PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Yen-Li Lo

Publications and source records attributed to Yen-Li Lo.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2007

Breast cancer risk associated with genotypic polymorphism of the mitotic checkpoint genes: a multigenic study on cancer susceptibility.

Aneuploidy occurs early during tumorigenesis and may contribute to tumor formation. Tumor cells become aneuploid as a result of aberrant mitotic divisions, suggesting a tumorigenic contribution of the mechanisms in maintaining chromosomal number stability. We therefore speculated that the genes TTK, MAD2L1, BUB1, BUB1B and PTTG1 (Securin), jointly implicated in the regulation of mitotic checkpoint, might be associated with breast tumorigenesis. To test this hypothesis, this case-control study of 698 primary breast cancer patients and 1492 healthy controls examined single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in these mitotic checkpoint genes to define their tumorigenic contribution. Because estrogen is known to promote breast cancer development via its mitogenic effect leading to malignant proliferation of breast epithelium and the mitotic checkpoint genes are involved in regulating mitosis, we were also interested in knowing whether any association between genotypes and breast cancer risk was modified by reproductive risk factors. Support for these hypotheses came from the observations that (i) two SNPs in TTK and PTTG1 were associated with breast cancer risk; (ii) haplotype and haplotype combination analyses in TTK, BUB1B and PTTG1 revealed a strong association with breast cancer risk; (iii) a trend to an increased risk of breast cancer was found in women harboring a greater number of putative high-risk genotypes/haplotypes of mitotic checkpoint genes and (iv) a significant interaction between high-risk genotypes/haplotypes and reproductive risk factors in determining breast cancer risk was defined. This study provides new support for the mutator role of mitotic checkpoint genes in breast cancer development, suggesting that breast cancer could be driven by genomic instability associated with variant mitotic checkpoint genes, the tumorigenic contribution of which could be enhanced as a result of increased mitosis due to estrogen exposure.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Breast cancer risk associated with genotypic polymorphism of the mitosis-regulating gene Aurora-A/STK15/BTAK.

Aneuploidy, an abnormal number of chromosomes, is relatively common and occurs early in breast cancer development. This observation supports a breast tumorigenic contribution of mechanisms responsible for maintaining chromosome number stability in which centrosomes play an essential role. We therefore speculated that the Aurora-A/STK15/BTAK gene, implicated in the regulation of centrosome duplication, may be associated with breast tumorigenesis. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a case-control study of 709 primary breast cancer patients and 1,972 healthy controls, examining single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), including a suggested functional Phe31Ile SNP, in Aurora-A. We were also interested in knowing whether any association between Aurora-A and breast cancer was modified by reproductive risk factors reflecting susceptibility to estrogen exposure. Our hypothesis is that, since estrogen is known to promote breast cancer development via its mitogenic effect leading to malignant proliferation on breast epithelium and since Aurora-A is involved in regulating mitosis, the discovery of a joint effect between the Aurora-A genotype and reproductive risk factors on cancer risk might yield valuable clues to the association of breast tumorigenesis with estrogen. Support for this hypothesis came from the following observations. (i) Two SNPs in Aurora-A were significantly associated with breast cancer risk (p < 0.05). (ii) Haplotype analyses, based on different combinations of multiple SNPs in Aurora-A, revealed a strong association with breast cancer risk; interestingly, the genotypic distribution of the suggested functional Phe31Ile SNP was not significantly different between breast cancer patients and controls, but the specific haplotype containing the putative at-risk Ile allele was more common in patients. (iii) This association between risk and putative high-risk genotypes was stronger and more significant in women thought to be more susceptible to estrogen, i.e., those with a longer interval between menarche and first full-term pregnancy. (iv) The protective effect conferred by a history of full-term pregnancy was significant only in women with a putative low-risk genotype of Aurora-A. Our study provides new findings supporting the mutator role of Aurora-A in breast cancer development, suggesting that breast cancer could be driven by genomic instability associated with variant Aurora-A, the tumorigenic contribution of which could be enhanced as a result of increased mitosis due to estrogen exposure.

Aurora Kinase A↗
PubMed2004

High-resolution 19p13.2-13.3 allelotyping of breast carcinomas demonstrates frequent loss of heterozygosity.

In breast cancer, a high frequency of genomic deletion is found in chromosomal region 19p13. Of particular interest is that the LKB1 gene (also known as STK11) has been mapped to this region. LKB1 is responsible for Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS), a genetic disease characterized by mucocutaneous pigmentation and gastrointestinal hematoma with an increased risk of developing cancer, including breast cancer. To further clarify the role of chromosomal region 19p13.2-13.3 in the pathogenesis of breast cancer and to identify more precisely candidate tumor-suppressor genes (TSGs) for positional cloning studies, we performed detailed high-resolution allelotyping analysis to detect allelic loss or loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in this region on microdissected samples from 140 primary breast tumors using 24 microsatellite markers. The highest frequencies of LOH were seen with D19S883 (30%) and D19S216 (29%), both at 19p13.3, D19S922 (28%), at 19p13.3-19p13.2, and D19S865 (39%), at 19p13.2; in addition, identification was made of at least four common deletion regions, including the LKB1 locus, that are centered on these four markers. In all the cases, we found discontinuous allele loss at several 19p13.2-13.3 sites in the same tumor (with the markers with the highest frequency of LOH adjacent to markers retaining heterozygosity), suggesting the presence of multiple TSGs. Interestingly, in tumors, the extent of allelic loss at these markers (measured as the fractional allele loss) increased significantly as the tumors progressed to poorer grades (P < 0.05). We conclude that 19p13.2-13.3 allele loss is a common event in the pathogenesis of breast carcinoma that often involves discontinuous LOH of multiple, localized TSGs (including LKB1), the concurrent inactivation of which may contribute to breast cancer progression.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Aberrant expression of cell-cycle regulator cyclin D1 in breast cancer is related to chromosomal genomic instability.

To account for the accumulation of genomic alterations required for tumor progression, it has been suggested that the genomes of cancer cells are unstable and that this instability results from defective mutators (the "mutator phenotype" theory). To examine the hypothesis that abnormal cell-cycle regulators act as the mutators contributing to genomic instability, the present study, based on primary tumor tissues from 71 patients with breast cancer, was performed to determine whether there was an association between aberrant expression of cell-cycle regulators (cyclin A, cyclin D1, cyclin E, RB1, p21, and p27) and chromosomal instability. Comparative genomic hybridization was used to measure chromosomal changes, reflecting genomic instability in individual tumors, whereas immunohistochemistry was used to detect aberrant expression of cell-cycle regulators. Overexpression of cyclin D1 was found to be significantly correlated with increased chromosomal instability (defined as harboring more than 7 chromosomal changes), with 63% of tumors overexpressing and 27% of tumors not overexpressing, with cyclin D1 showing chromosomal instability (P < 0.05). Interestingly, this relationship was independent of cell outgrowth (as detected by the proliferation marker Ki-67) and was particularly significant in tumors not expressing p27 or in tumors with detectable RB1. These results suggest that cyclin D1 plays an alternative role in the regulation of genomic stability.

Adult↗