A Germline Mutation in the BRCA1 3’UTR Variant Predicts Susceptibility to Breast Cancer in a Saudi Arabian Population

PURPOSE: The impact of the BRCA1-3’UTR-variant on BRCA1 gene expression and altered responses to external stimuli was previously tested in vitro using a luciferase reporter assay. Its ability to predict breast cancer risk in women was also assessed but the conclusions were inconsistent. The present study concerns the relationship between the BRCA1-3’UTR germline variant rs8176318G>T and susceptibility to Breast cancer in an ethnic population of Saudi Arabia. METHODOLOGY: The study included 100 breast cancer patients and 100 sex matched healthy controls from the northwestern region (Tabuk) and Dammam of Saudi Arabia were investigated for the BRCA1-3’UTR germline variant rs8176318G>T using an allele specific PCR technique. Genotype distributions were then compared. RESULTS: The frequencies of the three genotypes GG, TT and GT in our Saudi Arabian patients were 26%, 8% and 66% and in healthy controls were 45%, 5% and 50%, respectively (p=0.03). Risk of developing breast cancer was found to be significantly associated with the GT variant (OR 2.28, 1.24-4.191; RR 1.47, 1.11-1.93; P=0.007), GT+TT (OR, 2.32, 1.28-4.22; RR 1.48, 1.13-1.94; P=0.005) and the T allele (OR 1.62, 1.072- 2.45; RR 1.28, 1.02-1.60: P=0.020). There were 2.76 and 2.28 fold increase risks of developing breast cancer associated with the TT and GT genotypes in our cases. A significant correlation was also found between the BRCA1 3’UTR variants with the stage of the disease and distant metastasis but not with age, grade, and ER, PR and her2/neu status. CONCLUSION : The rs8176318G/T in the 3’untranslated region (UTR) of the BRCA1 gene was found to be associatedwith increased susceptibility to breast cancer in our study population, increased risk being noted with the GT and TT genotypes. Further association studies are needed to confirm this finding in other regions of Saudi Arabia.