title: Association of mitochondrial DNA 10398 polymorphism in invasive breast cancer in malay population of peninsular malaysia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) 10398 polymorphism is hypothesised to alter a mitochondrial subunit of the electron transfer chain and is associated with several neurodegenerative disorders and cancers.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, an mtDNA polymorphism at nucleotide position 10398 was screened in 101 Malay female patients with invasive breast cancer and 90 age-matched healthy female controls using minisequencing analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Malay women with the 10398G variant showed a significantly increased risk of invasive breast cancer (OR = 2.29, 95% CI 1.25-4.20, P = 0.007). Immunohistochemistry analysis was conducted to investigate the effect of this polymorphism on the levels of apoptosis in breast cancer cells. The level of Bax (a pro-apoptotic protein) expression was significantly higher than that of Bcl-2 (an anti-apoptotic protein) in patients carrying the G allele (P = 0.016) but not in those carrying the A allele (P = 0.48).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on these findings, we propose that the mtDNA 10398 polymorphism may be a potential risk marker for breast cancer susceptibility in the Malay population.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia Health Campus, 16150 Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Nadiah
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tengku Baharudin
authors.forename: Hasnan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jaafar
authors.forename: Zafarina
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zainuddin