Association of Interleukin-16 Gene Polymorphisms rs11556218 T/G and rs4072111 C/T with Risk of Breast Cancer in an Iranian Population

Breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women. Cytokines regulate the intensity and continuity of immune response by balancing cell-mediated immunity and humoral responses. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between two polymorphisms of the interleukin-16 (IL-16) gene and risk of breast cancer.

Blood samples were collected from 80 breast cancer patients and 80 healthy individuals. Polymorphisms rs11556218 T/G and rs4072111 C/T were investigated by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP-PCR). Then, genotype and allele frequency distributions were evaluated in each group using the SPSS software (version 24).

The frequency of genotype rs11556218 differed significantly between the patients and controls (P=0.007). The TG genotype (odds ratio [OR]= 2.471, 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 1.229-4.965, P= 0.001) and total TG+GG genotypes (OR= 3.095, 95% CI: 1.624-5.899, P= 0.001) had a significant relationship with increased risk for breast cancer. The allele and genotype frequencies of rs4072111 C/T polymorphism did not differ significantly between the patients and controls.

Our findings suggest that the rs11556218 T/G polymorphism of the IL-16 gene may be associated with susceptibility to breast cancer.