Differential Expression Profile and Genetic Variants of MicroRNAs Sequences in Breast Cancer Patients

Ali A Alshatwi,Mohammed A Alsaif,Naveed Ahmed Syed,Tarique N Hasan,Gowhar Shafi,Abdulaziz A Alsaif,Amal A Al-Hazzani,Baohong Zhang

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0030049

Abstract

The technology available for cancer diagnosis and prognosis is not yet satisfactory at the molecular level, and requires further improvements. Micro RNAs (miRNAs) have been recently reported as useful biomarkers in diseases including cancer. We performed a miRNA expression profiling study using peripheral blood from breast cancer patients to detect and identify characteristic patterns. A total of 100 breast cancer patients and 89 healthy patients were recruited for miRNA genotyping and expression profiling. We found that hs-miR-196a2 in premenopausal patients, and hs-miR-499, hs-miR-146a and hs-miR-196a2 in postmenopausal patients, may discriminate breast cancer patients from healthy individuals. In addition, we found a significant association between two microRNA polymorphisms (hs-miR-196a2 and hs-miR-499) and breast cancer risk. However, no significant association between the hs-miR-146a gene and breast cancer risk was found. In summary, the study demonstrates that peripheral blood miRNAs and their expression and genotypic profiles can be developed as biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis of breast cancer.

Highlights

Breast cancer incidence shows geographical variation, even in ethnically homogeneous areas
Locally advanced breast tumor is unusual in Western countries, it constitutes more than 40% of all non-metastatic breast cancer in Saudi Arabia
We evaluated the association of three selected single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), which are located at the Micro RNAs (miRNAs) hairpin regions of, hsa-mir196a2, hsa-mir146a, and hsamir499, respectively with breast cancer risk in a case–control study

Summary

Introduction

Breast cancer incidence shows geographical variation, even in ethnically homogeneous areas. Over the past few years, Saudi Arabia has witnessed an increase in the occurrence of breast cancer in its population. In Saudi Arabia, breast cancer constitutes 18% of all cancers in Saudi women [1]. In the Saudi population, 21% of all female cancer diagnoses are breast cancer. Age-adjusted breast cancer incidence rates in Western countries are about five times higher than rates in less developed countries [1]. In the 2002 annual report of the Saudi National Cancer Registry, 26.4% of all female breast cancers in Saudi Arabia develop before the age of 40, as compared with only 6.5% in the USA. It has been reported that young age is an independent risk factor for female breast cancer in the Saudi population [2]

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Results

Conclusion