Genetic Effects of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A (VEGF-A) and Its Association with Disease Progression in Breast Cancer Population of Saudi Arabia

AIM: Previous studies have shown that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGFA) gene variants were associated with breast cancer risk. The goal of the current study was to evaluate the genetic effects of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) on the risk of breast cancer and its association with disease progression. METHODOLOGY: This case control study was conducted on 110 Breast cancer cases and 110 gender matched healthy controls. Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) 1 (-460T>C) genotyping was performed using Amplification refractory mutation system PCR method. The vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) (-460T>C) genotypes were collated with different clinicopathological features of breast cancer patients. RESULTS: A significant difference was observed between the genotype distribution of VEGF-A (-460T>C) among breast cancer cases and gender matched healthy controls (p=0.006). The frequencies of all three genotypes CC,CT,TT reported in the breast cancer patients and sex matched healthy controls were 4.54%, 46.36% ,49.20% and 7.27%, 64.54%, 28.18% respectively. The increased susceptibility to breast cancer disease was found to be associated with VEGF (-460T>C) CC vs TT variant in codominant inheritance model OR 2.78 (0.83-9.26) RR 1.68(1.01 to 2.81) P=0.04. A significant association was reported with VEGF (-460T>C) (CC+CT vs. TT) variant in recessive inheritance model, (OR=2.45 (95% CI= (1.40-4.29), P=0.003. Our findings indicated that VEGF (-460T>C) TT genotype is associated with an increased susceptibility to breast cancer disease. Our result indicates a potential dominant effect of VEGF (-460T>C) TT genotype on susceptibility to the breast cancer disease. CONCLUSION: VEGF (-460T>C) TT genotype significantly increased the risk of breast cancer. VEGF-A (-460T>C) genetic ariability was significantly associated with distant metastasis of the disease. It may be a useful as predisposing genetic marker for breast cancer .Further studies with larger sample sizes are necessary to confirm our findings.