Our findings indicate that VDR is strongly expressed in BCCs and may be involved in the growth regulation of this tumour, and VDR mRNA and protein are increased in BCCs as compared to normal human epidermis.
It was first shown that KS cell lines and primary tumor tissue express high levels of VDR, whereas endothelial cells had minimal expression and fibroblasts had no expression.
No statistically significant correlations were found comparing VDR status with histopathological data (tumour stage, lymph node status, grading, histological tumour type), with the expression of the proliferation marker Ki-67 and of the tumour suppressor gene p53.
Using immunohistochemistry, we have now detected nuclear Vitamin D receptor (VDR) immunoreactivity in primary cutaneous malignant melanoma (MM), indicating that Vitamin D metabolites may be of importance for the growth regulation in these tumors.
The association of Taq 1 and Fok 1 restriction fragment length polymorphisms of the vitamin D receptor with occurrence and outcome of malignant melanoma (MM), as predicted by tumour (Breslow) thickness, has been reported previously.
The vitamin D receptor (VDR) is a member of the steroid/retinoid receptor superfamily of nuclear receptors and has potential tumor-suppressive functions in prostate and other cancer types.
We therefore studied VDR gene polymorphisms, as detected by Apal and Taql restriction fragments, in multiethnic Brazilian men (165 patients and 200 controls) for association with prostate cancer risk and parameters of disease severity (serum PSA, Gleason score and tumor stage).No statistical correlations were found.
We have studied the effects of cesium chloride (CsCl) on pH modulation and subsequent vitamin D treatment in vitamin D receptor (VDR) positive LNCaP tumors and VDR null MDA/LCC6 tumors in vivo.
Quantitative reverse transcription-PCR analysis of mRNA expression was carried out for the vitamin D-activating enzyme 1alpha-hydroxylase, the catabolic enzyme 24-hydroxylase, and the vitamin D receptor in 41 tumors and paired nonneoplastic tissue as well as breast cancer cell lines.
The correlations between SNAIL, CDH1, VDR and ZEB1 and the association between reduced expression of CDH1 and VDR and aggressive tumor characteristics emphasize the value of analyzing these genes in colon cancer patients for prognostic purposes and for predicting response to possible therapies with vitamin D or its analogs.
A similar increased ratio of corepressor mRNA to VDR occurred in matched primary tumor and normal cells, noticeably in estrogen receptor alpha-negative (n = 7) tumors.
The VDR expression was sequentially increased from normal to pre-cancerous lesions to well-differentiated tumors and then decreased in poorly differentiated tumors.
Our results support potential effects of VDR polymorphisms on postmenopausal breast cancer risk and possible differential effects of receptor status of the tumour.
The genotype frequencies for the three polymorphisms of the VDR gene within subgroups of PCa (defined by tumor stage, Gleason score, PSA levels) were also analyzed, but no statistically noteworthy difference was observed (P > 0.05).