1. Household income is associated with the p53 mutation frequency in human breast tumors.
- Author
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Starks AM, Martin DN, Dorsey TH, Boersma BJ, Wallace TA, and Ambs S
- Subjects
- Adult, Aged, Baltimore epidemiology, Black People, Body Mass Index, Breast Neoplasms ethnology, Breast Neoplasms mortality, Breast Neoplasms pathology, Educational Status, Female, Humans, Middle Aged, Receptors, Estrogen deficiency, Receptors, Estrogen genetics, Regression Analysis, Risk Factors, Smoking, Survival Analysis, White People, Black or African American, Breast Neoplasms genetics, Income statistics & numerical data, Mutation Rate, Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 genetics
- Abstract
Background: A study from Scotland reported that the p53 mutation frequency in breast tumors is associated with socio-economic deprivation., Methods: We analyzed the association of the tumor p53 mutational status with tumor characteristics, education, and self-reported annual household income (HI) among 173 breast cancer patients from the greater Baltimore area, United States., Results: p53 mutational frequency was significantly associated with HI. Patients with < $15,000 HI had the highest p53 mutation frequency (21%), followed by the income group between $15,000 and $60,000 (18%), while those above $60,000 HI had the fewest mutations (5%). When dichotomized at $60,000, 26 out of 135 patients in the low income category had acquired a p53 mutation, while only 2 out of 38 with a high income carried a mutation (P < 0.05). In the adjusted logistic regression analysis with 3 income categories (trend test), the association between HI and p53 mutational status was independent of tumor characteristics, age, race/ethnicity, tobacco smoking and body mass. Further analyses revealed that HI may impact the p53 mutational frequency preferentially in patients who develop an estrogen receptor (ER)-negative disease. Within this group, 42% of the low income patients (< $15,000 HI) carried a mutation, followed by the middle income group (21%), while those above $60,000 HI did not carry mutations (Ptrend < 0.05)., Conclusions: HI is associated with the p53 mutational frequency in patients who develop an ER-negative disease. Furthermore, high income patients may acquire fewer p53 mutations than other patients, suggesting that lifetime exposures associated with socio-economic status may impact breast cancer biology.
- Published
- 2013
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