Association between miR-196a-2 Gene Polymorphism and Ovarian Cancer Prognosis in Egyptian Females

BACKGROUND: Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women worldwide. Unfortunately, early detection tests are relatively lacking. Diagnosis in the late stages of the disease carries a poor prognosis. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between miR-196a-2 rs11614913 polymorphism and ovarian cancer risk and prognosis in Egyptian females. METHODS: In this case-control study, the participants were classified into 2 groups. Group A is the control group which included 50 healthy females. Group B included 50 patients newly diagnosed with ovarian carcinoma confirmed by histopathological analysis. Immunohistochemistry for P53 and polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) for miR-196a-2 genotypes detection were performed. Results: There was a statistically significant difference among ovarian cancer cases and controls regarding genotypes (P = 0.003). However, the distribution of the T and C alleles in both studied groups showed no significant difference (P = 0.17). There was a statistically significant increase of CA 125 levels among CT and CC genotypes carriers of ovarian cancer cases (p = 0.04). Besides, there was a statistically significant correlation between miR-196a-2 polymorphism and each of tumor grade (P <0.001), p53 immunohistochemical expression (P= 0.002), and Figo classification (P <0.001). CONCLUSION: There was a statistically significant increase of CA 125 levels among C allele carriers of ovarian cancer cases. Besides, there was a statistically significant association between the miR-196a-2 polymorphism and each of tumor grade, p53 immunohistochemical expression, and Figo classification. So, miR-196a-2 polymorphism can be a possible prognostic factor in ovarian cancer.