A Common Gene Variation May Affect Breast Cancer Survival

Behind the Cancer Headlines®

July 6, 2006

A genetic variation called SNP309 in the promoter region of the MDM2 gene can change the function of the tumor suppressor p53 and may impact breast cancer patients' survival.

Stefan Ambs, Ph.D., of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., and colleagues studied SNP309 in 293 breast cancer patients and 317 controls. They observed an interaction between the SNP309 genetic variation and the tumor's p53 status, and found that the p53 status (normal vs. mutant) is associated with survival in women with the common variation of SNP309 but not the variant form of SNP309.

The study was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

SOURCE:

Journal of the National Cancer Institute, July 5, 2006