E-cadherin promoter polymorphisms are not associated with the aggressiveness of prostate cancer in Caucasian patients

Background: -160C -> A and -347G -> GA polymorphisms in the promoter region decrease E-cadherin gene transcription. Decreased E-cadherin expression predicts poor outcome among patients with cancer. We sought to investigate whether -160C -> A and/or -347G -> GA polymorphisms were associated with the aggressiveness of prostate cancer. Methods: TaqMan single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping assay (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA) was used to detect -160C -> A and -347G -> GA polymorphisms in deoxyribonucleic acid from the paraffin-embedded prostate tissues of 98 Caucasian patients. Results: The genotype frequencies were -160C/C: 48% (47 of 98); -160C/A: 44% (43 of 98); -160A/A: 8% (8 of 98); -347G/G: 68% (67 of 98); -347G/GA: 28% (27 of 98); and -347GA/GA: 4% (4 of 98). Using the chi-square test, we found that the polymorphisms -160C -> A and -347G -> GA were not related to other clinical and pathologic parameters (i.e., age, prostate-specific antigen level, Gleason grade, and clinical stage) (P > 0.05). In combination analysis, there was no significant relationship between patients with both -160C/C and -347G/G, and these same parameters (P > 0.05). Using the log-rank test, we found no significant difference in relapse-free survival and overall survival between patients with -160C/C and those with -160A/C or -160A/A (P = 0.0764 and 0.2746, respectively), and also no significant difference between patients with -347G/G and those with -347GA/G or -347GA/GA (P = 0.9416 and 0.7367, respectively). There was also no significant difference in relapse-free survival and overall survival between patients with homozygosities of -160C/-347G and patients with other genotypes (P = 0.1418 and 0.2434, respectively). Conclusion: We conclude that E-cadherin -160C -> A and/or -347G -> GA polymorphisms are not associated with the aggressiveness of prostate cancer in Caucasian patients. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.