Single nucleotide polymorphisms in miRNA binding sites and miRNA genes as breast/ovarian cancer risk modifiers in Jewish high‐risk women

We hypothesized that aberrant gene silencing by miRNA may affect mutant BRCA penetrance. To test this notion, frequency of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; n = 42) within predicted miRNA binding sites or miRNA precursors were determined and compared in 363 BRCA1 mutation carriers: asymptomatic (n = 160), breast cancer (n = 140) and ovarian cancer (n = 63) patients, and in 125 BRCA2 mutation carriers: asymptomatic (n = 48), breast cancer (n = 58) and ovarian cancer (n = 19) patients. Overall, 16 of 42 SNPs were polymorphic, 11 had a minor allele frequency greater than 5% and 9 of them maintained the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium. Based on Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analyses, statistically significant differences were noted in BRCA2 mutation carriers by health status in 3 SNPs: CC homozygosity at rs6505162 increased ovarian cancer risk (RR 2.77; p = 0.028; 95% CI, 1.11-6.9); heterozygote SNP carriers of rs11169571 had an approximately 2 fold increased risk for developing breast/ovarian cancer, whereas heterozygotes of the rs895819 SNP had an approximately 50% reduced risk for developing breast/ovarian cancer. This study provides preliminary evidence for another regulatory level of penetrance of deleterious mutations in cancer predisposition genes.