Neuroscience NewsSummary: A new study in Nature Communications reveals a common genetic variant that increases the risk of neuroblastoma, the most common cancer in infants.
Source: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Pediatric researchers investigating the childhood cancer neuroblastoma have identified common gene variants that raise the risk of an aggressive form of that disease. The discovery may assist doctors in better diagnosing subtypes of neuroblastoma.
Co-led by a genomics expert and a pediatric oncologist with expertise in neuroblastoma, a team from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) reported that common variants in the MMP20 gene are associated with deletions on chromosome 11q. “These inherited variants predispose to 11q deletions, which are a strong risk factor for an aggressive form of neuroblastoma,” said co-study leader Hakon Hakonarson, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Applied Genomics at CHOP.
The study appeared online Sept. 18 in Nature Communications.
“We already knew that 11q deletions are biomarkers that predict poor outcomes in neuroblastoma,” said co-study leader John M. Maris, MD, a pediatric oncologist at CHOP’s Center for Childhood Cancer Research. “This new research helps us to more precisely predict how a neuroblastoma tumor will behave, so it improves our diagnostic capabilities.”
A cancer of the peripheral nervous system that usually occurs as a solid tumor in a child’s chest or abdomen, neuroblastoma is the most common cancer in infants. It accounts for a disproportionate share of cancer deaths in children.
A cancer of the peripheral nervous system that usually occurs as a solid tumor in a child’s chest or abdomen, neuroblastoma is the most common cancer in infants. It accounts for a disproportionate share of cancer deaths in children. NeuroscienceNews.com image is credited to Dr. Maria Tsokos, National Cancer Institute.
The CHOP researchers previously identified six other genetic risk variants for neuroblastoma over the past decade, so the current investigation offers new insights into the genetic architecture of this complex form of cancer.
In the current study, the team performed a genome-wide association study in 113 tumors from neuroblastoma patients harboring 11q deletions, compared to 5,100 ancestry-matched controls. The research yielded common variants in the MMP20 gene, located on chromosome 11q22.2. A replication study in 44 independent cases and 1,900 controls found similar results.
The authors added that further studies should investigate the mechanisms by which MMP20 variants give rise to neuroblastoma tumors.
Funding: The National Institutes of Health supported this research (grants HG006830 and CA124709).
Source: John Ascenzi – Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is credited to Dr. Maria Tsokos, National Cancer Institute and is in the public domain.
Original Research: Full open access research for “Common variants in MMP20 at 11q22.2 predispose to 11q deletion and neuroblastoma risk” by Xiao Chang, Yan Zhao, Cuiping Hou, Joseph Glessner, Lee McDaniel, Maura A. Diamond, Kelly Thomas, Jin Li, Zhi Wei, Yichuan Liu, Yiran Guo, Frank D. Mentch, Haijun Qiu, Cecilia Kim, Perry Evans, Zalman Vaksman, Sharon J. Diskin, Edward F. Attiyeh, Patrick Sleiman, John M. Maris & Hakon Hakonarson in Nature Communications. Published online September 18 2017 doi:10.1038/s41467-017-00408-8
<http://neurosciencenews.com/neuroblastoma-genetic-variants-7582/>.
Abstract
Common variants in MMP20 at 11q22.2 predispose to 11q deletion and neuroblastoma risk
MYCN amplification and 11q deletion are two inversely correlated prognostic factors of poor outcome in neuroblastoma. Here we identify common variants at 11q22.2 within MMP20 that associate with neuroblastoma cases harboring 11q deletion (rs10895322), using GWAS in 113 European-American cases and 5109 ancestry-matched controls. The association is replicated in 44 independent cases and 1902 controls. Our study yields novel insights into the genetic underpinnings of neuroblastoma, demonstrating that the inherited common variants reported contribute to the origin of intra-tumor genetic heterogeneity in neuroblastoma.
“Common variants in MMP20 at 11q22.2 predispose to 11q deletion and neuroblastoma risk” by Xiao Chang, Yan Zhao, Cuiping Hou, Joseph Glessner, Lee McDaniel, Maura A. Diamond, Kelly Thomas, Jin Li, Zhi Wei, Yichuan Liu, Yiran Guo, Frank D. Mentch, Haijun Qiu, Cecilia Kim, Perry Evans, Zalman Vaksman, Sharon J. Diskin, Edward F. Attiyeh, Patrick Sleiman, John M. Maris & Hakon Hakonarson in Nature Communications. Published online September 18 2017 doi:10.1038/s41467-017-00408-8
