Determinants of Bone Mass Relate to Breast Cancer Risk?
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between breast cancer risk, bone mass, and two polymorphic hormone receptor genes-- the estrogen receptor (ER) and vitamin D receptor (VDR) genes. We will also explore a possible functional mechanism to explain this association. We will recruit 200 new breast cancer cases and 200 controls, ages 40-85, with equal numbers of African-Americans and whites. Bone mineral density (BMD) measurements of the forearm will be obtained. We have enrolled 231 cases and 198 controls, with an age range of 39-84. There is an equitable distribution of the two ethnic groups, with 50.3% of the cohort being white and 49.7% African-American. We enrolled more than 400 subjects because some individuals changed their minds about giving blood, some blood samples were not analyzable, and some subjects have no bone density data due to instrument malfunctions. Preliminary results on the genotype data suggest some differences in frequencies of the ER and VDR genotypes between cases and controls. BMD in the proximal radius of the cases is higher than that of controls when adjusted for age, weight, ethnicity, and HRT use (0.790 vs 0.775 g/cm2), as hypothesized. Multivariate analyses and relative risk models are forthcoming when all data are entered into the database. We have begun identifying cases and devising the experiments for our final objective, which is to investigate the responsivity to estrogen of the polymorphic ER genotypes.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA398122
Entities
People
- Dorothy A. Nelson
Organizations
- Wayne State University