The p53 codon 72 polymorphism is associated with risk and early onset of breast cancer among Saudi women.

Breast cancer has a major impact on the health of women worldwide. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), breast cancer incidence is on the increase and is characterized by early onset and aggressiveness. Owing to the importance of the TP53 gene in breast carcinogenesis, we analyzed the possible link between TP53 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the risk of breast cancer in Saudi women by direct sequencing of the TP53 gene exon 4 from 100 breast cancer tissues. The proportion of the polymorphic forms of SNP72 in the Saudi breast cancer patients were: Arg/Arg (RR), 39%; Pro/Pro (PP), 36%; and Arg/Pro (RP), 25%. The frequencies of these forms in disease-free Saudi women were 7.59, 22.22 and 60.19%, respectively. This indicates that the RR form of the codon 72 polymorphism is a potential risk factor, whereas the RP form is a protection factor against breast cancer among Saudi women (p=0.0001). Moreover, the results have shown that the p53 R72P SNP is significantly associated with the early onset of breast cancer in the Saudi population (p=0.0138). However, the codon 47 polymorphism appears to have no role in this disease among Saudi women. These results indicate that the TP53 gene could play a major role in breast carcinogenesis and the early onset of the disease among Saudi women.