The MIF rs755622 Variant may Increase Susceptibility of Breast Cancer but not Gastrointestinal Cancer in a Turkish Population

Abstract

OBJECTIVE An increasing number of epidemiological and molecular evidence proposes that inflammation is a significant factor in the etiology of cancers. Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF) encodes a lymphokine involved in cell-mediated immunity, immunoregulation, and inflammation. It has been reported that MIF is linked with a higher risk of several cancer types. In the present study, we investigated the association of MIF rs755622 variant with the risk of breast cancer (BC) and gastrointestinal cancer in a Turkish cohort. METHODS The present study included a total of 153 subjects, which consisted of 33 BC patients, 53 gastrointestinal cancer patients and 67 healthy controls. Genomic DNA extracted from peripheral venous blood. The rs755622 variant of the MIF gene was genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. The results were statistically analyzed by calculating the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) using the ?2 test. RESULTS There was a statistical difference between the BC patients and controls for the MIF rs755622 variant. MIF rs755622 GG genotype and G allele were increased in BC patients compared to controls (p=0.016, p=0.017, respectively). No significant difference was observed between gastrointestinal cancer patients and controls for the MIF rs755622 variant (p>0.05). CONCLUSION Our results showed that the MIF rs755622 variant might play a potential role in BC physiopathology.