Tle Ile655Val polymorphism of erbB-2 gene in menopausal women with ovarian cancer

Introduction: The high level of erbB-2 gene expression is observed in 10–50% cases of ovarian cancer. The high level of erbB-2 predicts poor prognosis for patients. The significance for appearance and cancer progression may have not only high level of erbB-2 expression but changes in its receptor activation. The Ile655Val polymorphism in position 1980 located at 655 codon of erbB-2 gene may have functional significance in regulation of receptor activation.
Materials and methods: In these studies the distribution of genotypes and frequency of alleles of the Ile655Val polymorphism of erbB-2 gene in samples of ovarian cancer was investigated. Paraffin embedded tumour tissues were obtained from menopausal women with ovarian cancer. The genotypes of Ile655Val polymorphism were determined by PCR amplification using the allele specific primers.
Results: The distribution of the genotypes of the Ile655Val polymorphism did not differ significantly (p >0.05) between patients and control. Additionally, there were no significant differences (p >0.05) in genotype distributions and allele frequencies between subgroups assigned to histological stage (FIGO).
Conclusion: The obtained results suggest that the Ile655Val polymorphism of erbB-2 gene may not be linked with appearance and development of ovarian cancer. Further studies, conducted on a larger population, are required to clarify this point.