Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, Centre Armand-Frappier Santé Biotechnologie, Institut national de la recherche scientifique, Université du Québec, Laval, QC, Canada.
Faculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada; Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada.
Cancer Epidemiol. 2024 Oct;92:102635. doi: 10.1016/j.canep.2024.102635. Epub 2024 Jul 30.
The second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D) is thought to reflect prenatal exposure to sex steroids. We investigated the relationship between 2D:4D and odds of prostate cancer.
Data were collected in PROtEuS, a population-based case-control study conducted in Montréal, Canada (2005-2012), including 1931 incident prostate cancer cases aged < 76 years and 1994 population controls. In-person interviews elicited information on potential risk factors. Digit lengths were measured by interviewers applying a standard protocol. Odds ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using unconditional logistic regression adjusting for potential confounders.
The OR of prostate cancer for a standard deviation increase in 2D:4D was 0.91 (95 % CI: 0.85-0.98). For less and more aggressive cancers, ORs were 0.93 (95 % CI: 0.87-1.00) and 0.85 (95 % CI: 0.77-0.93), respectively. There was an interaction with ancestry (p=0.04), whereas the OR among men of African descent was 1.23 (95 % CI: 0.96-1.57, based on 128 cases).
Findings suggest an inverse association between 2D:4D and odds of overall prostate cancer, more pronounced for aggressive cancers. This supports the notion that high levels of testosterone in utero, estimated by a low 2D:4D ratio, are associated with a higher risk of prostate cancer. Contrastingly, a high digit ratio was associated with greater cancer odds among participants of African descent. Upon replication, 2D:4D could prove to be an easily measured marker of prostate cancer risk.
第二至第四指骨长度比（2D:4D）被认为反映了胎儿期暴露于性激素的情况。我们研究了 2D:4D 与前列腺癌发病风险之间的关系。
数据来自加拿大蒙特利尔进行的基于人群的病例对照研究 PROtEuS（2005-2012 年），包括 1931 例年龄<76 岁的前列腺癌新发病例和 1994 例人群对照。通过面对面访谈收集潜在危险因素信息。由访谈员采用标准方案测量指长。采用非条件 logistic 回归调整潜在混杂因素后，估计比值比（OR）和 95%置信区间（CI）。
2D:4D 每增加一个标准差，前列腺癌的 OR 为 0.91（95%CI：0.85-0.98）。对于侵袭性较低和较高的癌症，OR 分别为 0.93（95%CI：0.87-1.00）和 0.85（95%CI：0.77-0.93）。该结果与种族存在交互作用（p=0.04），而非洲裔男性的 OR 为 1.23（95%CI：0.96-1.57，基于 128 例病例）。
研究结果提示 2D:4D 与整体前列腺癌发病风险呈负相关，对于侵袭性较强的癌症更为显著。这支持了这样一种观点，即胎儿期高水平的睾酮（通过低 2D:4D 比值来估计）与前列腺癌风险增加相关。相比之下，在非洲裔参与者中，高指长比值与更大的癌症发病风险相关。如果能够复制这些结果，2D:4D 可能成为前列腺癌风险的一个易于测量的标志物。
