Background: To investigate the relationship between two common variants (Ser217 and Ala541) of the HPC2/ELAC2 gene and prostate cancer risk in a Japanese population, we performed a case-control study.
Materials and methods: Cases and controls consisted of 81 prostate cancer patients with a family history and 106 controls. Ser217 and Ala541 polymorphisms were analyzed by the restriction fragment length polymorphism method.
Results: In controls, 94.5% and 100.0% had wild-type Ser217Ser and Ala541Ala genotypes, respectively. 5.7% of the controls had the Leu217 genotype. No Thr541 genotype was observed in the controls. 92.6% and 97.5% of the cases had the Ser217Ser and Ala541Ala genotypes. No significant differences were observed in the genotypic frequencies between controls and cases. We stratified prostate cancer cases according to the pathological grade (low- or high-grade) or the clinical stage (localized or metastatic). There was no statistical difference between the genotypic frequencies between the groups.
Conclusion: The present study suggested that the common variants in the HPC2/ELAC2 gene play a limited role in the risk of prostate cancer in the Japanese population.