Association of LAPTM4B gene polymorphism with breast cancer susceptibility

Background: Lysosome associated protein transmembrane 4 beta (LAPTM4B) was a cancer-associated gene that is mapped to chromosome 8q22 with seven exons and six introns. LAPTM4B gene polymorphism has been reported to be significantly associated with susceptibility of several solid tumors. Methods: We performed a case-control study was to investigate the association between LAPTM4B polymorphism and the risk of breast cancer in 732 breast cancer patients and 649 controls. Results: A significant difference in the frequency of LAPTM4B*2 was observed between the patients and the controls (P < 0.01). Using the LAPTM4B*1/1 genotype as a reference, we found that LAPTM4B allelic variation was significantly associated with breast cancer occurrence, with adjusted odds ratios of 1.387 (95% CI = 1.111-1.730) for LAPTM4B*1/2 and 1.592 (95% CI = 1.043-2.430) for LAPTM4B*2/2 genotype. Conclusion: Our results suggested that LAPTM4B* 2 is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer in the Chinese women population and may be a risk factor of breast cancer. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.