The present meta-analysis suggests that the 657del5 gene mutation in the NBS1 gene plays a role in breast cancer risk, while the I171V mutation does not exert a significant influence.
Among these, an association with cancer was found most frequently for 657del5 (in leukemia/lymphoma and breast cancer) and I171V (in leukemia, breast, head and neck and colorectal cancers); however, other studies gave contradictory results.
A meta-analysis of all hitherto available studies did not reveal a difference in the prevalence of I171V</span> between breast cancer cases and controls (OR: 1.05; 95%CI: 0.64-1.74, P=0.9).
The aim of the study was to analyse the frequency of I171V mutation in NBS1 gene in 270 women with breast cancer, 176 patients with larynx cancer, 81 with second primary tumours of head and neck, 131 with colorectal carcinoma and 600 healthy individuals.