Promoter methylation of E-cadherin, p16, and RAR-β2 genes in breast tumors and dietary intake of nutrients important in one-carbon metabolism

Meng Hua Tao, Joel B. Mason, Catalin Marian, Susan E. McCann, Mary E. Platek, Amy Millen, Christine Ambrosone, Stephen B. Edge, Shiva S. Krishnan, Maurizio Trevisan, Peter G. Shields, Jo L. Freudenheim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

Aberrant DNA methylation plays a critical role in carcinogenesis, and the availability of dietary factors involved in 1-carbon metabolism may contribute to aberrant DNA methylation. We investigated the association of intake of folate, vitamins B2, B6, B12, and methionine with promoter methylation of E-cadherin, p16, and RAR-β2 genes in archived tumor tissues from incident, primary breast cancer cases in a population-based case-control study. Real-time methylation-specific PCR was performed on 803 paraffin-embedded samples; usual dietary intake was queried from a food frequency questionnaire. Unconditional logistic regression was used to derive adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for likelihood of promoter methylation for high compared to low intake of those 1-carbon nutrients. Overall, in case-case comparisons, dietary intakes of folate, vitamins B2, B6, B12, and methionine were not associated with likelihood of promoter methylation of E- cadherin, p16, and RAR-β2 for all cases combined or within strata defined by menopausal status and estrogen receptor status in this study. This finding, however, does not exclude the possibility that intake of such nutrients might have the ability to modulate promoter methylation in normal or premalignant (dysplastic) breast tissue.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1143-1150
Number of pages8
JournalNutrition and Cancer
Volume63
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2011

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Promoter methylation of E-cadherin, p16, and RAR-β2 genes in breast tumors and dietary intake of nutrients important in one-carbon metabolism'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this