Single-nucleotide polymorphisms in 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type III and prostate cancer risk

It has been hypothesized that several genes involved in androgen metabolism may be associated with prostate cancer risk. Among these, type III 17β-HSD converts androstenedione to testosterone primarily in the testis. In this study, we assessed the association between three amino acid substitutions in the HSD17B3 gene and prostate cancer risk in a case-cohort study within the Los Angeles/Hawaii Multiethnic Cohort Study (MEC). We did not find any statistically significant association between SNPs in the gene and prostate cancer risk. However, among Japanese-American men, compared to those with two G alleles in G289S, people with one or more S allele had an OR of 1.97 (95% CI = 1.05–3.71). In general the HSD17B3 variants are not good biomarkers of susceptibility to prostate cancer. Our finding in the Japanese-American group suggests that the effects of these variants might be more important in Asian populations.