Deciphering the genetic architecture of low-penetrance susceptibility to colorectal cancer

Hum Mol Genet. 2013 Dec 15;22(24):5075-82. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddt357. Epub 2013 Jul 30.

Abstract

Recent genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified common variants at 16 autosomal regions influencing the risk of developing colorectal cancer (CRC). To decipher the genetic basis of the association signals at these loci, we performed a meta-analysis of data from five GWASs, totalling 5626 cases and 7817 controls, using imputation to recover un-typed genotypes. To enhance our ability to discover low-frequency risk variants, in addition to using 1000 Genomes Project data as a reference panel, we made use of high-coverage sequencing data on 253 individuals, 199 with early-onset familial CRC. For 13 of the regions, it was possible to refine the association signal identifying a smaller region of interest likely to harbour the functional variant. Our analysis did not provide evidence that any of the associations at the 16 loci being a consequence of synthetic associations rather than linkage disequilibrium with a common risk variant.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Alleles
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Chromosome Mapping
  • Colorectal Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Gene Frequency
  • Genetic Loci
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease*
  • Genome-Wide Association Study
  • Genotype
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Penetrance*
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide