Title:Molecular Evaluation of HIF-1α Gene Variation and Determination of Its Frequency and Association with Breast Cancer Susceptibility in Saudi Arabia
Volume: 21
Issue: 3
Author(s): Rashid Mir*, Faisel M. Abu-Duhier and Ibrahim A. Albalawi
Affiliation:
- Prince Fahd Bin Sultan Research Chair, Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Tabuk, Tabuk,Saudi Arabia
Keywords:
Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1), breast cancer, amplification refractory mutation system PCR, susceptibility,
gene variation, Saudi Arabia
Abstract:
Aim: Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1α) is responsible in regulating oxygen homeostasis
in tissues and is a central effector of the hypoxic response besides its protein overexpression has been
shown to have prognostic relevance in several cancers including breast cancer. Several reports indicated
that HIF-1α gene variation C1772T (Pro582Ser) is associated with increased breast susceptibility
but results remained controversial. Therefore, we performed the molecular evaluation of HIF-1α gene
variation and determined its frequency and association with Breast Cancer susceptibility in Saudi Arabia.
Methods: This study was conducted on histologically confirmed Breast cancer patients and gender
matched healthy women. HIF-1α C1772T (Pro582Ser) genotyping was done by Amplification refractory
mutation system PCR method. The HIF-1α gene genotypes were correlated with different clinicopathological
characteristics of breast cancer patients.
Results: A significant difference was observed in genotype distribution of HIF-1α gene variation
C1772T (Pro582Ser) between breast cancer cases and gender matched healthy controls (P=0.010). Our
findings showed that the HIF- 1α variant was associated with an increased risk of Breast cancer for
HIF-1α CC vs CT genotype OR = 2.20, 95% CI = (1.28 -3.77), P = 0.004) in codominant inheritance
model. The significant association was reported for HIF1A for genotypes CC vs (CT+ TT) OR = 1.98,
95% CI = (1.17-3.34), P = 0.010) in dominant inheritance model tested. In case of recessive inheritance
model, a non-significant association of HIF-1 alpha gene variants was reported for (CC+ CT) vs
TT) OR = 1.03, 95% CI = (0. 064-16.79), P = 0.97). During the allelic comparison, a non-significant
association was reported between A vs C allele among Breast cancer patients. A significant association
of HIF- 1α polymorphism was reported with stage as well as distant metastasis of the disease.
Conclusion: A significant difference was observed in genotype distribution of HIF-1α gene variation
C1772T (Pro>Ser) between breast cancer cases and gene matched healthy controls (P=0.010). HIF-1α-
CT heterozygosity and CC genotype increased the susceptibility .The HIF-1α polymorphism was reported
to be significantly associated with the distant metastasis of Breast cancer. Further studies with
larger data set and well-designed models are required to validate our findings.