Dixon, J. Michael

Abstract Aromatase (CYP19) is a critical enzyme in estrogen biosynthesis and aromatase inhibitors (AI) are employed widely for endocrine therapy in postmenopausal women with breast cancer. We hypothesized that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the CYP19 gene may alter the effectiveness of AI therapy in the neoadjuvant setting. Genomic DNA was obtained for sequencing from 52 women pre-AI and post-AI treatment in this setting. Additionally, genomic DNA obtained from 82 samples of breast cancer and 19 samples of normal breast tissue was subjected to resequencing. No differences in CYP19 sequence were observed between tumor and germ-line DNA in the same patient. A total of 48 SNPs were identified including 4 novel SNPs when compared with previous resequencing data. For genotype-phenotype association studies, we determined the levels of aromatase activity, estrone, estradiol, and tumor size in patients pre-AI and post-AI treatment. We defined two tightly linked SNPs (rs6493497 and rs7176005 in the 5'-flanking region of CYP19 exon 1.1) that were significantly associated with a greater change in aromatase activity after AI treatment. In a follow-up study of 200 women with early-stage breast cancer who were treated with adjuvant anastrozole, these same two SNPs were also associated with higher plasma estradiol levels in patients pre-AI and post-AI treatment. Electrophoretic mobility shift and reporter gene assays confirmed likely functional effects of these two SNPs on transcription of CYP19. Our findings indicate that two common genetic polymorphisms in the aromatase gene CYP19 vary the response of breast cancer patients to aromatase inhibitors. Cancer Res; 70(1); 319–28

Abstract Catechol O-methyltransferase (COMT)-catalyzed methylation of catecholestrogens has been proposed to play a protective role in estrogen-induced genotoxic carcinogenesis. We have taken a comprehensive approach to test the hypothesis that genetic variation in COMT might influence breast cancer risk. Fifteen COMT single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) selected on the basis of in-depth resequencing of the COMT gene were genotyped in 1,482 DNA samples from a Mayo Clinic breast cancer case control study. Two common SNPs in the distal promoter for membrane-bound (MB) COMT, rs2020917 and rs737865, were associated with breast cancer risk reduction in premenopausal women in the Mayo Clinic study, with allele-specific odds ratios (OR) of 0.70 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.52–0.95] and 0.68 (95% CI, 0.51–0.92), respectively. These two SNPs were then subjected to functional genomic analysis and were genotyped in an additional 3,683 DNA samples from two independent case control studies (GENICA and GESBC). Functional genomic experiments showed that these SNPs could up-regulate transcription and that they altered DNA-protein binding patterns. Furthermore, substrate kinetic and exon array analyses suggested a role for MB-COMT in catecholestrogen inactivation. The GENICA results were similar to the Mayo case control observations, with ORs of 0.85 (95% CI, 0.72–1.00) and 0.85 (95% CI, 0.72–1.01) for the two SNPs. No significant effect was observed in the GESBC study. These studies showed that two SNPs in the COMT distal promoter were associated with breast cancer risk reduction in two of three case control studies, compatible with the results of functional genomic experiments, suggesting a role for MB-COMT in breast cancer risk. [Cancer Res 2008;68(14):5997–6005]