Are polymorphisms of the ataxia telangiectasia mutated gene associated with breast cancer risk?

摘要

We read with great interest the recent article by Lu et al. [1] which assessed the association between polymorphisms of the ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) gene and breast cancer risk with a meta-analysis involving five studies of 2,604 cases and 1,973 controls. This was an important investigation as the association has been inconsistent based on the previous individual studies. The results of meta-analysis indicated that for ATM 5557G>A polymorphism (also known as D1853N or rsl801516), AA genotype significantly decreased the risk of breast cancer compared with GA and GG genotypes [odds ratio (OR) = 0.67, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.51-0.89]. However, another recent meta-analysis by Gao et al. [2] including nine studies of 4,191 cases and 3,780 controls suggested that ATM 5557G>A polymorphism was not significantly associated with breast cancer risk (AA vs. GA + GG: OR = 0.78, 95% CI 0.59-1.04). After carefully reading the two articles, we noted several methodological issues in the study by Lu et al. [1].