Genetic Factors of Idiopathic Gigantomastia: Clinical Implications of Aromatase and Progesterone Receptor Polymorphisms

Abstract

The role of estrogen, progesterone, their receptors and aromatase in the development of the breast is well documented. In this study we examined the association of genetic variants of progesterone receptor (PGR) and aromatase (CYP19A1) genes with gigantomastia risk. We conducted a case-control study among 124 women: 60 with gigantomastia and 64 controls. We examined the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for CYP19A1 (rs749292 and rs7172156) and PGR (rs1042838). Our results showed that allele G in rs749292 (CYP19A1) increased the risk of gigantomastia, but not significantly (p = 0.09). There is a correlation between rs1042838 (PGR) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) in women with gigantomastia-AC genotype correlates with lower WHR and CC with higher WHR. There were no correlations between the onset of gigantomastia, the age of menarche and the length of the menstrual cycle, and rs1042838, rs749292 and rs7172156. We did not find differences in the SNP of PGR (rs1042838) between women with gigantomastia and controls. However, our findings showed more frequent G allele in CYP19A1 (rs749292) in women with gigantomastia.