Methylation QTL (mQTL) analyses showed a weak or no correlation of rs3803662 or rs4784227 with TOX3 promoter methylation in breast tumors, indicating an independent relationship between the genetic and epigenetic events.
We screened TOX3 for mutations in 133 breast tumours and identified four mutations (three missense, one in-frame deletion of 30 base pairs) in six primary tumours, corresponding to an overall mutation frequency of 4.5%.
In conclusion, except for the association of rs13283662 with TOX3 gene expression indicating a tumor suppressor role of TOX3, our findings suggest that breast cancer low-risk loci generally do not affect expression of the nearest gene in breast tumor tissue.