BACKGROUND: Uruguay exhibits one of the highest rates of breast cancer in Latin America, similar to those of developed nations, the reasons for which are not completely understood. In this study we investigated the effect that ancestral background has on breast cancer susceptibility among Uruguayan women. METHODS: We carried out a case-control study of 328 (164 cases, 164 controls) women enrolled in public hospitals and private clinics across the country. We estimated ancestral proportions using a panel of nuclear and mitochondrial ancestry informative markers (AIMs) and tested their association with breast cancer risk. RESULTS: Nuclear individual ancestry in cases was (mean ± SD) 9.8 ± 7.6% African, 13.2 ± 10.2% Native American and 77.1 ± 13.1% European, and in controls 9.1 ± 7.5% African, 14.7 ± 11.2% Native American and 76.2 ± 14.2% European. There was no evidence of a difference in nuclear or mitochondrial ancestry between cases and controls. However, European mitochondrial haplogroup H was associated with breast cancer (OR = 2.0; 95% CI 1.1, 3.5). CONCLUSIONS: We have not found evidence that overall genetic ancestry differs between breast cancer patients and controls in Uruguay but we detected an association of the disease with a European mitochondrial lineage, which warrants further investigation.

Une large part de la composante génétique du risque de cancer du sein est encore inexpliquée. J'ai ainsi étudié dans quelle mesure les variants observés sur le génome mitochondrial pourraient en partie expliquer ce risque. En effet la mitochondrie, en tant que source d'énergie cellulaire, est un organite impliqué dans la synthèse des espèces oxygénées réactives ou radicaux libres, éléments contribuant à l'instabilité génomique et au développement tumoral. Un premier axe de recherche m'a conduit à étudier une interaction potentielle entre des variants du génome mitochondrial et du génome nucléaire, en conjonction avec la consommation d'alcool. J'ai ensuite analysé les haplogroupes mitochondriaux peuvent être considérés en tant que potentiels modificateurs de l'association entre le risque de cancer du sein et les mutations causales portées par les gènes BRCA1 et BRCA2. L'haplogroupe T1a1 a été identifié comme modificateur du risque conféré par les mutations pathogènes localisées sur le gène BRCA2. Enfin, j'ai caractérisé par séquençage à haut débit le génome mitochondrial de 436 femmes ayant un cancer du sein et de forts antécédents familiaux, mais n'étant porteuses d'aucune mutation causale sur BRCA1 et BRCA2. Plusieurs variants ont été prédits comme dommageables. Deux gènes en particulier MT-ATP6 et MT-CYB, sont spécifiquement enrichis à la fois en nombre de variants portés, et de par le nombre d'individus porteurs de ces variants dans notre étude. L'ensemble du travail réalisé a ainsi contribué à enrichir les connaissances sur les potentielles associations entre les variations du génome mitochondrial et le risque du cancer du sein / A large part of the genetic component of breast cancer risk (BCR) is still unexplained. Therefore I studied if variants of the mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) might explain a part of this risk. In fact, mitochondria is the main source of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which contribute to genomic instability and tumor development. As a first axis of research, I studied potential interactions between some nuclear and mitochondrial variants, in conjugation to alcohol consumption. Despite the large dimensions of our dataset, the lack of statistical significant interaction in our data might reveal that former published results that show such interactions were not robust. I also studied if mitochondrial haplogroups could be considered as modificators of known association between BCR and pathogenic mutations in the BRCA1/2 genes. I identified haplogroup T1a1 such as modificator for individuals carrying a mutated BRCA2. Finally, I characterized by NGS mitochondrial genome of women diagnosed for a familial breast cancer, but tested negative for known pathogenic BRCA1/2 mutations. Several variants were identified as potentially damaging. Two genes, MT-ATP6 and MT-CYB are specifically enriched both in terms of distinct variants and in the number of individuals carrying these variants. They are both essential structural components of the mitochondrial respiratory chain, the main ROS production source in the cell. All these analyses contribute to enrich the knowledge about associations between BCR and variability of mtDNA, by integrating questions linked to interactions between genomic variants, environmental exposure, and effect modifications related to mitochondrial haplogroups