Is PTEN rs397510595 an Unexpected Guardian in Canine Mammary Neoplasia?

Despite steps having been taken to study the influence of genetic polymorphisms in canine mammary neoplasia, the knowledge of their relevance is still incipient compared to the knowledge of human breast cancer. Among tumor suppressor genes, PTEN plays a pivotal role in carcinogenesis; however, the contribution of its constitutional variants to the biology of canine mammary neoplasia remains poorly understood. This observational study assessed the association between PTEN SNPs rs397510595 and rs397513087, genotyped from peripheral blood, and the clinicopathological features, including survival, in a cohort of 206 female dogs with mammary neoplasia. The minor A allele of rs397510595 was present in 17.5% of the population. Carriers of the variant allele were more frequently diagnosed at a late age ≥ 11 years, displayed a complete absence of vascular invasion, and exhibited significantly longer overall survival (mean 22.2 vs. 19.5 months). The SNP rs397513087 did not show a significant association with clinicopathological features or survival. Our data suggests that SNP rs397510595 of the PTEN gene is a putative protective factor for developing canine mammary neoplasia at an early age and might be used as a biomarker for prognostic assessment in dogs with malignant mammary neoplasia.