Genetic Variation in TYMS in the One-Carbon Transfer Pathway Is Associated with Ovarian Carcinoma Types in the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium — Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention

Note: abstract onlyOR = overall risk; 1.0+ denotes an increased risk;
in this study, mucinous cell type was the key finding
Methods:Associations were evaluated in the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium, including 16 studies of 5,593 epithelial ovarian carcinoma cases and 9,962 controls of white non-Hispanic origin.

Results: The five polymorphisms were not associated with ovarian carcinoma overall ; however, associations for the minor allele at TYMS rs495139 were observed for carcinomas of mucinous type (OR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.03-1.39; P = 0.02), clear cell type (OR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.75-0.99; P = 0.04), and endometrioid type (OR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.81-0.99; P = 0.04; P_{heterogeneity} = 0.001). Restriction to low-grade mucinous carcinomas further strengthened the association for the mucinous type (OR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.07-1.62; P = 0.01). TYMS rs495139 was not associated with serous type (OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.00-1.13; P = 0.05).

Conclusions: TYMS rs495139 may be associated with a differential risk of ovarian carcinoma types, indicating the importance of accurate histopathologic classification. 

Impact: Biomarkers that distinguish ovarian carcinoma types are few, and TYMS rs495139 may provide a novel clue to type etiology.

Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 19(7); 1822–30. ©2010 AACR.