Association Study of Polymorphisms in the LEP Gene with Breast Cancer Risk

Introduction: According to the conducted studies, breast cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors, and its incidence rate is increasing yearly. One of the measures to reduce the mentalities from breast cancer is early diagnosis of biomarkers, such as Leptin polymorphisms (rs7799039 and rs2167270), and timely treatment. Leptin is an adipocytokine made by fat cells, playing a crucial role in cell proliferation, survival, migration, and immune response. The present study aimed to assess the association between polymorphisms in the Leptin gene and breast cancer risk in Arak, Iran. Materials & Methods: Two SNPs of the Leptin gene (rs7799039 and rs2167270) were genotyped by PCR-RFLP method (polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism) in a case-control study, including 80 breast cancer patients and 80 healthy controls. In this study, all statistical analyses were performed in SPSS software (version 26) using the Chi-Squared test at P˂ 0.05 significant level. Results: Based on the results, rs7799039 and rs2167270 showed no significant association with breast cancer risk (P=0.183 and P=0.86, respectively). In this study, the mean age in the patient group was 47 ( an age range of 28-79 years). Conclusion: As evidenced by the obtained results, Leptin gene polymorphisms (rs7799039 and rs2167270) did not increase the risk of breast cancer in the Arak population in Iran. Although based on the present study results, there was no significant association between Leptin gene polymorphisms and breast cancer risk, according to the prominent role of the Leptin gene, the polymorphisms of this gene could be used as biomarkers to predict breast cancer in other populations.