RESUMO
While still relatively low as compared to rates in the Western world, prostate cancer is on the increase in Asia, presumably due to change in dietary and other lifestyle factors. One risk factor is reported to be vitamin D (VD) and therefore the function of its receptor (VDR) could be of importance. In the present study polymorphims with functional significance in the Bsm, Apa 1 and Taq 1 genes were therefore compared in 28 prostate cancer (CaP), 44 benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and 30 control cases in Thailand. None demonstrated any significant variation in distribution within these three groups and therefore we conclude that vitamin D may not be major risk factor for prostate cancer in this population. However, there is considerable variation in the distribution frequencies from country to country and this, combined with differences in sun exposure, means that the results may not be extrapolated to the general case.