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LUMA as a Biomarker for Breast Cancer Risk

Body size and physical activity may play a role

Publish date:: June 2, 2015

The association between DNA methylation, assessed using luminometric methylation assay (LUMA), and postmenopausal breast cancer risk may be modified by body size and physical activity, according to a population-based case-control study of about 1,300 postmenopausal women. Researchers found:

• Non-obese women (BMI ≤ 29.9kg/m2) in the highest LUMA quartile had more than twice the risk of breast cancer compared to non-obese women in the lowest LUMA quartile.
• Women who were physically active and in the highest LUMA quartile had more than twice the risk of breast cancer compared to physically active women in the lowest LUMA quartile.
• Estimates among obese and inactive women were less pronounced and imprecise.

Citation: McCullough LE, Chen J, White AJ, et al. Global DNA methylation, measured by the luminometric methylation assay (LUMA), associates with postmenopausal breast cancer in non-obese and physically active women. J Cancer. 2015; 6(6):548-554. doi: 10.7150/jca.11359.

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