BACKGROUND: International mortality and frequency rates for breast cancer have been associated with the wet type of human earwax. It was recently found that earwax type is determined by a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), 538G>A (Gly180Arg), in ABCC11. The G allele determines the wet type of earwax as a Mendelian trait with a dominant phenotype. The present study examined the association between the frequency rate of breast cancer and the frequency of the G allele of ABCC11. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Using blood samples from patients with invasive breast cancer (n = 270) and control volunteers (n = 273), the 538G>A SNP in ABCC11 was genotyped using the SmartAmp method. RESULTS: The frequency of the G allele in breast cancer patients was higher than that in healthy controls. The odds ratio for the genotypes (G/G+G/A) to develop breast cancer was estimated to be 1.63 (p-value = 0.026), suggesting that the G allele in ABCC11 is associated with breast cancer risk. CONCLUSION: This study showed that Japanese women with wet earwax have a higher relative risk of developing breast cancer than those with dry earwax. The ABCC11 SNPs that determine these phenotypes should be further investigated in order to obtain insights into the mechanisms by which breast cancer develops and progresses.
BACKGROUND: International mortality and frequency rates for breast cancer have been associated with the wet type of human earwax. It was recently found that earwax type is determined by a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), 538G>A (Gly180Arg), in ABCC11. The G allele determines the wet type of earwax as a Mendelian trait with a dominant phenotype. The present study examined the association between the frequency rate of breast cancer and the frequency of the G allele of ABCC11. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Using blood samples from patients with invasive breast cancer (n = 270) and control volunteers (n = 273), the 538G>A SNP in ABCC11 was genotyped using the SmartAmp method. RESULTS: The frequency of the G allele in breast cancerpatients was higher than that in healthy controls. The odds ratio for the genotypes (G/G+G/A) to develop breast cancer was estimated to be 1.63 (p-value = 0.026), suggesting that the G allele in ABCC11 is associated with breast cancer risk. CONCLUSION: This study showed that Japanese women with wet earwax have a higher relative risk of developing breast cancer than those with dry earwax. The ABCC11 SNPs that determine these phenotypes should be further investigated in order to obtain insights into the mechanisms by which breast cancer develops and progresses.
Authors: Ganna Chornokur; Hui-Yi Lin; Jonathan P Tyrer; Kate Lawrenson; Joe Dennis; Ernest K Amankwah; Xiaotao Qu; Ya-Yu Tsai; Heather S L Jim; Zhihua Chen; Ann Y Chen; Jennifer Permuth-Wey; Katja K H Aben; Hoda Anton-Culver; Natalia Antonenkova; Fiona Bruinsma; Elisa V Bandera; Yukie T Bean; Matthias W Beckmann; Maria Bisogna; Line Bjorge; Natalia Bogdanova; Louise A Brinton; Angela Brooks-Wilson; Clareann H Bunker; Ralf Butzow; Ian G Campbell; Karen Carty; Jenny Chang-Claude; Linda S Cook; Daniel W Cramer; Julie M Cunningham; Cezary Cybulski; Agnieszka Dansonka-Mieszkowska; Andreas du Bois; Evelyn Despierre; Ed Dicks; Jennifer A Doherty; Thilo Dörk; Matthias Dürst; Douglas F Easton; Diana M Eccles; Robert P Edwards; Arif B Ekici; Peter A Fasching; Brooke L Fridley; Yu-Tang Gao; Aleksandra Gentry-Maharaj; Graham G Giles; Rosalind Glasspool; Marc T Goodman; Jacek Gronwald; Patricia Harrington; Philipp Harter; Alexander Hein; Florian Heitz; Michelle A T Hildebrandt; Peter Hillemanns; Claus K Hogdall; Estrid Hogdall; Satoyo Hosono; Anna Jakubowska; Allan Jensen; Bu-Tian Ji; Beth Y Karlan; Linda E Kelemen; Mellissa Kellar; Lambertus A Kiemeney; Camilla Krakstad; Susanne K Kjaer; Jolanta Kupryjanczyk; Diether Lambrechts; Sandrina Lambrechts; Nhu D Le; Alice W Lee; Shashi Lele; Arto Leminen; Jenny Lester; Douglas A Levine; Dong Liang; Boon Kiong Lim; Jolanta Lissowska; Karen Lu; Jan Lubinski; Lene Lundvall; Leon F A G Massuger; Keitaro Matsuo; Valerie McGuire; John R McLaughlin; Iain McNeish; Usha Menon; Roger L Milne; Francesmary Modugno; Kirsten B Moysich; Roberta B Ness; Heli Nevanlinna; Ursula Eilber; Kunle Odunsi; Sara H Olson; Irene Orlow; Sandra Orsulic; Rachel Palmieri Weber; James Paul; Celeste L Pearce; Tanja Pejovic; Liisa M Pelttari; Malcolm C Pike; Elizabeth M Poole; Harvey A Risch; Barry Rosen; Mary Anne Rossing; Joseph H Rothstein; Anja Rudolph; Ingo B Runnebaum; Iwona K Rzepecka; Helga B Salvesen; Eva Schernhammer; Ira Schwaab; Xiao-Ou Shu; Yurii B Shvetsov; Nadeem Siddiqui; Weiva Sieh; Honglin Song; Melissa C Southey; Beata Spiewankiewicz; Lara Sucheston; Soo-Hwang Teo; Kathryn L Terry; Pamela J Thompson; Lotte Thomsen; Ingvild L Tangen; Shelley S Tworoger; Anne M van Altena; Robert A Vierkant; Ignace Vergote; Christine S Walsh; Shan Wang-Gohrke; Nicolas Wentzensen; Alice S Whittemore; Kristine G Wicklund; Lynne R Wilkens; Anna H Wu; Xifeng Wu; Yin-Ling Woo; Hannah Yang; Wei Zheng; Argyrios Ziogas; Hanis N Hasmad; Andrew Berchuck; Edwin S Iversen; Joellen M Schildkraut; Susan J Ramus; Ellen L Goode; Alvaro N A Monteiro; Simon A Gayther; Steven A Narod; Paul D P Pharoah; Thomas A Sellers; Catherine M Phelan Journal: PLoS One Date: 2015-06-19 Impact factor: 3.240