Silvia Mahmood1, Monika Kmeťová Sivoňová1, Dušan Dobrota1, Marta Vilčková1, Róbert Dušenka1,2, Ján Kliment2
Introduction and Aims: Epidermal growth hormone (EGF) promotes cell proliferation and is implemented in the process of embryogenesis, angiogenesis, and cell differentiation. EGF-EGF receptor pathway probably has a key role in hormone-resistant prostate cancer stage. Functional genetic variants in the EGF gene were associated with susceptibility to cancer formation. The aim of our pilot study was to investigate the potential prognostic and predictive role of EGF A61G functional genetic variant in patients with prostate cancer in the Slovak population. Material and Methods: We genotyped single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) in EGF among 172 prostate cancer patients and 193 healthy controls by using PCR-RFLP (polymerase chain reaction – restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis). Results: We observed no significant association between EGF genotype frequencies and prostate cancer risk. There is no correlation between EGF genotypes and Gleanson score. Conclusions: The results of our pilot demonstrate that EGF polymorphism is not associated with the risk of developing prostate cancer in the Slovak population. Future studies concerning the association of EGF genotypes and environmental factors as well as the therapeutic approach will be important to clarify if the EGF polymorphism may contribute to susceptibility to prostate cancer.