What is it about?

We evaluated the effect of estrogen receptor (ER)-α and ER-β genes polymorphisms on development of prostate cancer (PCa) and its correlation with serum reproductive hormones and with clinicopathological characteristics.

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Why is it important?

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common cancer with as many as 500 000 new cases each year. An estimated 28 660 men in the USA lost their lives because of this malignancy in 2008. The reported PCa detection rate in Iranian men is between 3.6% and 3.8%. Genetic susceptibility is implicated in the etiology of PCa in as much as 40% of all cases. Despite numerous epidemiological and experimental studies, the role(s) of estrogen in the pathogenesis of PCa remains poorly understood. Estrogens have been implicated in the stimulation of aberrant prostate growth, control of cell growth and programmed cell death in PCa cells [6,7]. The exact role of estrogens on prostate epithelium is still mainly controversial although estrogens have been used in the treatment of PCa because of their growth-inhibitory effects. Nowadays, transdermal estrogen patches as a first-line treatment option in patients with locally advanced or metastatic PCa are in phase II trials. Recently, estrogens have been concerned as potential agents in the development and progression of PCa.

Perspectives

Allelic frequency is significantly different across ethnic/racial groups for studied SNPs. In a study by Herna´ndez, logistic regression analysis adjusted for age and stratified by race and ethnicity demonstrated an association between the ER-a Pvull genotype or presence of the ER-a Pvull G allele and PCa risk within black men. Therefore the finding of this study might not be applicable for population with different ethnic/racial origin.

Dr Mohammad Reza Safarinejad
University of Medical Sceices

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This page is a summary of: Estrogen receptors alpha (rs2234693 and rs9340799), and beta (rs4986938 and rs1256049) genes polymorphism in prostate cancer: Evidence for association with risk and histopathological tumor characteristics in Iranian men, Molecular Carcinogenesis, January 2012, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1002/mc.21870.
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