Background: Normal bronchial tissue expression of GRPR, which encodes the gastrin-releasing peptide receptor,\r\nhas been previously reported by us to be associated with lung cancer risk in 78 subjects, especially in females. We\r\nsought to define the contribution of GRPR expression in bronchial epithelia to lung cancer risk in a larger casecontrol\r\nstudy where adjustments could be made for tobacco exposure and sex.\r\nMethods: We evaluated GRPR mRNA levels in histologically normal bronchial epithelial cells from 224 lung cancer\r\npatients and 107 surgical cancer-free controls. Associations with lung cancer were tested using logistic regression\r\nmodels.\r\nResults: Bronchial GRPR expression was significantly associated with lung cancer (OR = 4.76; 95% CI = 2.32-9.77) in\r\na multivariable logistic regression (MLR) model adjusted for age, sex, smoking status and pulmonary function. MLR\r\nanalysis stratified by smoking status indicated that ORs were higher in never and former smokers (OR = 7.74; 95%\r\nCI = 2.96-20.25) compared to active smokers (OR = 1.69; 95% CI = 0.46-6.33). GRPR expression did not differ by\r\nsubject sex, and lung cancer risk associated with GRPR expression was not modified by sex.\r\nConclusions: GRPR expression in non-cancerous bronchial epithelium was significantly associated with the\r\npresence of lung cancer in never and former smokers. The association in never and former smokers was found in\r\nmales and females. Association with lung cancer did not differ by sex in any smoking group.
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