Androgen, progesterone, and FSH receptor polymorphisms in ovarian cancer risk and outcome

Genes encoding hormone receptors are among candidate genes modulating the risk of ovarian cancer. We aimed to assess a frequency of PGRG+331A, FSHRAla307Thr, and FSHRSer680Asn polymorphic variants, and the length of (CAG)n and (GGN)n repeat tracts in the androgen receptor gene (AR) with respect to ovarian cancer risk and outcome. We genotyped 215 ovarian cancer patients and 352 unaffected control subjects. Statistical analysis was performed with the logistic regression model with adjustment for age. Clinical importance of the polymorphic variants was evaluated in multivariate models on 69 patients treated with taxane-platinum chemotherapy, with respect to TP53 status. Longer AR (GGN)n and (CAG)n repeat tracts decreased the risk of ovarian cancer. For (GGN)n, each additional repeat decreased the risk by 17% (P=0.011) or 27% (P=0.002), while the presence of at least 23 repeats decreased the risk by 41% (P=0.032) or 68% (P=0.008), for the shorter or longer allele respectively. The risk of disease was also decreased by 11% with each additional (CAG)n repeat (P=0.006 for the longer allele). FSHRAla307Ala or FSHRSer680Ser polymorphisms increased ovarian cancer risk by 1.8 times (P=0.042). In all 69 patients, longer AR (CAG)n repeats decreased the risk of recurrence (P=0.031). In the group with TP53 accumulation, longer AR (CAG)n repeats decreased the risk of recurrence (P=0.003) and death (P=0.03), while the FSHRSer680Ser polymorphism increased the risk of recurrence (P=0.037). Progesterone receptor polymorphisms analyzed did not show any associations. Our results support both the androgen and gonadotropin hypotheses of ovarian cancer development.