Evaluation of single nucleotide polymorphisms in microRNAs (hsa-miR-196a2 rs11614913 C/T) from Brazilian women with breast cancer

Abstract

Abstract Background Emerging evidence has shown that miRNAs are involved in human carcinogenesis as tumor suppressors or oncogenes. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located in pre-miRNAs may affect the processing and therefore, influence the expression of mature miRNAs. Previous studies generated conflicting results when reporting association between the hsa-miR-196a2 rs11614913 common polymorphism and breast cancer. Methods This study evaluated the hsa-miR-196a2 rs11614913 SNP in 388 breast cancer cases and 388 controls in Brazilian women. Polymorphism was determined by real-time PCR; control and experimental groups were compared through statistical analysis using the X2 or Fisher’s exact tests. Results The analysis of the SNPs frequencies showed a significant difference between the groups (BC and CT) in regards to genotype distribution (χ2: p = 0.024); the homozygous variant (CC) was more frequent in the CT than in the BC group (p = 0.009). The presence of the hsa-miR-196a2 rs11614913 C/T polymorphism was not associated with histological grades (p = 0.522), axillary lymph node positive status (p = 0.805), or clinical stage (p = 0.670) among the breast cancer patients. Conclusions The results of this study indicated that the CC polymorphic genotype is associated with a decreased risk of BC and the presence of the T allele was significantly associated with an increased risk of BC.

Keywords

• Breast
• Cancer
• Polymorphisms
• MicroRNAs