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

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.

Effects of tamoxifen therapy on the expression of p27 protein in the endometrium of women with primary breast cancer.

The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, p27, has been shown to mediate cell growth arrest thereby significantly reducing the percentage of proliferating cells. It seems that p27 expression is essential for the control of normal endometrial proliferation, and reduced or absent p27 expression may be an important step in endometrial carcinogenesis. Our aim was to demonstrate the effects of tamoxifen therapy on the expression of p27 protein in the endometrium of postmenopausal breast cancer patients. Fifty-three pre- and post-tamoxifen treatment endometrium samples were examined immunohistochemically using p27 antibody. Tamoxifen therapy (20 mg/day) for 60 days increased the expression of p27 protein in the endometrium of postmenopausal breast cancer patients. We conclude that tamoxifen therapy does not seem to be directly involved in the carcinogenesis of endometrial carcinoma since the expression of p27 is not decreased.