Functional variants in the promoter of interleukin-1β are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer: A case-control analysis in a Chinese population

✍ Scribed by Jiyong Liu; Xiangjun Zhai; Guangfu Jin; Zhibin Hu; Shui Wang; Xuechen Wang; Jianwei Qin; Jun Gao; Hongxia Ma; Xinru Wang; Qingyi Wei; Hongbing Shen

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: French
• Weight: 91 KB
• Volume: 118
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0020-7136
• DOI: 10.1002/ijc.21652

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Interleukin 1β (IL‐1β) is a multifunctional cytokine that upregulates the inflammatory response, and participates in carcinogenesis, malignant transformation, tumor growth, invasion and metastasis. Two potentially functional polymorphisms (T‐31C and C‐511T) in the __IL‐1__β gene promoter were suggested to be correlated with alteration of IL‐1β expression and therefore may be associated with cancer risk. To test the hypothesis that these 2 polymorphisms are associated with risk of breast cancer, we performed a case‐control study of 365 breast cancer cases, 270 patients with benign breast diseases (BBD) and 631 cancer‐free controls in a Chinese population. Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that increased risk of breast cancer was associated with __IL‐1__β‐31C variant genotypes [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.28 and 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.91–1.80 for ‐31CT and 1.72 (95% CI = 1.16‐2.54) for ‐31CC], compared with the ‐31TT genotype. Similarly, __IL‐1__β‐511T variant genotypes were also associated with increased risk of breast cancer (adjusted OR = 1.20, 95% CI = 0.86–1.67 for ‐511CT and adjusted OR = 1.74, 95% CI = 1.18–2.56 for ‐511TT), compared with the ‐511CC genotype. Furthermore, cancer risks associated with __IL‐1__βT‐31C variant genotypes were more evident in older women, postmenopausal women and individuals with a later menarche age. Interestingly, although we did not find significant associations of these 2 variants with cancer risk when compared with the BBD patients, a 1.27‐fold (95% CI = 1.01–1.60) increased risk was observed with the ‐31C‐511T common haplotype. These findings indicate that these 2 __IL‐1__β promoter variants may contribute to risk of developing breast cancer in the Chinese population. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.