p53 Exon 4 (codon 72) Polymorphism and Exon 7 (codon 249) Mutation in Breast Cancer Patients in Southern Region (Madurai) of Tamil Nadu

Abstract

<b>Background:</b> We investigated the association between polymorphisms in the p53 tumor suppressor gene and breast cancer risk in women especially in the Southern part of India. <br/><b>Methods</b>: Genotyping was performed for 50 breast cancer women and 50 controls to determine the status of p53 exon 4 codon 72 polymorphism and exon 7 codon 249 mutation and their possible role in breast cancer risk. <br/><b>Results</b>: Frequency of Arg/Arg at codon 72 was 18% in controls and 28% in patients, Arg/Pro frequency was 56% and 66% , Pro/Pro genotype was 8% in controls and 8% in patients. No significance was observed for breast cancer risk with either Arg/Arg or Pro/Pro genotype in codon 72 polymorphism. Similarly, mutation analysis of exon 7 codon 249 revealed that 72% of breast cancer patients have mutation, which is not statistically significant. However, there is a strong association between increase in exon 7 codon 249 mutation and exposure to pollution. <br/><b>Conclusion</b>: The results suggested that there is no risk for exon 4 with Arg/Arg or Pro/Pro polymorphisms in the p53 gene and there is no strong correlation between breast cancer patients and mutation in exon 7 codon 249 in South Indian women.