Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) patients with age and gender-matched controls were recruited for the present study. DNA extraction, genotyping of rs2910164 and rs4938723 was carried out by ARMS-PCR. Statistical analyses were carried out using SPSS software (version 20). Results: The odds ratio for risk allele C of rs2910164 for patients and controls was 23.0168 (3.0321–174.7208) with a p-value of <0.0001, showing that the frequency of the major allele G was lower in patients while the frequency of minor allele C was higher in patients. Similarly, the odds ratio for risk allele C of rs4938723 was 1.8621 (1.0321–3.3596) with a p-value of <0.03788 showing significant association with the development of thyroid cancer. Conclusions: The study highlights the significant association of miRNAs SNPs as one of the genetic risk factor for PTC. It was concluded that miRNA-146a (rs2910164) showed higher frequency of minor allele C in patients. Similarly in miRNA-34b/c gene SNP rs4938723 was observed to have a strong association with the development of thyroid cancer as the frequency of rare allele C was higher in patients.

Objectives Breast cancer is the leading cause of mortality in today’s world. An alarming rise in cancer incidence has been observed in the South Asian region. The aberrant molecular mechanisms regulating cell proliferation and development contribute to cancer development. A better understanding of the detailed molecular mechanisms at genetic and epigenetic levels can help to treat breast cancer more efficiently. The present study is aimed to identify the possible association of MAP3K1 SNP rs889312 and MAP3K9 rs11628333 in breast cancer in the South Asian region. Materials and methods Female breast cancer patients were recruited in the study. DNA was isolated from the blood samples collected from the patients. PCR-RFLP was used for genotyping, and data analysis was done by SPSS software. Results Genotyping data for MAP3K1 SNPrs889312 showed statistically significant association with breast cancer, while MAP3K9 SNPrs11628333 showed characteristic association of rare allele heterozygote’s and homozygotes in pre and post-menopausal patients, respectively. Conclusion The study concludes a strong association of the rs889312 with breast cancer in the Pakistani population and a characteristic association of unique genotypes TC and CC in pre- and post-menopausal breast cancer patients. These findings can provide a ready tool as a breast cancer marker in south Asian populations.

Colorectal cancer is a life-threatening and therapeutically challenging disease. Increasingly it is being deciphered that genetic and epigenetic mutations play a central role in cancer onset and progression. Excitingly, discovery of non-coding RNAs is considered to be a milestone in molecular oncology and emerging evidence is deepening our understanding about pivotal role of miRNAs in carcinogenesis. miR-143 has been experimentally verified to play an instrumental role as tumor suppressor. Recent studies suggest that single nucleotide polymorphisms rs41291957 and rs353292 in miR-143 may associate with the progression and or development of colorectal cancer. In present study 400 Pakistani subjects participated including 200 colorectal cancer patients and 200 age and gender matched healthy individuals. Blood samples and clinical information of the confirmed patients was collected from cancer diagnosis and treatment hospitals in Pakistan. The polymorphisms rs41291957 and rs353292 were genotyped in patients and controls by Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and results were validated by Sanger sequencing. The association of the SNPs within the study group was analyzed by χ² test with p value < 0.05 as significant. Odds ratio was calculated with 95% confidence interval.Genetic predisposition to cancer was observed in presence of characteristic rs45291957 polymorphism. χ² test results show strongly significant association mi-RNA rs45291957 SNP with colorectal cancer p value 0.0111 (<0.05) along with the statistically significant correlation tested by odds ratio with 95% confidence interval. However, no significant correlation (p value 0.6683) could be found for the association of rs353292 with colorectal cancer in Pakistani population. The present study for the first time gave evidence of miR-143 rs41291957 involvement in colorectal cancer patients of Pakistani population. This target can be a useful molecular tool for the prognosis and treatment targets for colorectal cancer in Pakistani population.rs353292 genetic association can be explored for different cancers in Pakistan to completely rule out its role in cancer.