Introduction: E-cadherin (CDH-1) is a cell-cell adhesive molecule which maintains cell integrity and communication between the intracellular and extracellular world. CDH-1 may therefore be related to carcinogenesis. A polymorphism located at the 3'-UTR of the CDH-1 gene is associated with stone disease; however, its relationship to prostate cancer has not been reported. We aimed to study whether there is an association between the 3'-UTR polymorphism and prostate cancer.
Materials and methods: We collected 96 patients with prostate cancer and 114 normal controls for this study. The polymorphism of the CDH-1 gene was studied by polymerase chain reaction-based restriction analysis.
Results: There was a significant difference in genotype distribution of the CDH-1 gene polymorphism between cancer patients and normal controls (p < 0.001). The distribution of the CDH-1 gene CC genotype in prostate cancer patients (51.0%) was higher than in the controls (10.5%). The odds ratio for the CDH-1 'C' allele was 2.896 (95% CI = 1.908-4.396). There was no significant difference according to age, pathological grading, clinical staging, and responsiveness to hormonal therapy among patients. Only 3 patients (3.1%) had a history of urolithiasis.
Conclusions: The CDH-1 gene 3'-UTR C/T polymorphism is associated with prostate cancer. The 'CC' homozygote indicates a relatively higher risk for developing prostate cancer than other genotypes.