Genetics, Obesity, and Breast Cancer Risk
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: Women who are obese may be more or less likely to develop breast cancer depending upon when during adulthood their obesity occurs. Obese women during the menstrual years have lower chances of acquiring breast cancer, while women who are obese after menopause have greater chances. Obesity occurs for complex reasons. Some of these reasons include: lack of exercise; inheritance of the tendency to be overweight from our parents; hormones; overeating; and environmental factors such as increased reliance on technology and the abundant availability of high-fat inexpensive foods. Two of our previously conducted studies have provided evidence for conducting the proposed research. One study shows that obesity in combination with family history of breast cancer may increase chances of developing breast cancer even further. The second study has determined that a type of a gene for obesity, the leptin-receptor gene (OB-R), was related to amount of body fat among women after menopause.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 We propose to study different forms of genes in relationship to breast cancer because genes that increase the likelihood of obesity, may also increase women’s chances of developing breast cancer. Our study will address the following questions:
 
 
 
 -Are various forms of these candidate genes (leptin-receptor gene (OB-R), beta3 adrenergic gene (beta3-AR), and peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor gamma 2 gene (PPAR-gamma2) related to obesity among healthy women?
 
 -Are various forms of these genes related to chances of developing breast cancer?
 
 -Does the relationship between the candidate genes and breast cancer differ according to whether women are lean or obese or whether women are active or inactive?
 
 
 
 We will utilize a study of women with breast cancer compared to women without breast cancer that was recently completed in the San Francisco Bay Area. These groups are comprised of women of African American, Caucasian and Hispanic/Latina heritage. The proposed research will use already collected questionnaire data and DNA samples to answer the proposed study questions. Information from a total of 1,500 subjects between the ages of 35 to 79 years (687 women with breast cancer, 813 healthy women) will be available to study. All women of African American, Caucasian or Hispanic/Latina origin that developed breast cancer during 1997 to 1999 in the San Francisco Bay Area were eligible to participate in the study. Healthy women who served as a comparison group were chosen by statistical procedures that generate random telephone numbers. These procedures will enable us to apply our findings to women in general.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The leptin receptor gene has never been studied in relationship to breast cancer. Very recent studies of mice and human tumor tissue have pointed to the possible importance of the leptin receptor and development of breast cancer. Only a very few breast cancer studies have evaluated beta3 AR and PPAR-gamma. We believe results from this study could represent a major breakthrough in understanding the causes of obesity and breast cancer.