Common 8q24 sequence variations are associated with Asian Indian advanced prostate cancer risk

Three sequence variations (rs1447295, rs16901979, and rs6983267) on 8q24 were recently shown to independently affect prostate cancer risk. Asian Indians have a low prostate cancer risk; however, in the absence of screening practices for the disease, most are diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer. We evaluated the association of these single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) with advanced prostate cancer in 153 prostate cancer cases and 227 age-matched controls (northern India). Overall, there was a positive association between carriers of the allele A of rs1447295 and prostate cancer risk [odds ratio (OR), 1.60; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.01-2.52] but no significant association with carriers of alleles A of rs16901979 and allele G of rs6983267. However, significant associations were observed for both SNPs in men with high Gleason scores (>/=7) and metastasis. Adjusting for age, the ORs were 1.77 (95% CI, 1.05-2.97) for carriers of rs1447295 A and 1.85 (95% CI, 1.04-3.28) for carriers of the rs16901979 A allele. We also observed significant joint effects among these loci associated with prostate cancer risk and severity, suggestive of additive effects of the independent SNPs. The ORs for the combined effects of rs1447295 A with rs16901979 A or rs6983267 G were 2.61 (95% CI, 1.11-6.12) and 1.84 (95% CI, 1.12-3.06), respectively. There was no joint effect between SNPs rs16901979 A and rs6983267 G. These results confirm the significance of these SNPs in prostate cancer etiology in a previously unstudied population who do not undergo prostate cancer screening and are diagnosed with severe disease.