Breast cancer is a complex heterogeneous disease involving genetic and epigenetic alterations in genes encoding proteins that are components of various signaling pathways. Candidate gene approach have identified association of genetic variants in the Wnt signaling pathway genes and increased susceptibility to several diseases including breast cancer. Due to the rarity of somatic mutations in key genes of Wnt pathway, we investigated the association of genetic variants in these genes with predisposition to breast cancers. We performed a case-control study to identify risk variants by examining 15 SNPs located in 8 genes associated with Wnt signaling. Genotypic analysis of individual locus showed statistically significant association of five SNPs located in β-catenin, AXIN2, DKK3, SFRP3 and TCF7L2 with breast cancers. Increased risk was observed only with the SNP in β-catenin while the other four SNPs conferred protection against breast cancers. Majority of these associations persisted after stratification of the cases based on estrogen receptor status and age of on-set of breast cancer. The rs7775 SNP in exon 6 of SFRP3 gene that codes for either arginine or glycine exhibited very strong association with breast cancer, even after Bonferroni's correction. Apart from these five variants, rs3923086 in AXIN2 and rs3763511 in DKK4 that did not show any association in the overall population were significantly associated with early on-set and estrogen receptor negative breast cancers, respectively. This is the first study to utilize pathway based approach to identify association of risk variants in the Wnt signaling pathway genes with breast cancers. Confirmation of our findings in larger populations of different ethnicities would provide evidence for the role of Wnt pathway as well as screening markers for early detection of breast carcinomas.

Genetic aberrations of DNA repair enzymes are known to be common events and to be associated with different cancer entities. Aim of the following study was to analyze the genetic association of rs1136410 (Val762Ala) in PARP1 gene with the risk of breast cancer using genotypic assays and insilico structural predictions. Genotypic analysis of individual locus showed statistically significant association of Val762Ala with increased susceptibility to breast cancer. Protein structural analysis was performed with Val762Ala variant allele and compared with the predicted native protein structure. Protein prediction analysis showed that this nsSNP may cause changes in the protein structure and it is associated with the disease. In addition to the native and mutant 3D structures of PARP1 were also analyzed using solvent accessibility models for further protein stability confirmation. Taken together, this the first study that confirmed Val762Ala variant has functional effect and structural impact on the PARP1 and may play an important role in breast cancer progression in Saudi population.

Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) is an enzyme with proteolytic activity against matrix proteins, particularly basement membrane constituents. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at -1306, which disrupts a Sp1-type promoter site (CCACC box), displayed a strikingly lower promoter activity with the T allele. In the present study, we investigate whether this MMP-2 SNP is associated with susceptibility to breast cancer in the Saudi population. Ninety breast cancer patients and 92 age matched controls were included in this study. TaqMan Allele Discrimination assay and DNA sequencing techniques were used for genotyping. The results showed that, the frequency of MMP-2 CC wild genotype was lower in breast cancer patients when compared with healthy controls (0.65 versus 0.79). The homozygous CC (OR=2, χ(2)=5.36, p=0.02) and heterozygous CT (OR=1.98, χ(2)=4.1, p=0.04) showing significantly high risk of breast cancer in the investigated group. In conclusion our data suggest that the MMP-2 C(-1306)T polymorphism may be associated with increased breast cancer risk in the Saudi population.

Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of APE1 Asp148Glu polymorphism in breast cancer progression in Saudi population. Methods. We examined the genetic variations (rs1130409) in the DNA base excision repair gene APE1 at codon 148 (Asp148Glu) and its association with breast cancer risk using genotypic assays and in silico structural as well as functional predictions. In silico structural analysis was performed with Asp148Glu allele and compared with the predicted native protein structure. The wild and mutant 3D structures of APE1 were compared and analyzed using solvent accessibility models for protein stability confirmation. Results. Genotypic analysis of APE1 (rs1130409) showed statistically significant association of Asp148Glu with elevated susceptibility to breast cancer. The in silico analysis results indicated that the nsSNP Asp148Glu may cause changes in the protein structure and is associated with breast cancer risk. Conclusion. Taken together, this is the first report that established that Asp148Glu variant has structural and functional effect on the APE1 and may play an important role in breast cancer progression in Saudi population.

In this series of locally advanced breast cancer, the combination of (FEC100) followed by cisplatin/docetaxel with and without trastuzumab was very active obtaining an impressive rate of pCR, particularly in HER2-positive and triple negative disease, which merits further investigation.