Polymorphic Variation of Genes in the Fibrinolytic System and the Risk of Ovarian Cancer

Introduction: The etiology of ovarian cancer is largely unknown. One hypothesis is that the inefficient removal of the blood clots and fibrin products which are deposited in the vicinity of the ovary by retrograde menstruation might be associated with an increased risk of ovarian cancer. Several single nucleotide polymorphisms within genes which comprise the fibrinolytic system have been shown to have functional effects on the rate of blood clot degradation. These were considered to be candidate genes in the present study. Aim: We studied the genotype distributions of 12 functional SNPs of four genes (tPA, uPA PAI1 and TAFI) among 775 ovarian cancer cases and 889 controls. Results: No significant associations were seen between any of the ten SNPs and the risk of ovarian cancer as a whole, or in any histologic subgroup. Discussion: Germline known functional variants of genes in the fibrinolytic system are not associated with risk of ovarian cancer.