Association of the Apolipoprotein E 2 Allele with Concurrent Occurrence of Endometrial Hyperplasia and Endometrial Carcinoma

Abstract

Genes encoding proteins with antioxidant properties may influence susceptibility to endometrial hyperplasia (EH) and endometrial carcinoma (ECa). Patients with EH (n= 89), EH concurrent with ECa (n= 76), ECa (n= 186), and healthy controls (n= 1110) were genotyped for five polymorphic variants in the genes involved in metabolism of lipoproteins (APOECys112Arg and Arg158Cys), iron (HFECys282Tyr and His63Asp), and catecholamines (COMTVal158Met). Patients and controls were matched by ethnicity (all Caucasians), age, body mass index (BMI), and incidence of hypertension and diabetes. The frequency of theAPOEE 2 allele (158Cys) was higher in patients with EH + ECa than in controls (P= 0.0012,PBonferroni= 0.018, OR = 2.58, 95% CI 1.49–4.45). TheAPOEE 4 allele (112Arg) was more frequently found in patients with EH than in controls andHFEminor allele G (63Asp) had a protective effect in the ECa group, though these results appeared to be nonsignificant after correction for multiple comparisons. The results of the study indicate that E 2 allele might be associated with concurrent occurrence of EH and ECa.