Significant Association of the MDM2 T309G Polymorphism with Breast Cancer Risk in a Turkish Population

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is a leading cause of death in women worldwide. Genetic polymorphisms have been reported to be important etiological factors. Murine double minute 2 (MDM2) T309G interacts with p53 and mutations in p53 are present in approximately 50% of all cancers. However, it has been reported that effect of the polymorphism on breast cancer risk may vary in different populations. Here, we therefore investigated whether there is an association between MDM2 T309G (rs2279744) polymorphism and breast cancer in a Turkish population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analysed 110 patients with breast cancer and 138 matched? controls. For genotyping, polymerase chain reaction and restriction length fragment polymorphism methods were used. RESULTS: A significant difference was observed between case and control groups with regard to the distribution of the MDM2 T309G polymorphism (p<0.05). There was a significantly higher frequency of the TT genotype in the control group (p=0.028; OR, 2.42; 95% CI, 1.09-5.37). However, we did not find any relationships among tumor grade and metastasis status and this polymorphism. CONCLUSION: This study indicates that the MDM2 T309G polymorphism GG genotype and the TG+GG combination may be risk factors for breast cancer in our Turkish population.