According to long-term projections, by 2030, the world’s population is predicted to reach 7.5 billion individuals, and there will be roughly 27 million new cancer cases diagnosed. The global burden of breast cancer (BC) is expected to rise. According to the Ministry of Health-Iraqi Cancer Registry, cancer is the second largest cause of death after cardiovascular disease. This study investigated the interleukin-18 (IL18) single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) –607C/A rs1946518 and –137G/C rs187238 using the sequence-specific amplification-polymerase chain reaction approach. Regarding the position –607C/A, there was a highly significant difference between the observed and expected frequencies in patients and controls (χ 2 = 3.16 and χ 2 = 16.5), respectively. The AA and CA genotypes were associated with significantly increased BC risk (odds ratio [OR], 3.68; p = 0.004 and OR, 2.83; p = 0.04, respectively). Women with the A allele had a 5.03-fold increased susceptibility to BC. The C allele may be a protective allele against BC (OR, 0.19). Although position –137G/C showed no significant differences in the CC genotype distribution (p = 0.18), the frequency of the CC genotype was significantly higher in patients than in controls. In contrast, patients had a significantly higher frequency of GC genotypes than controls (p = 0.04), which was associated with an increased risk of developing BC (OR, 2.63). The G allele frequency was significantly lower in patients than in controls (55.0% vs. 76.2%, respectively). This SNP may be considered a common genotype in the Iraqi population, with the wild-type G allele having a protective function (OR, 0.19) and the mutant C allele having an environmental effect (OR, 2.63).

Breast cancer (BC) is a significant threat to female health, with both modifiable andnon-modifiable risk factors. It is essential to monitor patients regularly and to raise population awareness. Increasing research also suggests that E-selectin (SELE) may increase tumor angiogenesis and the development of cancer. This study investigated SELE single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the following positions: rs5367T/C, rs5368C/T, rs5362T/G,and rs5362T/C. Using polymerase chain reaction, significant differences in allele and genotype frequencies were found between BC patients and controls. Position rs5368 was associated with an increased risk of BC for the CT and TT genotypes, with odds ratios (ORs) of16.3 and 6.90 (Fisher probability = 0.0001, p = 0.005). Women with the T allele had a 19.3-fold higher incidence of BC, while allele C may be a protective allele against BC (OR, 0.05).Heterozygous genotypes at rs5367, rs5362, and rs5362 were significantly more common inBC patients, with ORs of 5.70, 4.50, and 3.80, respectively. These SNPs may be associatedwith the risk of BC, because the frequency of mutant alleles was significantly higher in patients (OR: 4.26, 3.83, and 4.30, respectively) than in controls (OR: 0.23, 0.30, and 0.20, respectively). These SNPs may be considered a common genotype in the Iraqi population,with the wild-type allele having a protective fraction and the mutant allele having an environmental fraction. The results also revealed a 2-fold increase in gene expression in BCpatients compared to controls, with a significant effect (p = 0.017). This study's findingsconfirm the importance of SELE polymorphisms in cancer risk prediction.