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Limited evidence that cancer susceptibility regions are preferential targets for somatic mutation.

ABSTRACT: Genome wide-association studies have successfully identified several hundred independent loci harboring common cancer susceptibility alleles that are distinct from the more than 110 cancer predisposition genes. The latter are generally characterized by disruptive mutations in coding genes that have been established as 'drivers' of cancer in large somatic sequencing studies. We set out to determine whether, similarly, common cancer susceptibility loci map to genes that have altered frequencies of mutation.In our analysis of the intervals defined by the cancer susceptibility markers, we observed that cancer susceptibility regions have gene mutation frequencies comparable to background mutation frequencies. Restricting analyses to genes that have been determined to be pleiotropic across cancer types, genes affected by expression quantitative trait loci, or functional genes indicates that most cancer susceptibility genes classified into these subgroups do not display mutation frequencies that deviate from those expected. We observed limited evidence that cancer susceptibility regions that harbor common alleles with small estimated effect sizes are preferential targets for altered somatic mutation frequencies.Our findings suggest a complex interplay between germline susceptibility and somatic mutation, underscoring the cumulative effect of common variants on redundant pathways as opposed to driver genes. Complex biological pathways and networks likely link these genetic features of carcinogenesis, particularly as they relate to distinct polygenic models for each cancer type.

SUBMITTER: Machiela MJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4571124 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Limited evidence that cancer susceptibility regions are preferential targets for somatic mutation.

Machiela Mitchell J MJ Ho Brian M BM Fisher Victoria A VA Hua Xing X Chanock Stephen J SJ

Genome biology 20150915

<h4>Background</h4>Genome wide-association studies have successfully identified several hundred independent loci harboring common cancer susceptibility alleles that are distinct from the more than 110 cancer predisposition genes. The latter are generally characterized by disruptive mutations in coding genes that have been established as 'drivers' of cancer in large somatic sequencing studies. We set out to determine whether, similarly, common cancer susceptibility loci map to genes that have alt ...[more]

PMID: 26374197

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Project description:Genome-wide association studies have reported nearly 100 common germline susceptibility loci associated with the risk for breast cancer. Tumour sequencing studies have characterised somatic mutation profiles in breast cancer patients. The relationship between breast cancer susceptibility loci and somatic mutation patterns in breast cancer remains largely unexplored.We used single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping array data and tumour exome sequencing data available from 638 breast cancer patients of European ancestry from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project. We analysed both genotype data and, when necessary, imputed genotypes for 90 known breast cancer susceptibility loci. We performed linear regression models to investigate possible associations between germline risk variants with total somatic mutation count (TSMC), as well as specific mutation types. We examined individual SNP genotypes, as well as a multi-SNP polygenic risk score (PRS). Models were statistically adjusted for age at diagnosis, stage, oestrogen-receptor (ER) and progesterone-receptor (PR) status of breast cancer. We also performed stratified analyses by ER and PR status.We observed a significant inverse association (P=8.75 × 10(-6); FDR=0.001) between the risk allele in rs2588809 of the gene RAD51B and TSMC across all breast cancer patients, for both ER(+) and ER(-) tumours. This association was also evident for different types of mutations. The PRS analysis for all patients, with or without rs2588809, showed a significant inverse association (P=0.01 and 0.04, respectively) with TSMC. This inverse association was significant in ER(+) patients with the ER(+)-specific PRS (P=0.02), but not among ER(-) patients for the ER(-)-specific PRS (P=0.39).We observed an inverse association between common germline risk variants and TSMC, which, if confirmed, could provide new insights into how germline variation informs our understanding of somatic mutation patterns in breast cancer.

Dataset Information

Limited evidence that cancer susceptibility regions are preferential targets for somatic mutation.

Publications

Limited evidence that cancer susceptibility regions are preferential targets for somatic mutation.

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