Association of androgen receptor CAG repeat polymorphism and risk of epithelial ovarian cancer

• This study evaluated the association of androgen receptor CAG repeat polymorphism with risk of epithelial ovarian cancer.
• None of the previous studies were conducted in Asians.
• We identified that women with longer AR CAG repeats had a decreased EOC risk.

ABSTRACTBackgroundBiological and epidemiologic evidence suggested that androgen and its receptor may play an important role in ovarian carcinogenesis. However, results of previous association studies about ovarian cancer and AR CAG repeat polymorphism were inconsistent. Furthermore, none of these studies were conducted in Asians.MethodsWe evaluated the relationship between AR CAG repeat length and epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) risk among a Chinese population including 1800 pathologically confirmed EOC patients and 1800 frequency matched controls.ResultsWomen with longer AR CAG repeats had a decreased EOC risk (OR = 0.87 for per CAG_A increase, 95% CI: 0.81–0.95). Compared to those with shorter (< 22) CAG_A repeat length, women with of longer (≥ 22) CAG_A repeats had a 34% decreased EOC risk (OR = 0.66, 95% CI: 0.57–0.75). For CAG_S and CAG_L, the results remained consistent.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that androgen signaling contributes to the development of ovarian cancer.