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Human Cancer Biology |
Authors' Affiliations: 1 Human Cancer Genetics Program, Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio; 2 Department of Surgery, Jyväskylä Central Hospital, Jyväskylä, Finland; 3 Department of Surgery, Helsinki University Central Hospital; and 4 Department of Medical Genetics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Requests for reprints: Albert de la Chapelle, Human Cancer Genetics, 646 Tzagournis Medical Research Facility, 420 West 12th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210. Phone: 614-688-4781; Fax: 1-614-688-4772; E-mail: delachapelle-1{at}medctr.osu.edu.
| Abstract |
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Experimental Design: We genotyped p53 codon 72 in 193 individuals with Lynch syndrome mutations, 93 patients with sporadic microsatellite unstable colorectal cancer, and 93 patients with sporadic microsatellite stable colorectal cancer from Finland and 323 Finnish controls. We genotyped 30 colorectal cancer patients with Lynch syndrome mutations from Ohio and 118 U.S. controls. We genotyped SNP309 of MDM2 in the Lynch syndrome groups. We used
2 test, Kaplan-Meier statistics, and Cox regression model to analyze the data.
Results: Allele frequencies of both polymorphisms were similar in subjects and controls from both populations and showed Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Neither polymorphism was associated with age of colorectal cancer onset in any of the subject groups.
Conclusions: This study failed to show any role of the p53 polymorphism on age of colorectal cancer onset in Lynch syndrome and sporadic colorectal cancer. The polymorphism in the MDM2 promoter had no affect on age of onset in Lynch syndrome. Accurate information about age of onset is important in clinical practice, especially in high-risk conditions. As association studies are vulnerable to biologically insignificant variation, both positive and negative findings need to be reported to enable unbiased assessment of the significance of putative risk variants.
45 years, ranging between teen age and old age (2, 3). These variations in age of onset are both intra- and interfamilial (4). The mechanisms underlying the variable penetrance are not known. A genetic component has been proposed but only few studies have addressed the question. Genes encoding proteins that influence the metabolism of known carcinogens are obvious modifier candidates. In one study, polymorphisms of the NAT1 and GSTT1 genes were shown to associate with age of onset and location of the tumor in Lynch syndrome (5). Similarly, polymorphisms in the NAT2 gene were implicated in colorectal cancer risk (6). Genes affecting the cell cycle are other obvious candidates. A significant effect on age of onset of colorectal cancer by a polymorphism in the CCND1 gene was reported (7). As far as we know, these findings have not been confirmed or refuted thus far.
Very recently, a strong and significant effect on age of onset of colorectal cancer in carriers of Lynch syndrome mutations was reported for the Arg/Pro polymorphism in codon 72 of the p53 gene. It was shown that Arg/Pro heterozygotes developed colorectal cancer 13 years earlier than Arg/Arg homozygotes (8). This finding seemed to be not necessarily unexpected in view of the fact that the two alleles are functionally distinct in vitro, the Arg allele being able to induce apoptosis more efficiently than the Pro allele (9). Further, MDM2, a key regulator of p53, is overexpressed in many human tumors (10). A single nucleotide polymorphism in the promoter of MDM2 (SNP309T
G) up-regulates the gene and was associated with a drastically accelerated tumor formation in Li-Fraumeni syndrome as well as in sporadic sarcoma (11).
Penetrance (i.e., age at onset) and lifetime risk of cancer are crucial parameters influencing the management of individuals carrying a Lynch syndrome mutation. To be used in clinical practice, penetrance data must be solidly established. We here report studies aimed at further evaluating the putative effects of the codon 72 polymorphism of p53 and the SNP309 polymorphism of MDM2 on the age at onset of cancer in Lynch syndrome, as well as in sporadic colorectal cancer.
| Materials and Methods |
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Among these cases, 28 patients from our MDM2 series, but not from our p53 series, were included in a study by Alhopuro et al. (12). All the Lynch syndrome patients and families were diagnosed in part in the traditional way based on family history and early age at onset, and in part by microsatellite instability screening of tumors from consecutive newly diagnosed colorectal cancer patients unselected for family history or age (13). The families emanate from a defined geographic region in Southern and Eastern Finland and, due to the comprehensive nature of the ascertainment, are likely to represent the majority of all Lynch syndrome in this region. For a closer description of the ascertainment of these patients and families, including mutation and microsatellite instability data, please see refs. 1317. In addition, we studied 186 patients with sporadic colorectal cancer (93 with microsatellite unstable tumors; 93 with microsatellite stable tumors) diagnosed as part of the studies quoted above, and from the same geographic region. Mutations in MLH1 and MSH2 had been excluded by sequencing in all sporadic patients with microsatellite unstable tumors. The sole criteria for inclusion in this study were the availability of germ line DNA and updated relevant clinical information. All these patients were of Finnish ethnicity.
In addition, we studied 30 mismatch repair gene mutation carriers affected with colorectal cancer and diagnosed in the metropolitan area of Columbus, Ohio. These patients belonged to 29 families; thus, in one case two members of one family were included. The Ohio patients were identified by large-scale molecular screening for Lynch syndrome as described (18). Among the 30 patients, 26 identified themselves as Caucasian, 3 as African American, and 1 as Asian. Inclusion criteria were as described above.
All patients gave written consent to genetic studies in compliance with stipulations by the respective institutional review boards.
Controls. The 323 control samples from Finland emanated from 99 adult individuals representing a geographically defined weighted sample of the entire Finnish population, and from 224 male blood donors from the same geographic region as the patients. The U.S. control population consisted of 118 samples from self-identified Caucasians purchased from the Coriell Institute (Camden, NJ).
p53 genotyping. PCR and single-strand conformational polymorphism analysis were used to genotype the G/C polymorphism in codon 72 p53. The PCR primers used were 5'-CCGGACGATATTGAACAATG-3' and 5'-TCTGGGAAGGGACAGAAGATGAC-3'. A 163 bp PCR fragment was generated from 25 ng of DNA in 25 µL reaction with a mixture containing 1x dilution of 10x PCR buffer (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA), 400 nmol of each primer, 0.4 mmol dATP, dGTP, dTTP, and dCTP, and 1.25 units of Amplitaq Gold DNA Polymerase (Applied Biosystems). The PCR was done at 94°C for 10 minutes, followed by 35 cycles at 94°C for 30 seconds, 56°C for 30 seconds, and 72°C for 1 minute, and a final extension step 72°C for 10 minutes. PCR products were analyzed with single-strand conformational polymorphism analysis as described previously (19). Three distinct patterns were found, and the PCR products were purified with ExoSAP-IT purification kit (U.S. Biochemical Corporation, Cleveland, OH) and identified by sequencing with ABI sequencing system (Perkin-Elmer Applied Biosystems). Subsequently, samples representing each genomic pattern (G/G, G/C, C/C) were used as controls in every single-strand conformational polymorphism gel, but sequencing was not repeated.
MDM2 genotyping. PCR and RFLP analysis were used to genotype the T/G MDM2 SNP309 polymorphism. PCR primers used were 5'-CGCGGGAGTTCAGGGTAAAG-3' and 5'-CTGAGTCAACCTGCCCACTG-3'. PCR was done as described above, except that the annealing temperature was 60°C and the number of cycles was 30. The length of the PCR fragment was 158 bp. Digestion was done in 20 µL reaction volume using MspA1I restriction endonuclease (New England Biolabs, Beverly, MA) according to the instructions of the manufacturer. The fragments were visualized in 3% agarose gel electrophoresis. Three distinct patterns were found and identified with sequencing as described above. Subsequently, samples representing each genotypic pattern (T/T, T/G, G/G) were used as controls in every RFLP assay, but sequencing was not repeated.
Statistics. Statistical analysis was conducted using R (http://cran.r-project.org/) software with additional packages "survival" and "genetics".
2 test was applied to check the homogeneity in genotype frequency distributions among the control groups, and between patient groups and their controls. If any of the expected counts was below 5, Fisher's exact test (20) was applied. Genotype frequencies in all groups were checked for the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium using two tests,
2 test and an exact test (21).
Kaplan-Meier survival curves for the three genotypes were used to analyze the age of onset of the first colorectal cancer. The log-rank test was applied to compare the homogeneity of the survival curves between genotype groups. In the combined group of affected and unaffected patients, the median age was defined as the age at which 50% of the subjects were cancer-free. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis with robust variance correction, to adjust for correlation between family members, was applied to estimate any association between the age of onset of colorectal cancer and the genotype.
| Results |
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| Discussion |
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We note in this context that in 150 patients with sporadic colorectal cancer from Taiwan, the Pro allele was associated with a more advanced Duke's stage at diagnosis than the Arg allele. In this population, the Pro allele was more common (52%) than the Arg allele; however, only allele frequencies, not genotypes, were shown (26). In a case-control study of 374 patients with sporadic colorectal cancer from Spain, the Pro allele at codon 72 was weakly associated with cancer risk (P = 0.066); however, a polymorphism in the adjacent intron 3 was significantly associated with cancer risk (P = 0.012). The two markers showed strong but incomplete linkage disequilibrium, and when this was taken into account, the authors concluded that the Pro allele was "clearly unrelated to colorectal cancer" (27).
Our data on the SNP309 of MDM2 showed no effect on age of onset of colorectal cancer in Lynch syndrome. This polymorphism was recently detected and shown to have a strong effect on tumorigenesis in vitro as well as on age of tumor onset in vivo in Li-Fraumeni syndrome (11, 28). SNP309 has not been explored in many cancers; however, very recently, a study of early-onset uterine leiomyosarcomas, sporadic colorectal cancers, and squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck showed no association. In the same study, a trend towards a lower age of onset in females with sporadic colorectal cancer was noted (12). We are not aware of further studies of this type and conclude that in Lynch syndrome, there probably is no association.
| Acknowledgments |
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| Footnotes |
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The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
Received 5/24/05; accepted 6/23/05.
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gene is associated with prostate cancer. Urol Int 2004;73:416.[CrossRef][Medline]
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