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Fetal growth and body size genes and risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

ABSTRACT: Accumulating evidence suggests that childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) may be initiated in utero or early in the postnatal period. High birth weight (or rapid fetal growth) is associated with risk of ALL, but the mechanisms are not understood. In a population-based epidemiologic study of childhood ALL, we utilized a haplotype-based approach to assess the role of eight genes involved in fetal growth and body size regulation in 377 childhood ALL cases and 448 controls. We found significant haplotype associations with risk of childhood ALL for IGF1 among non-Hispanics and Hispanics together (p = 0.002), for IGF2 among Hispanics (p = 0.040), and for IGF2R among Hispanics and non-Hispanics (p = 0.051 and 0.009, respectively). No haplotype associations were observed for IGF1R or the studied genes involved in body size regulation, including LEP, LEPR, GHRL, and NPY. Our study is the first to identify an association between the genes involved in the IGF axis and risk of childhood ALL. These findings for childhood ALL emphasize the importance of fetal growth, when lymphoid progenitor cells are not yet fully differentiated and therefore more susceptible to malignant transformation. Additional studies are needed to confirm these findings and identify specific causal variants.

SUBMITTER: Chokkalingam AP

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3415610 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Fetal growth and body size genes and risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Chokkalingam Anand P AP Metayer Catherine C Scelo Ghislaine G Chang Jeffrey S JS Schiffman Joshua J Urayama Kevin Y KY Ma Xiaomei X Hansen Helen M HM Feusner James H JH Barcellos Lisa F LF Wiencke John K JK Wiemels Joseph L JL Buffler Patricia A PA

Cancer causes & control : CCC 20120728 9

Accumulating evidence suggests that childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) may be initiated in utero or early in the postnatal period. High birth weight (or rapid fetal growth) is associated with risk of ALL, but the mechanisms are not understood. In a population-based epidemiologic study of childhood ALL, we utilized a haplotype-based approach to assess the role of eight genes involved in fetal growth and body size regulation in 377 childhood ALL cases and 448 controls. We found significa ...[more]

PMID: 22878902

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Project description:Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most frequent childhood cancer. For the last three decades, conventional cytogenetic and molecular approaches allowed the identification of genetic abnormalities having prognostic and therapeutic relevance. Although the current cure rate in pediatric B cell acute leukemia is approximately 90%, it remains one of the leading causes of mortality in childhood. Furthermore, in the contemporary protocols, chemotherapy intensity was raised to the maximal levels of tolerability, and further improvements in the outcome will depend on the characterization and reclassification of the disease, as well as on the development of new targeted drugs. The recent technological advances in genome-wide profiling techniques have allowed the exploration of the molecular heterogeneity of this disease, even though some potentially interesting biomarkers such as conjoined genes have not been deeply investigated yet. In the present study, we performed the transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) of 10 pediatric B cell precursor (BCP)-ALL cases with different risk (four standard- and six high-risk patients) enrolled in the Italian AIEOP-BFM ALL2000 protocol, in order to characterize the full spectrum of transcriptional events and to identify novel potential genetic mechanisms sustaining their different early response to therapy. Total RNA was extracted from primary leukemic blasts and RNA-seq was performed by Illumina technology. Bioinformatics analysis focused on fusion transcripts, originated from either inter- or intra-chromosomal structural rearrangements. Starting from a raw list of 9001 candidate events, by employing a custom-made bioinformatics pipeline, we obtained a short list of 245 candidate fusions. Among them, 10 events were compatible with chromosomal translocations. Strikingly, 235/245 events were intra-chromosomal fusions, 229 of which involved two contiguous or overlapping genes, resulting in the so-called conjoined genes (CGs). To explore the specificity of these events in leukemia, we performed an extensive bioinformatics meta-analysis and evaluated the presence of the fusions identified in our 10 BCP-ALL cohort in several other publicly available RNA-seq datasets, including leukemic, solid tumor and normal sample collections. Overall, 14/229 (6.1%) CGs were found to be exclusively expressed in leukemic cases, suggesting an association between CGs and leukemia. Moreover, CGs were found to be common events both in standard- and high-risk BCP-ALL patients and it might be suggestive of a novel potential transcriptional regulation mechanism active in leukemic cells.

Project description:Leukemia is the most common type of cancer among children and adolescents worldwide. The aim of this umbrella review was (1) to provide a synthesis of the environmental risk factors for the onset of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) by exposure window, (2) evaluate their strength of evidence and magnitude of risk, and as an example (3) estimate the prevalence in the German population, which determines the relevance at the population level. Relevant systematic reviews and pooled analyses were identified and retrieved through PubMed, Web of Science databases and lists of references. Only two risk factors (low doses of ionizing radiation in early childhood and general pesticide exposure during maternal preconception/pregnancy) were convincingly associated with childhood ALL. Other risk factors including extremely low frequency electromagnetic field (ELF-MF), living in proximity to nuclear facilities, petroleum, benzene, solvent, and domestic paint exposure during early childhood, all showed some level of evidence of association. Maternal consumption of coffee (high consumption/>2 cups/day) and cola (high consumption) during pregnancy, paternal smoking during the pregnancy of the index child, maternal intake of fertility treatment, high birth weight (≥4000 g) and caesarean delivery were also found to have some level of evidence of association. Maternal folic acid and vitamins intake, breastfeeding (≥6 months) and day-care attendance, were inversely associated with childhood ALL with some evidence. The results of this umbrella review should be interpreted with caution; as the evidence stems almost exclusively from case-control studies, where selection and recall bias are potential concerns, and whether the empirically observed association reflect causal relationships remains an open question. Hence, improved exposure assessment methods including accurate and reliable measurement, probing questions and better interview techniques are required to establish causative risk factors of childhood leukemia, which is needed for the ultimate goal of primary prevention.

Dataset Information

Fetal growth and body size genes and risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Publications

Fetal growth and body size genes and risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

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