Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase polymorphism, diet, and breast cancer in Korean women

To evaluate the interactive effect of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) genotype and dietary factors on the development of breast cancer, a hospital based case-control study was conducted in South Korean study population consisting of 189 histologically confirmed incident breast cancer cases and their 189 age-matched controls without present or previous history of cancer. A PCR-RFLP method was used for the genotyping of MTHFR (C677T) and statistical evaluations were performed by unconditional logistic regression analysis. Consumption of some dietary factors, such as green vegetables (OR=0.3, 95% CI: 0.2-0.6), white vegetables (OR=0.3, 95% CI: 0.1-0.7) mushrooms (OR=0.4, 95% CI: 0.3-0.7), and meats (OR=1.7, 95% CI: 1.1-2.8) significantly decreased or increased the risk of breast cancer. Although the breast cancer risk was 1.7-fold (95% CI: 0.8-3.2) increased in women with MTHFR TT genotype, the association was not statistically significant. Women with MTHFR TT genotype and low green vegetable intake increased 5.6-fold (95% CI: 1.2-26.3) risk of breast cancer compared to high green vegetable intake group containing MTHFR CC/CT genotype. However, the interaction was not significant (p for interaction=0.96). Our findings suggest that MTHFR polymorphism did not influence individual susceptibility to breast cancer. However MTHFR (C667T) genotype and green vegetable intakes appeared to have the interactive effect in breast cancer development.

Glutathione S-transferase P1 Genetic Polymorphisms and Breast Cancer Risk / Journal of the Korean Cancer Association, 대한암학회지

PURPOSE: To evaluate the potential association between the GSTP1 genotype and the development of breast cancer, a hospital based case-control study was conducted in South Korea. MATERIALS AND METGODS: The study population consisted of 171 histologically confirmed incidents of breast cancer cases, and 171 age-matched controls with no present, or previous, history of cancer. A PCR method was used for the genotyping analyses, and statistical evaluation was performed by an unconditional logistic regression model. RESULTS: No association was observed in the study subjects, or the premenopausal women group with GSTP1 Val allele. However, postmenopausal women with GSTP1 Val allele had a reduced risk of breast cancer (OR=0.3, 95% CI=0.1~0.7). When the data were stratified, by the known risk factors of breast cancer, a significant interaction was observed between the GSTP1 genotype and alcohol consumption (p for interaction = 0.01); women with GSTP1 Val allele, that drank regularly, had a 3.0-fold increased risk of breast cancer (95% CI=1.1~7.9), whereas women with GSTP1 Val allele, that never drink, had protective effects (OR=0.4, 95% CI=0.2~0.8). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that GSTP1 Ile105Val polymorphism influences the individual susceptibility to breast cancer, and that this effect may be modified by alcohol consumption.

A clinicopathological analysis on microinvasive carcinoma / 한국유방암학회지

PURPOSE: Histopathological classification of invasive breast carcinoma with its earliest phases is fraught with pitfalls. We were willing to clarify the biology and clinicopathological features of microinvasive carcinoma which is not fully understood in comparison with those of in situ cancer. Particular attention is paid to identifying the novel markers which can be representative of the microinvasive carcinoma. METHODS: From January 1986 to December 1996, a total of 72 microinvasive carcinomas, defined as in situ carcinomas with invasion present in less than 10% of the histological section, were found out. Their paraffin blocks were chosen for immunohistochemical staining against four molecules. RESULTS: Microinvasive carcinoma was greater in primary tumor size (2.66?0.17cm vs 2.21?0.19cm, P=0.045) and metastatic axillary nodes (0.21?0.25 vs 0.06?0.16, P=0.019) than DCIS. In terms of nuclear grade(P=0.198) and comedo type(P=0.562), there was no statistical significance between microinvasive carcinoma and DCIS. Among three primary tumor features(size, comedo component, and nuclear grade), the tumor size> or =2.5cm had marginal significance affecting the incidence of axillary node metastasis in microinvasive carcinoma(P=0.081). Of investigational prognostic factors, determined by immunohistochemical staining, p53 expression was observed more frequently in microinvasive disease entity from in situ to invasive from than DCIS(P=0.031). CONCLUSION: Microinvasive carcinoma is thought to be transitional disease entity from in situ to invasive form. The microinvasive carcinoma of 2.5cm could be indication for axillary node dissection. In addition, p53 mutation might play a important biological role in progression from noninvasive to invasive form and these results provide further evidence that p53 mutation could have potential use as a molecular marker.

A Clinicopathological Analysis of Microinvasive Carcinoma

BACKGROUND: The histopathological classification of an invasive breast carcinoma in its earliest phases is fraught with pitfalls. We wanted to clarify the biology and the clinicopathological features of a microinvasive carcinoma, which are not fully understood, by comparing then with those of an in-situ cancer. Particular attention was paid to identifying the novel markers which might be representative of a microinvasive carcinoma. METHODS: From January 1986 to December 1996, a total of 72 microinvasive carcinomas, defined as in-situ carcinomas with invasion present in less than 10% of the histological section, were found. Their paraffin blocks were chosen for immunohistochemical staining against four molecules. RESULTS: Microinvasive carcinomas had a greater primary-tumor size (2.66+/-0.17 cm vs 2.21+/-0.19 cm, p=0.045) and a larger number of metastatic axillary nodes (0.21+/-0.25 vs 0.06+/-0.16, p=0.019) than DCIS (Ductal carcinoma in situ). In terms of nuclear grade (p=0.198) and comedo type (p=0.562), there were no statistical significances between microinvasive carcinomas and DCIS. Among three primary- tumor features (size, comedo component, and nuclear grade), a tumor size> or =2.5 cm had a marginal significance affecting the incidence of axillary-node metastasis in microinvasive carcinomas (p=0.081). Of the investigational prognostic factors determined by using immunohistochemical staining, p53 expression was observed more frequently in microinvasive tumors than in DCIS (p=0.031). CONCLUSION: A microinvasive carcinoma is thought to be transitional disease entity between the in-situ to the invasive forms. In spite of the marginal statistical significance of the result a microinvasive carcinoma larger than 2.5 cm could be an indication for axillary-node dissection. In addition, p53 mutation might play an important biological role in the progression from a noninvasive to an invasive form. Also the results provide further evidence that p53 mutation might have potential use as a molecular marker.

Gagtric Adenocarcinoma with Choriocarcinomatous and Hepatoid Differentiation: Report of a case

Association of the hepatoid and choriocarcinomatous components in adenocarcinoma of the stomach is extremely unusual and raises a possibility of new approach understand the histogenesis of gastric hepatoid adenocarcinoma. This paper describes a Borrmann type III adenocarcinoma of the stomach with both choriocarcinomatous and hepatoid components in composite tumor pattern in a 50-year-old man. Tubular arrangement of differentiated embryonalcarcinoma was encountered in choricarcinomatous and hepatoid areas, which showed strong immunoreactivity to beta-HCG and AFP, respectively. The findings suggest that gastric adenocarcinoma may have a potential of differentiation toward embryonal carcinoma. from which both choriocarcinoma and hepatoid variant of gastric adenocarcinoma may develop by retrodifferentiation.