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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2015 Feb;26(2):205-218.
doi: 10.1007/s10552-014-0500-5. Epub 2014 Dec 9.

Associations of vitamin D pathway genes with circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin-D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin-D, and prostate cancer: a nested case-control study

Rebecca Gilbert  1 , Carolina Bonilla  2   3 , Chris Metcalfe  2 , Sarah Lewis  2   3 , David M Evans  3 , William D Fraser  4 , John P Kemp  2   3 , Jenny L Donovan  2 , Freddie C Hamdy  5 , David E Neal  6 , J Athene Lane  2 , George Davey Smith  2   3 , Mark Lathrop  7   8 , Richard M Martin  2   3   9
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Associations of vitamin D pathway genes with circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin-D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin-D, and prostate cancer: a nested case-control study

Rebecca Gilbert et al. Cancer Causes Control. 2015 Feb.

Abstract

Purpose: Vitamin D pathway single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are potentially useful proxies for investigating whether circulating vitamin D metabolites [total 25-hydroxyvitamin-D, 25(OH)D; 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin, 1,25(OH)2D] are causally related to prostate cancer. We investigated associations of sixteen SNPs across seven genes with prostate-specific antigen-detected prostate cancer.

Methods: In a nested case-control study (within the ProtecT trial), we estimated odds ratios and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) quantifying associations between SNPs and prostate cancer. Subgroup analyses investigated whether associations were stronger in men who had high/low sun exposure [a proxy for 25(OH)D]. We quantified associations of SNPs with stage (T1-T2/T3-T4) and grade (<7/≥7). Multiple variant scores included SNPs encoding proteins involved in 25(OH)D synthesis and metabolism.

Results: We included 1,275 prostate cancer cases (141 locally advanced, 385 high grades) and 2,062 healthy controls. Vitamin D-binding protein SNPs were associated with prostate cancer (rs4588-A: OR 1.20, CI 1.01, 1.41, p = 0.04; rs7041-T: OR 1.19, CI 1.02, 1.38, p = 0.03). Low 25(OH)D metabolism score was associated with high (vs low) grade (OR 0.76, CI 0.63, 0.93, p = 0.01); there was a similar association of its component variants: rs6013897-A in CYP24A1 (OR 0.78, CI 0.60, 1.01, p = 0.06) and rs10877012-T in CYP27B1 (OR 0.80, CI 0.63, 1.02, p = 0.07). There was no evidence that associations differed by level of sun exposure.

Conclusion: We found some evidence that vitamin D pathway SNPs were associated with prostate cancer risk and grade, but not stage. There was no evidence of an association in men with deficient vitamin D (measured by having low sun exposure).

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Diagram describing collider bias. a If we condition on circulating vitamin D levels (box), we could create on association of SNPs with confounders (dashed line). b If we condition on sun exposure (box), the association between SNPs and confounders is not generated because the SNPs are not associated with sun exposure (dashed line is removed)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Flowchart describing the case–control selection for inclusion in this analysis
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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