Recent studies have suggested that genetic polymorphisms in the TP53 pathway influence tumour formation, progression and response to therapy. We analysed the three most common TP53 gene polymorphisms as potential genetic markers to predict the development and prognosis of breast cancer. The incidence of R72P, PIN3 Ins 16bp and PIN6 G13494A polymorphisms was determined in a cohort of 117 breast cancer tissues and 108 control specimens by PCR-RFLP. No significant difference was observed in the polymorphism variants in breast cancer specimens compared to controls. Furthermore, no statistically significant association of these polymorphisms with the outcome of the patients was observed. On the other hand we found positive correlation of lymph node metastases with both PIN3 Ins 16bp and PIN6 G13494A polymorphisms. The association of intronic TP53 variants with an aggressive breast cancer phenotype may represent a useful predictive biomarker, particularly in patients of clinical stage I with low or intermediate risk.

Department of Oncological and Experimental Pathology Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute 656 53 Brno Czech Republic