Testicular cancer risk may be much higher due to genetic variant
Testicular cancer risk may be much higher due to genetic variant
10 Oct 2013
Researchers have identified a genetic variant which is associated with a very large risk of testicular cancer. This may lead to new personalized treatments.
In particular, one of the most important proteins implicated in cancer is p53. Researchers have identified a DNA sequence variation in a p53-binding site that is more prevalent in Caucasians than in Africans and is associated with a very large risk of testicular cancer but may protect light-skinned individuals against harmful ultraviolet rays. The study offers insights into the evolution of DNA sequence variations in p53-binding sites, and it could lead to improvements in personalized treatment strategies.
"The genetic risk factor we identified is associated with one of the largest risks ever reported for cancer," says study author Douglas Bell of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences at the US National Institutes of Health. "We think it might prove useful for identifying individuals at the highest risk for cancer or who might benefit from preventive or therapeutic treatments."
Importance of the p53 gene
About half of human cancers are associated with mutations in the p53 gene, which regulates vital cell functions as well as tumor formation in many tissues. Because p53 must activate a wide range of genes to influence cancer-related signaling pathways, Bell and Gareth Bond of the University of Oxford and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research speculated that cancer risk could be associated with genetic variation in p53-binding sites.
Study analyzes genome-wide data
In the new study, the researchers searched genome-wide data sets for cancer-related single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) -- sequence variants affecting a single DNA nucleotide. In general, SNPs in p53-binding sites were rare in the genome because they were selected against during evolution, presumably because of the importance of keeping tight control over p53 pathways that make life-or-death decisions for cells.
One of the strongest risk factors for cancer identified in the genome-wide association studies was a SNP affecting a p53-binding site located in the KITLG gene, which had been previously linked to testicular cancer. Their experiments revealed that KITLG activation by p53 is crucial for cancer-related processes, including cell proliferation. Because the SNP they identified is much more frequent in Caucasians than in Africans, it could partially explain the higher prevalence of testicular cancer in Caucasians.
The authors suggest that this SNP could have been selected for in lighter-skin individuals during evolution because the KITLG gene plays a key role in triggering the protective tanning response to ultraviolet rays. "It seems that over the long course of human evolution, the trade-off might have worked well enough to boost the frequency of the SNP, especially in the European Caucasian population," Bond says. "I'd speculate that serious sun damage to skin would have posed a mortal threat to our early ancestors."
Source: Science Daily: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131010124553.htm