Effects of ACE I/D Polymorphism on Prostate Cancer Risk, Tumor Grade and Metastatis

The aim was to substantiate the putative significance of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) (insertion/deletion) I/D polymorphism on prostate cancer risk, BTPSA-ATPSA (before treatment-after treatment prostate-specific antigen) levels and tumor development. Materials and Methods: 48 prostate cancer patients and 51 healthy volunteers were included. The ACE I/D genotypes were determined by PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) techniques. Results: The DD genotype may have detrimental and the II genotype may have protective effect on prostate cancer (p=0.03). The highest before treatment PSA (BTPSA) values were found in the patient group having the DD genotype (p=0.017). PSA-AT levels were higher in homozygous mutant DD than homozygous II and the decrease in PSA-AT level was found to be statistically significant in each genotype (p=0.000). Patients with the D allele showed a higher prevalence of late stage prostate carcinoma when compared to the patients with II genotype (p=0.022) and the detrimental effects of the D allele, both in lymph node metastases and distant metastasis were observed. Conclusion: The risk of prostate cancer development, the PSA level and tumor metastasis may be associated with genetic variation in the ACE I/D genotypes which may be used as an important biomarker for further studies.