Investigation of Long Non-Coding RNAs H19 rs3741219, MEG3 rs7158663, POLR2E rs3787016, and ANRIL rs10757274 with Breast Cancer Susceptibility and Clinicopathological Characteristics in a Mexican Population

Recent evidence has highlighted the crucial role of non-coding genetic elements in regulating gene expression and has been linked to a broad range of biological functions. Notably, dysregulation of long non-coding RNAs has been strongly associated with tumorigenesis and cancer progression. Background/Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the potential association between the H19 rs3741219 T>C, MEG3 rs7158663 G>A, POLR2E rs3787016 T>C, and ANRIL rs10757274 A>G variants and Breast Cancer (BC) susceptibility, as well as their relationship with clinicopathological characteristics in Mexican patients. Methods: DNA was obtained from peripheral blood samples of 505 women (254 patients and 251 control females). Genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) methodology. Associations were calculated using odds ratios (ORs), with p-values adjusted by the Bonferroni test (p < 0.012). In silico analyses were conducted to predict the functional impact of the variants associated. Results: Patients carrying the C/C genotypes in H19 rs3741219 and POLR2E rs3787016 variants showed increased susceptibility to developing BC and with clinical and pathological characteristics (age at diagnosis, TNM stage, histologic type and molecular subtype) (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The results suggest that H19 rs3741219 and POLR2E rs3787016 variants significantly influence BC risk.