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The effect of modifiable potentials on hypermethylation status of retinoic acid receptor-beta2 and estrogen receptor-alpha genes in primary breast cancer

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Abstract

Epigenetic silencing of retinoic acid receptor-beta2 (RARbeta2) and estrogen receptor-alpha (ERalpha) expressions have been revealed to be important in the development of approaches for diagnosis and therapy of breast cancer. We aimed to explore the correlation of some potential factors with the hypermethylation status of RARbeta2 and ERalpha genes among Iranian breast cancer patients. The hypermethylation status was investigated in 137 dissected tissues from primary breast cancer patients through methylation-specific PCR. Overall, the methylation frequencies of RARbeta2 and ERalpha genes were observed in 36.5 and 51.1% of participants, respectively. The hypermethylated RARbeta2 was associated with younger age at diagnosis and negative family history of breast cancer. The hypermethylation of ERalpha was correlated positively with smoking, duration of estradiol exposure, ER-negativity in tumors and body mass index (at 5 years ago). The plasma levels of folate and vitamin B12 were inversely related to the hypermethylation status of ERalpha, after controlling for covariates. The risk of ERalpha hypermethylation was increased with high plasma level of total homocysteine. In conclusion, our data provide new insights into the possible effect of some lifestyle-related factors on the aberrant methylation drift of ERalpha and RARbeta2 genes in breast cancer.

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Acknowledgments

We are thankful to all participating patients and our valued colleagues in Day General Hospital. We are also grateful to researches affaire of National Nutrition & Food Technology Research Institute, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Iran, for providing financial support to conduct this study. The authors are grateful to Dr. Sonia Ijadi-Maghsoudi and Dr. Mohammad-Amin Tabatabaifar for their valuable reading of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Nutrition, National Nutrition and Food Technology Research Institute, Faculty of Nutrition Sciences and Food Technology, Shahid Beheshti University M.C., Tehran, 19395-4741, Iran

    Saeed Pirouzpanah & Forough A. Taleban

  2. Cancer Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences/Day General Hospital, Tehran, Iran

    Morteza Atri

  3. Department of Community & Health, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University M.C., Tehran, Iran

    Ali-Reza Abadi

  4. Department of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 1417613151, Iran

    Parvin Mehdipour

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  1. Saeed Pirouzpanah
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  2. Forough A. Taleban
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  3. Morteza Atri
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  4. Ali-Reza Abadi
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  5. Parvin Mehdipour
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Correspondence to Saeed Pirouzpanah or Parvin Mehdipour.

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Pirouzpanah, S., Taleban, F.A., Atri, M. et al. The effect of modifiable potentials on hypermethylation status of retinoic acid receptor-beta2 and estrogen receptor-alpha genes in primary breast cancer. Cancer Causes Control 21, 2101–2111 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-010-9629-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-010-9629-z

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