Chemokines are small molecules that when secreted by tissues under pathological 
conditions such as inflammation are believed to be involved in carcinogenesis. 
Recent reports have found that the genetic variation in chemokine encoding genes 
are associated with risk of breast cancer.
METHODS: Using data from a population-based case-control study of 845 invasive 
breast cases and 807 controls, we genotyped 34 single nucleotide polymorphisms 
(SNPs) in 8 chemokine candidate genes (CCL3, CCL4, CCL5, CCL20, CCR5, CCR6, 
CXCL12 and CXCR4). Associations with breast cancer were computed for individual 
SNPs, groups of SNPs within genes, and in a gene-set analysis. We also performed 
a meta-analysis of CXCL12 rs1801157 and a haplotype analysis for two SNPs: CXCR4 
rs2228014 and CXCL12 rs1801157.
RESULTS: We found no significant associations between the risk of breast cancer 
and any individual SNPs, single genes, or combined gene sets. Some individual 
variants were marginally associated with some histologic subtypes, but these 
associations were not significant after adjustment for multiple comparisons. In 
the meta-analysis of five studies of European ancestry, CXCL12 rs1801157 was 
marginally associated with breast cancer risk (OR=1.14, 95% CI: 1.00, 1.30).
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that genetic variants in the 8 candidate genes 
coding for chemotactic cytokines have little influence in the risk of breast 
cancer in postmenopausal women. Additional examination of the relationship 
between CXCL12 rs1801157 and breast cancer risk is warranted.