Volume 52, Issue S1 pp. 96-102
Research Article

A common and functional gene variant in the vascular endothelial growth factor a predicts clinical outcome in early-stage breast cancer

Gudrun Absenger

Gudrun Absenger

Division of Clinical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria

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Joanna Szkandera

Joanna Szkandera

Division of Clinical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria

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Michael Stotz

Michael Stotz

Division of Clinical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria

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Martin Pichler

Martin Pichler

Division of Clinical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria

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Thomas Winder

Thomas Winder

Department of Medicine, Academic Teaching Hospital Feldkirch, Feldkirch, Austria

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Tanja Langsenlehner

Tanja Langsenlehner

Department of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria

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Uwe Langsenlehner

Uwe Langsenlehner

Division of Internal Medicine, GKK Outpatient Department, Graz, Austria

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Hellmut Samonigg

Hellmut Samonigg

Division of Clinical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria

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Wilfried Renner

Wilfried Renner

Clinical Institute of Medical and Chemical Diagnostics, Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria

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Armin Gerger

Corresponding Author

Armin Gerger

Division of Clinical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria

Correspondence to: Research Unit: Genetic Epidemiology and Pharmacogenetics, Division of Clinical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 15, 8036 Graz, Austria.Search for more papers by this author
First published: 26 April 2013
Citations: 8

Abstract

Angiogenesis and cell cycle control play critical roles in breast cancer susceptibility and clinical outcome and are mainly controlled by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and cyclin-dependent kinases, respectively. Functional germline polymorphisms in these genes alter the function, thereby causing inter-individual differences in breast cancer risk and clinical outcome. In this study, we investigated the influence of the functional polymorphisms VEGF-A rs3025039 C > T and CCND1 rs9344 G > A on risk and clinical outcome in early-stage breast cancer. DNA of 539 female patients with histologically confirmed early-stage breast cancer and 804 control subjects was genotyped for these polymorphisms. Genotypes were tested for associations with breast cancer risk and clinical outcome. There was no significant association between the polymorphisms and breast cancer risk. However, the minor allele of VEGF-A rs3025039 C > T was significantly associated with decreased recurrence-free survival (HR 1.845; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.035–3.290; P = 0.038) and remained significant in multivariate analysis (HR 1.880; 95% CI 1.020–3.465; P = 0.043). Patients carrying at least one A-allele in CCND1 rs9344 G > A showed a trend towards decreased recurrence-free survival in univariate analysis (HR 2.379; 95% CI 0.841–6.728; P = 0.068). This study provides evidence that the functional VEGF-A rs3025039 C > T polymorphism influences recurrence-free survival in early-stage breast cancer. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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