Breast cancer (BC) is one of the common malignant tumors of women in the world. The incidence rate of this cancer increased in frequency in the last years in Iraq. The current rates of increase remain constant; a woman born today has a 1 in 10 chance of developing breast cancer. Apoptotic genes play a crucial role in the control, management of the proliferative and growth of the cells, and have a fundamental role in the
neoplasia and tumorigenesis. This is a retrospective study carried out to investigate the possible ssociation in transcription of the apoptotic genes and their correlation with BC patients according to the type, stage and grade of the malignancy. A total of 22 female patients with BC were studied, their ages range from 30-72 years with a mean age of 45.86 ± 11.02 years. Two control groups were included in this study for comparison. The first group included (6) patients with benign breast lesions (4 fibrocystic disease and 2 Fibroadenoma) and (15) normal tissue samples. Breast tissue samples were collected from patients and controls, RNA was extracted, and then Apoptotic genes were performed by Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction (MPCR)-specific sequence primers (Apoptotic genes). The laboratory investigation including MPCR for a set of apoptotic genes (c-myc, bcl-2, ICE and p53) had been done for both the patients and control groups to observe the possible association with breast cancer. According to the results obtained from the study, it was showed highly significant association of bcl-2 and c-myc genes frequency in patients when compared with ICE gene in healthy control, while no there was no significant frequency of p53 gene between patients and control groups. An interesting finding was observed in the present study showed high association between c-myc and bcl-2 genes in the patients group. Furthermore the association between c-myc and bcl-2 increased with the advanced stages and grades of the breast cancer. Also the present study showed increased in the frequency of p53 gene transcribed in breast cancer patients.