1. Whole Exome-Wide Association Identifies Rare Variants in APC Associated with High-Risk Colorectal Cancer in the Middle East.
- Author
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Siraj, Abdul Khalid, Bu, Rong, Azam, Saud, Qadri, Zeeshan, Iqbal, Kaleem, Parvathareddy, Sandeep Kumar, Al-Dayel, Fouad, and Al-Kuraya, Khawla S.
- Subjects
RISK assessment ,EARLY detection of cancer ,COLORECTAL cancer ,GENETIC counseling ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,ODDS ratio ,GENETIC mutation ,ADENOMATOUS polyposis coli ,CANCER patient psychology ,DISEASE susceptibility ,DISEASE risk factors - Abstract
Simple Summary: This study focused on the identification of rare variants that are associated with high-risk colorectal cancer (CRC) from the Middle Eastern region. This study analyzed DNA samples from 146 patients with CRC and from 1395 healthy individuals. We identified rare inactivating variants in the APC gene that are strongly linked to CRC, increasing the risk approximately 60-fold. Other significant genes harboring rare damaging variants were also identified. These results may have implications for genetic counseling and the early detection of CRC in the Middle Eastern population. Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) displays a complex pattern of inheritance. It is postulated that much of the missing heritability of CRC is enriched in high-impact rare alleles, which might play a crucial role in the etiology and susceptibility of CRC. Methods: In this study, an exome-wide association analysis was performed in 146 patients with high-risk CRC in the Middle East and 1395 healthy controls. The aim was to identify rare germline variants in coding regions and their splicing sites associated with high-risk CRC in the Middle Eastern population. Results: Rare inactivating variants (RIVs) in APC had the strongest association with high-risk CRC (6/146 in cases vs. 1/1395 in controls, OR = 59.7, p = 5.13 × 10
−12 ), whereas RIVs in RIMS1, an RAS superfamily member, were significantly associated with high-risk CRC (5/146 case vs. 2/1395 controls, OR = 24.7, p = 2.03 × 10−8 ). Rare damaging variants in 17 genes were associated with high-risk CRC at the exome-wide threshold (p < 2.5 × 10−6 ). Based on the sequence kernel association test, nonsynonymous variants in six genes (TNXB, TAP2, GPSM3, ADGRG4, TMEM229A, and ANKRD33B) had a significant association with high-risk CRC. RIVs in APC—the most common high-penetrance genetic factor—were associated with patients with high-risk CRC in the Middle East. Individuals who inherited APC RIVs had an approximate 60-fold increased risk of developing CRC and were likely to develop the disease earlier. Conclusions: We identified new potential CRC predisposition variants in other genes that could play a role in CRC inheritance. However, large collaborative studies are needed to confirm the association of these variants with high-risk CRC. These results provide information for counseling patients with high-risk CRC and their families in our population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2024
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