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Lung adenocarcinoma is the most common type of lung cancer. Known risk variants explain only a small fraction of lung adenocarcinoma heritability. Here, we conducted a two-stage genome-wide association study of lung adenocarcinoma of East Asian ancestry (21,658 cases and 150,676 controls; 54.5% never-smokers) and identified 12 novel susceptibility variants, bringing the total number to 28 at 25 independent loci. Transcriptome-wide association analyses together with colocalization studies using a Taiwanese lung expression quantitative trait loci dataset (n = 115) identified novel candidate genes, including FADS1 at 11q12 and ELF5 at 11p13. In a multi-ancestry meta-analysis of East Asian and European studies, four loci were identified at 2p11, 4q32, 16q23, and 18q12. At the same time, most of our findings in East Asian populations showed no evidence of association in European populations. In our studies drawn from East Asian populations, a polygenic risk score based on the 25 loci had a stronger association in never-smokers vs. individuals with a history of smoking (Pinteraction = 0.0058). These findings provide new insights into the etiology of lung adenocarcinoma in individuals from East Asian populations, which could be important in developing translational applications.

Aim Despite appropriate use of antiemetics including 5-hydroxytryptamine type 3 (5-HT3) receptor antagonists, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) is still an unsolved problem in patients with anticancer drugs. We examined whether the variants of ABCB1, CYP2D6 and HTR3B affect efficacy of ramosetron, a selective 5-HT3 receptor antagonist in a dose escalation clinical trial. Methods We conducted a clinical trial on patients who underwent FOLFOX combination chemotherapy. The participants were randomized into three groups of ramosetron: 0.3 mg (standard dose), 0.45 mg and 0.6 mg. Rhodes index of nausea, vomiting and retching were measured at 1, 6 h, day 1, day 2 and day 7 after the administration of ramosetron as a clinical parameter of CINV and polymorphism was analyzed from genomic DNA. Results There was a dose-dependent decrease in the nausea and vomiting scores at day 1 and day 2, not statistically significant. The Rhodes index of nausea, vomiting and retching score at day 1 in participants with HTR3B-100_-102delAAG deletion variants was significantly higher than wild type participants, regardless of dosages. However, the polymorphisms including ABCB1, CYP2D6 and other HTR3B genes did not affect response to ramosetron after chemotherapy. Conclusion These results suggest that the -AAG deletion variant of the 5-HT3B receptor gene may contribute to variability in response to antiemetic therapy for CINV regardless of dose escalation. These results suggest that carrying a -100_-102delAAG variant of 5-HT3 gene should be supported by alternate or additive antiemetics in addition to 5-HT3 antagonists to control acute emesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic polymorphisms in drug-metabolizing, DNA repair and multidrug resistance genes affect the risks for many cancers. We analyzed 21 polymorphisms in 17 genes in these pathways to evaluate their association with the risk of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and to examine whether smoking modifies these associations in a population-based study in Korea (415 cases, 1700 controls). We found marginal associations between the risk of AML and CYP1A1 1188, and XRCC1 194, ERCC1 IVS5 ++ 33 and WRN 787 polymorphisms. However, when we performed the analysis according to smoking exposure, we found a stronger association for ERCC1 only in the non-smoking population (odds ratio [OR] == 0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI] == 0.60-0.91, p == 0.004), while we found the GSTT1-null genotype to be associated with an increased risk of AML in ever-smokers (OR == 1.51; 95% CI == 1.06-2.15, p == 0.02). These results indicate that ERCC1 and GSTT1-null polymorphisms may have an effect on AML risk that is dependent on smoking exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Several genetic polymorphisms in the genes coding folate-metabolizing enzymes have been associated with susceptibility to hematology malignancies. We conducted a Korean population-based case–control study to examine the relationship between the polymorphisms of folate-metabolizing enzymes and the risk of AML (acute myelogenous leukemia), CML (chronic myelogenous leukemia), MDS (myelodyspastic syndrome), and ALL (acute lymphoblastc leukemia). The MTHFR 677TT genotype was associated with an increased risk for ALL (odds ratios (OR)=1.77; 95% confidence intervals (CI)=1.02–3.09, p =.044). The MTRR 66 AG genotype was associated with an increased risk for MDS (OR=1.59; 1.06–2.38, p =.026) and the MTRR 66 GG genotype was associated with increased risk for AML (OR=1.51; 1.03–2.23, p =.037). The TYMS 2R3R genotype was associated with a decreased risk for AML (OR=0.76; 0.60–0.96, p =.022). The TYMS hap3 (2R-6bp) and hap4 (2R-0bp) were associated with decreased risk (OR=0.69; 0.53–0.90, p =.006) and increased risk (OR=1.65; 1.20–2.27, p =.002), respectively for AML. Hap C (677T-1298A) was associated with an increased risk (OR=1.40; 1.02–1.92, p =.04) for ALL. The risk for ALL appears to be associated with the MTHFR 677 polymorphism. The results are supportive of a risk modification by folate polymorphisms in several hematologic malignancies in Korea. The pattern of results suggests that MDS was associated with the DNA methylation status and the risk for AML was associated with both the DNA synthesis and DNA methylation status. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Objective: We evaluated the association between APOE polymorphism and carotid atherosclerosis in two large independent cohorts from South Korea. Methods: The datasets were from the Dong-gu Study (N = 9056) and the Namwon Study (N = 10,158). Carotid ultrasonography was performed to measure carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and the presence of carotid plaques. The APOE polymorphism was determined by PCR-RFLP. We performed combined and separate analyses for the two datasets. Results: In the combined analysis, individuals with E2E2 or E2E3 genotype had a lower common carotid IMT compared with individuals with E3E3 genotype (0.684 mm vs. 0.736 mm, p = 0.007; 0.718 mm vs. 0.736 mm, p < 0.001, respectively). This association was very slightly attenuated but remained statistically significant after adjustment for blood lipids (0.690 mm vs. 0.736 mm, p = 0.033; 0.725 mm vs. 0.736 mm, p = 0.005, respectively). Compared with individuals with E3E3 genotype, individuals with E2E3 genotype had lower risk for carotid plaque (odds ratio (OR) = 0.83, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.75–0.93), while individuals with E3E4 genotype had a higher risk for carotid plaque (OR = 1.09, 95% CI = 1.00–1.20). After adjustment for blood lipids, ORs of E2E3 genotype for carotid plaque was slightly attenuated but remained significant (OR = 0.87 95% CI = 0.78–0.97), while OR of E3E4 genotype were slightly attenuated and not significant (OR = 1.08, 95% CI, 0.99–1.18). Conclusions: We found that APOE polymorphism is associated with carotid atherosclerosis and this association was partly mediated through blood lipid. Our results suggest that APOE polymorphism may influence atherosclerosis through non-lipid pathways. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]