Abstract
BACKGROUND: Many types of cancer are associated with polymorphisms of the renin-angiotensin system. Our aim was to assess possible association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the angiotensin II receptor types 1 (A168G), and 2 (T1247G and A5235G) with breast cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 242 participating subjects were genotyped and allocated to case or control groups. RESULTS: Genotype distribution (in %) was: for AGTR1 (A168G): AA, AG, GG = 61, 30, 09 for cases, and 69, 25, 06 for controls (p = 0.55); for AGTR2 (T1247G): TT, TG, GG = 84, 12, 04 for cases, and 81, 17, 02 for controls (p = 0.45); for AGTR2 (A5235G): AA, AG, GG = 32, 67, 01 for cases, and 53, 28, 19 for controls (p < 0.0001). Women carrying genotypes AA/AG in the intronic region of angiotensin II type 2 receptor had an 11-fold higher risk of breast cancer than GG carriers. CONCLUSIONS: Many types of cancer have been associated with polymorphisms of the renin-angiotensin system. For SNP A5235G, the GG genotype seems to be protective against breast cancer. The other 2 SNPs showed no association. However, SNPs T1247G and A5235G were associated with at least 1 clinical variable, with G being a predictor of better outcome. The use of SNPs A5235G and T1247G (the latter to a lesser degree) as genetic markers should be considered.