STAT3 polymorphisms in North Africa and its implication in breast cancer.

Background: Only a few studies have investigated the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms in STAT3 gene with the susceptibility to cancer and response to chemotherapy. Our aim was to determine the allele frequencies of rs3869550, rs957971, and rs7211777 at the STAT3 gene in North African populations and compare them to 1000 genomes populations, and to investigate their relation with cancer.

Methods: The targeted SNPs have been analyzed in six Tunisian populations and a sample of Libyans using TaqMan® Assay.