Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disorder for which the underlying
genetic basis remains unclear. The current study was conducted to
evaluate the possible association between trinucleotide-repeatcontaining
9 (TNRC9) genetic variants and breast cancer risk in
Egyptian women. Genotyping of the rs12443621 polymorphism of the
TNRC9 gene by real time PCR (RT-PCR) on 100 female breast
cancer patients and 80 healthy female controls was done. Breast
cancer patients have significantly decreased age at menarche
compared to control. Breast feeding and parity are associated with
reduced breast cancer risk. The homozygous GG genotype and G
allele were more frequent in the breast cancer group than in control
subjects. The GG genotype frequency was associated with 2.8 times
higher risk of breast cancer than AA genotype, also the G allele was
associated with 1.9 times higher risk of breast cancer than A allele.
The distribution of the TNRC9 rs12443621 polymorphism was
significantly associated with both estrogen and progesterone receptor
status. The combined AG and GG genotypes were not significantly
associated with the presence of metastasis and Her2/neu status (P=0.89
and 0.49, respectively). From this study, it could be concluded that, a
significant association was found between the GG genotype of
TNRC9 rs12443621 and elevated breast cancer risk and signifies the
TNRC9 rs12443621 G allele as being a potential risk factor for breast
cancer. Further larger population-based studies are needed to confirm
the prognostic value of this polymorphism in Egyptian women.