Abstract B123: Sequence variants in inflammatory genes, plasma antioxidants, and prostate cancer risk

Background: Presence of xenotropic murine leukemia virus‐related virus and chronic inflammation in prostate tumor tissue suggests that inflammation plays a role in prostate cancer etiology. This study thus investigated whether variants in genes involved in inflammation influence alone or interact with plasma antioxidants to influence prostate cancer risk in a population‐based case‐control study in Central Arkansas. Methods: Cases (n=193) were men, ages 40–80 years, diagnosed with prostate cancer in three major hospitals in 1998–2003, and controls (n=197) were matched to cases by age, race, and county of residence. Results: After adjustment for confounders, polymorphisms in COX2 (rs689466) and IL‐8 (rs4073) were not significantly associated with prostate cancer risk. However, significant interactions were observed between these genetic variants and plasma antioxidants on the risk of this malignancy. The protective effect of the mutant allele of the COX polymorphism was more pronounced among subjects with high plasma levels of β‐cryptoxanthin, lycopene, β‐carotene, or selenium (≥median) [ e.g. , OR (95% CI): 0.37 (0.15–0.86) (AG/GG vs. AA) for β‐cryptoxanthin]. Conversely, the promoting effect of the variant allele of the IL‐8 polymorphism was more remarkable in subjects with low plasma levels of Lutein/zeaxanthin, β‐cryptoxanthin, and β‐carotene ( e.g. , OR (95% CI): 2.44 (1.08–5.75) (AT/TT vs. AA) for β‐carotene]. Conclusions: We found that genetic variants in inflammatory genes interact with plasma antioxidants to modulate the risk of prostate cancer. The results obtained from our study need to be replicated in large epidemiologic studies. Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2010;3(1 Suppl):B123.