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The contribution of diabetes to breast cancer remains uncertain among Chinese females, which may result from different genetic factors. We evaluated the associations of diabetes, combined with the polymorphisms in the genes of fat mass and obesity-associated gene (FTO), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and heat shock protein 60 (HSPD1), with breast cancer risk and survival in a Chinese Han population. The information on the history of diabetes was collected from 1551 incident breast cancer cases and 1605 age-frequency matched controls in Guangzhou, China. In total, 1168 cases were followed up. Diabetes was associated with both an increased risk of breast cancer [OR (95%CI): 1.67 (1.11, 2.52)] and a poor overall survival and progression free survival for breast cancer patients [HRs (95%CIs): 2.66 (1.10, 6.44) and 2.46 (1.29, 4.70), respectively]. IL-6 rs1800796 and HSPD1 rs2605039 had interactions with diabetes on breast cancer risk. Among women with CC genotype of IL-6 rs1800796 or GG genotype of HSPD1 rs2605039, diabetic individuals had a remarkably increased risk of breast cancer compared to non-diabetic women with ORs and 95%CIs of 2.53 (1.45, 4.41) and 6.40 (2.29, 17.87), respectively. GT/TT genotypes of HSPD1 rs2605039 was also associated with a better progression free survival for breast cancer patients [HR (95%CI): 0.70 (0.49, 0.99)]. Our results suggest that the contribution of diabetes to breast cancer risk might be modified by IL-6 rs1800796 and HSPD1 rs2605039. Diabetes and HSPD1 rs2605039 might also influence breast cancer prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endocrine therapy (ET) is one of the main systemic treatments for patients with breast cancer. To our knowledge, few studies have addressed the performance of ET or relevant influencing factors in cancer treatment in China. By retrospectively analyzing the clinicopathological data on breast cancer collected from representative hospitals of 7 traditional areas in China in one random month from each year between year 1999 and 2008, we found that: 1) The rate of the use of hormone receptor (HR) testing was 83.8% (3529/4211), with the estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) rate and/or the progesterone receptor-positive (PR+) rate being 67.9% (2395/3529), and the ER-PR rate being 32.1% (1134/3529). 2) Of the 1599 patients who had received ET, 999 patients (58.3%) were premenopausal while 600 (41.7%) were postmenopausal; 1598 patients received adjuvant hormonal therapy (AHT), whereas only 1 patient received palliative therapy. The medications mainly administered to patients were anti-estrogen agents (80.3% [1283/1598]), followed by AIs (15.5% [248/1598]). Of the 1598 patients receiving AHT, 1416 patients (88.6%) were positive for ER and/or PR, while 75 (4.7%) were negative for both and 108 patients (6.7%) had unknown HR status. The ratio of the use of endocrine therapy for breast cancer patients with ER+ and/or PR+ status was 60.0% (1416/2395). 3) Results from the logistic regression analysis revealed that geography, occupations, and history of chemotherapy and surgery were dependent factors affecting the application of ET in breast cancer treatment in China (P<0.001). In conclusion, the use of ET on Chinese women with breast cancer is increasingly and gradually accounted into the standardized process. Economic status, occupations, and history of chemotherapy and surgery were key factors affecting the application of ET. People residing in developed areas, engaging in mental labour, having history of chemotherapy and surgery are susceptible to accept ET. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Few studies have investigated the association between body mass index (BMI) and breast cancer with consideration to estrogen/progesterone/human epidermal growth factor type 2 receptor status (ER/PR/HER2) in the breast tissue among Chinese pre- and post-menopausal women. Methods: Four thousand two hundred and eleven breast cancer patients were selected randomly from seven geographic regions of China from 1999 to 2008. Demographic data, risk factors, pathologic features, and biological receptor status of cases were collected from the medical charts. Chi-square test, fisher exact test, rank-correlation analysis, and multivariate logistic regression model were adopted to explore whether BMI differed according to biological receptor status in pre- and post-menopausal women. Results: Three thousand two hundred and eighty one eligible cases with BMI data were included. No statistically significant differences in demographic characteristics were found between the cases with BMI data and those without. In the rank-correlation analysis, the rates of PR+ and HER2+ were positively correlated with increasing BMI among post-menopausal women (rs BMI, PR+ = 0.867, P = 0.001; rs BMI, HER2+ = 0.636, P = 0.048), but the ER+ rates did not vary by increasing BMI. Controlling for confounding factors, multivariate logistic regression models with BMI<24 kg/m2 as the reference group were performed and found that BMI≥24 kg/m2 was only positively correlated with PR+ status among post-menopausal breast cancer cases (adjusted OR = 1.420, 95% CI: 1.116–1.808, Wald = 8.116, P = 0.004). Conclusions: Post-menopausal women with high BMI (≥24 kg/m2) have a higher proportion of PR+ breast cancer. In addition to effects mediated via the estrogen metabolism pathway, high BMI might increase the risk of breast cancer by other routes, which should be examined further in future etiological mechanism studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is an inverse relationship between febrile infection and the risk of malignancies. Interferon gamma (IFN-γ) plays an important role in fever induction and its expression increases with incubation at fever-range temperatures. Therefore, the genetic polymorphism of IFN-γ may modify the association of febrile infection with breast cancer risk., Methodology and Principal Findings: Information on potential breast cancer risk factors, history of fever during the last 10 years, and blood specimens were collected from 839 incident breast cancer cases and 863 age-matched controls between October 2008 and June 2010 in Guangzhou, China. IFN-γ (rs2069705) was genotyped using a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry platform. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using multivariate logistic regression. We found that women who had experienced ≥1 fever per year had a decreased risk of breast cancer [ORs and 95% CI: 0.77 (0.61-0.99)] compared to those with less than one fever a year. This association only occurred in women with CT/TT genotypes [0.54 (0.37-0.77)] but not in those with the CC genotype [1.09 (0.77-1.55)]. The association of IFN-γ rs2069705 with the risk of breast cancer was not significant among all participants, while the CT/TT genotypes were significantly related to an elevated risk of breast cancer [1.32 (1.03-1.70)] among the women with <1 fever per year and to a reduced risk of breast cancer [0.63 (0.40-0.99)] among women with ≥1 fever per year compared to the CC genotype. A marked interaction between fever frequencies and the IFN-γ genotypes was observed (P for multiplicative and additive interactions were 0.005 and 0.058, respectively)., Conclusions: Our findings indicate a possible link between febrile acute infection and a decreased risk of breast cancer, and this association was modified by IFN-γ rs2069705.