Genetic Polymorphism in TNF-α-308 G/A and TNF-β +252 A/G, as Prognostic Biomarker in Breast Cancer Patients among Indian Population

Background: Cytokines are the key regulator molecules that modulate immune response. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF- α-308 G/A and TNF-β +252 A/G ) are inflammatory cytokine that control the progression of several types of cancer. They play a vital role in both tumor progression and destruction based on their concentrations. The role of TNF-α-308 G/A and TNF-β +252 A/G gene polymorphism in the etiology of breast cancer (BC) is not clearly understood. Therefore, present study investigates the association of TNF-α -308 G/A and TNF-β +252 A/G and the clinical features with Breast cancer patients. Methods: In a case- control study, we have investigated 150 breast cancer patients and 300 age and ethnically matched healthy controls for duration of 3 years from North India. Promoter polymorphisms of tumor necrosis factor gene (TNF-α -308 G/A and TNF-β +252 A/G) were genotyped using allele specific oligonucleotide polymerase chain reaction ASO and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The associations were evaluated by calculating the pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) using SPSS. Results: Patients with different clinico-pathological variables and healthy controls were analyzed. Significant association was observed in A allele of TNF-α -308 G/A in breast cancer patients as compared to healthy controls (p<0.0001). However, no association was seen in TNF-β +252 A/G both at genotypic and allelic level. The GG genotype of TNF-β +252A/G is higher in grades III (p<0.01) patients. Conclusion: Our results suggest that TNF-α-308G/A polymorphism showed significant association with breast cancer patients.