Germ line variation at 8q24 and endometrial cancer risk.

Germ line variants at chromosome 8q24 have been associated with prostate, colorectal, and breast cancer risk (1-7). This region is also frequently amplified in many tumor types (8, 9) including endometrial cancer (10-13). The involvement of germ line and somatic variations at 8q24 suggests a common biological mechanism in the pathogenesis of epithelial cancers. In the present analysis, we used data from two nested case-control studies, conducted within the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC) and the California Teachers Study (CTS), to investigate the hypothesis that the known risk variants in the region might also affect the risk of endometrial cancer.