Polymorphisms in RAD51 and their relation with breast cancer in Saudi females

The present study aimed at investigating the relationship between rs1801320 (G>C), rs1801321 (G>T), and rs2619681 (C>T) RAD51 gene polymorphisms and the risk of breast cancer development in Saudi females. The genotypes were analyzed using TaqMan genotyping assay and polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. The genotype and allele frequencies were computed using chi-square or Fisher’s exact test (two-tailed) by SPSS 21 software. The results showed that rs1801321G>T GG genotype and G allele frequency were strongly (P<0.0001) related to an elevated risk of breast cancer, while the mutant T allele appeared to provide protection against breast cancer development as observed from the significantly lower (P<0.0001) frequencies of the TT and GT genotypes in cancer patients compared to the healthy controls. The variant rs1801320G>C showed no significant differences in the frequencies of the genotypes and alleles in the patients and the control groups. The CC genotype and C allele frequency of rs2619681 (C>T) variant were significantly (P=0.012) higher in cancer patients, whereas the T allele showed a protective effect against cancer development. The frequencies of the three single-nucleotide polymorphisms did not differ in cancer patients with different tumor grades and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 status (+ or −). However, the genotype frequency of rs1801320 (135G>C) differed in the patients with estrogen receptor (ER)+ and ER−, where CC genotype showed a significantly higher prevalence in the females with ER− who were suffering from breast cancer. In addition, the frequency of C allele of rs2619681 (C>T) was also significantly higher in the breast cancer patients who were ER+ and progesterone receptor (PR)+ compared to those with ER− and PR−. In the Saudi females, rs1801320 did not show an association with risk of breast cancer. Taken together, the results suggest that RAD51 rs1801321 polymorphism may be involved in the etiology of breast cancer in the Saudi females; however, further studies are necessary to confirm this relation.