Genetics and Genomics

British Journal of Cancer (2003) 88, 277–282. doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6600728 www.bjcancer.com
Published online 28 January 2003

IGF1 genotype, mean plasma level and breast cancer risk in the Hawaii/Los Angeles multiethnic cohort

K DeLellis1, S Ingles1, L Kolonel2, R McKean-Cowdin1, B Henderson1, F Stanczyk3 and N M Probst-Hensch4

  1. 1University of Southern California, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, 1441 Eastlake Ave., MS 44, Los Angeles CA 90033-0800, USA
  2. 2Cancer Etiology Program, Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, University of Hawaii, Honolulu HI 96813, USA
  3. 3USC Keck School of Medicine, Obstetrics/Gynecology, 1M2 Women's and Children's Hospital, Los Angeles CA 90089-9032, USA
  4. 4University Hospital Zürich, Cancer Registry Zürich, F SON 6, Sonneggstr. 6, 8091 Zürich, Switzerland

Correspondence: Dr NM Probst-Hensch, E-mail: nicole.probst@ifspm.unizh.ch

Received 21 August 2002; Revised 31 October 2002; Accepted 31 October 2002.

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Abstract

The insulin-like growth factor 1 gene (IGF1) is a strong candidate gene for a breast cancer susceptibility model. We investigated a dinucleotide repeat 969 bp upstream from the transcription start site of the IGF1 gene for possible associations with plasma IGF1 levels and breast cancer risk in a multiethnic group of postmenopausal women. Furthermore, we investigated the relation between race/ethnicity, mean plasma IGF1 levels and breast cancer rates in the Hawaii/Los Angeles Multiethnic Cohort. The mean age-adjusted IGF1 level among Latino-American women, 116 ng ml-1, was statistically significantly lower than the mean age-adjusted IGF1 levels for each of the three other racial/ethnic groups, African-American, Japanese-American and Non-Latino White women (146, 144 and 145 ng ml-1, respectively) (P<0.0001). Latino-American women have the lowest breast cancer rates of any racial/ethnic group in the cohort. These results support the investigation of an expansion of the hypothesis for an important role of IGF1 in breast cancer tumorigenesis to different racial/ethnic groups and to postmenopausal women. It is unlikely that any involvement of IGF1 in breast cancer aetiology is mediated by the IGF1 dinucleotide repeat polymorphism, which was not significantly associated with circulating IGF1 levels nor breast cancer risk in this study. Research into relevant determinants of IGF1 levels in the blood must continue.

Keywords:

IGF1, insulin-like growth factor-1, breast cancer, ethnicity