ABSTRACT

The aim of the study was to determine if the polymorphism rs2981582 exists in intron 2 of FGFR2 gene in Turkish breast cancer patients and to investigate the correlation between conventional clinicopathological features and gene polymorphism.

Both normal and tumoral breast tissue samples were obtained from forty-eight breast cancer patients operated at Department of General Surgery, Ege University Hospital between 2008 and 2009 years. Samples were stored in stabilization solution (SABiosciences). DNA samples were isolated by using High Pure PCR Product purification kit (Roche, Mannheim, Germany). FGFR2 rs2981582 was identified by specific primer-probes (TıbMolBiol, Germany) and analysed with high resolution melting (HRM) analysis.

The genotypic distribution of the 48 patients for CC (wildtype), CT (heterozygote) ve TT (polymorphic) genotypes were found to be % 43,8 (n=21), %41,6 (n=20) and %14,6 (n=7), respectively. No difference was observed between normal and tumor tissue samples (p>0,05). Seven patients with polymorphic genotype (TT) showed immunohistochemically high estrogen receptor (ER) expression pattern and all of the polymorphic patients were luminal like subtype. Patients with wild-type genotype (CC) were more likely to have axillary metastases than the polymorphic (TT) group (U=36,5, p=0,043).

This is the first study investigating the FGFR2 gene polymorphism in Turkish breast cancer patients. Further analysis of the relationship between slowly progressing luminal like subtype breast cancer and FGFR2 gene polymorphism might have implications for diagnosis or therapy of breast cancer.