In Australia, 13% of women are diagnosed with
breast cancer (BC) in their lifetime with approximately 20,000 women diagnosed with the disease in 2021. BC is characterised by complex histological and genomic influences with recent advances in
cancer biology improving early diagnosis and personalised treatment interventions. The
Phosphatidyl-inositol-3-
kinase/Protein kinase B (PI3K/AKT) pathway is essential in apoptosis resistance, cell survival, activation of cellular responses to DNA damage and DNA repair.
Heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) are ubiquitous molecules found on the cell surface and in the extracellular matrix with essential functions in regulating cell survival, growth, adhesion and as mediators of cell differentiation and migration. HSPGs, particularly the
syndecans (SDCs), have been linked to
cancers, making them an exciting target for anticancer treatments. In the PI3K/AKT pathway,
syndecan-4 (SDC4) has been shown to downregulate AKT
Serine/Threonine Kinase (AKT1) gene expression, while the ATM
Serine/Threonine Kinase (ATM) gene has been found to inhibit this pathway upstream of AKT. We investigated single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in
HSPG and related genes SDC4, AKT1 and ATM and their influence on the prevalence of BC. SNPs were genotyped in the Australian Caucasian Genomics Research Centre
Breast Cancer (GRC-BC) population and in the Griffith University-
Cancer Council Queensland
Breast Cancer Biobank (GU-CCQ BB) population. We identified that SDC4-rs1981429 and ATM-rs228590 may influence the development and progression of BC, having the potential to become
biomarkers in early BC diagnosis and personalised treatment.