The Relationships between HLA-A and HLA-B Genes and the Genetic Susceptibility to Breast Cancer in Guangxi

Breast cancer is the second most common malignancy in the world. Many studies have demonstrated the association between human leukocyte antigen (HLA) and cancer. This study discusses the relationships between female breast cancer occurrence in Guangxi and HLA-A and HLA-B allele polymorphisms, to provide a theoretical basis for defining the role of HLA gene polymorphism in breast cancer occurrence and the possible mechanism. Methods: Peripheral blood samples were collected from 88 female breast cancer patients and 81 healthy women from Guangxi. DNA was extracted, and HLA-A and HLA-B gene polymorphisms were identified by sequence-specific primer polymerase chain reaction (PCR-SSP). HLA-A and HLA-B genotypes were compared between the breast cancer patients and control women using the chi(2) test. For HLA-A2, HLA-A3, HLA-A11, HLA-A24, HLA-A29, HLA-A30, HLA-A31, HLA-A33, and HLA-A74 gene frequencies, there were no significant differences between the breast cancer patient and control groups. Nineteen HLA-B alleles including HLA-B7, HLA-B13, HLA-B27, HLA-B38, HLA-B39, HLA-B46, HLA-B48, HLA-B50, HLA-B51, HLA-B52, HLA-B54, HLA-B55, HLA-B56, HLA-B58, HLA-B60, HLA-B61, HLA-B62, HLA-B71(70), and HLA-B75(15) were detected in the breast cancer patient and control groups. The HLA-B39 frequency was lower in the breast cancer group than in the control group. There were no significant differences in the gene frequencies of the remaining 18 alleles between the two groups. The HLA-B39 gene may be a protective genotype of female breast cancer in Guangxi, China, and no associations between the HLA-A alleles and female breast cancer in Guangxi were found.