Association between the Arg72Pro Genotypes in the TP53 Gene and Ile655Val in the HER2 Gene and the Risk of Developing Breast Cancer in the Population of Amapá, Northern Brazil

BACKGROUND: The polymorphisms Arg72Pro in the TP53 gene (rs1042522) and Ile655Val in the HER2 gene (rs1136201) have been related to susceptibility to several types of cancer. Different studies show the association of these polymorphisms with breast cancer, so our aim in this study was to investigate whether the Arg72Pro and Ile655Val polymorphisms have any influence on the risk of developing breast cancer in women from the city of Macapá, Amapá, located in the brazilian amazon region. METHODS AND RESULTS: We then analyzed 80 DNA samples from women with breast cancer and 83 DNA samples from women without the disease, by the Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism - Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR-RFLP) technique. The genotype frequencies for rs1042522 were Ar/Arg 23.7%, Arg/Pro 47.5% and Pro/Pro 28.5% in patients and in controls Ar/Arg 69.8%, Arg/Pro 19.2% and Pro/Pro 10.8%. For the HER-2 gene the frequency of Ile/Ile, Ile/Val and Val/Val genotypes was 82.5%, 17.5% and 0% in the patients and 75.9%, 20.4% and 3.6% in the controls. The presence of at least one altered allele in rs1042522 and rs1136201 polymorphisms was found in 91.25% of patient samples. CONCLUSION: This study found a significant association between the Arg/Pro and Pro/Pro genotypes in the TP53 gene and the Ile/Val genotype in the HER-2 gene and breast cancer risk, however, we emphasize that more studies need to be carried out in the investigated population to consolidate our results.