Abstract 842: Two new loci and gene sets related to sex determination and cancer progression are associated with susceptibility to testicular germ cell tumor

Proceedings: AACR 106th Annual Meeting 2015; April 18-22, 2015; Philadelphia, PA Genome-wide association (GWA) studies have reported 19 distinct susceptibility loci for testicular germ cell tumor (TGCT). The aim of the present study was to identify additional loci and gene sets associated with susceptibility to TGCT. A GWA study for TGCT was performed by genotyping 610,240 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 1,326 cases and 6,687 controls from Sweden and Norway. We put forward 34 SNPs from 17 novel regions and 11 SNPs previously reported, for replication in 710 case-parent triads and 289 cases and 290 controls. Predefined biological pathways and processes, in addition to a custom-built sex determination gene set, were subject to enrichment analyses using Meta-Analysis Gene Set Enrichment of Variant Associations (M) and Improved Gene Set Enrichment Analysis for Genome-wide Association Study (I). In the combined meta-analysis, we observed genome-wide significant association for rs7501939 on chromosome 17q12 (OR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.19-1.40, P = 1.1 × 10-9) and rs2195987 on chromosome 19p12 (OR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.19-1.45, P = 3.2 × 10-8). The marker rs7501939 on chromosome 17q12 is located in an intron of the HNF1B gene, encoding a member of the homeodomain-containing superfamily of transcription factors. The sex determination gene set (FDRM < 0.001, FDRI < 0.001) and pathways related to NF-κB, glycerophospholipid and ether lipid metabolism, as well as cancer and apoptosis, was associated with TGCT (FDR < 0.1). In addition to revealing two new TGCT susceptibility loci, our results support the notion that genes governing normal germ cell development in utero are implicated in the development of TGCT. Citation Format: Tom Grotmol, Wenche Kristiansen, Robert Karlsson, Trine B. Rounge, Thomas Whitington, Bettina K. Andreassen, Patrik KE Magnusson, Hans-Olov Adami, Clare Turnbull, Trine B. Haugen, Fredrik Wiklund. Two new loci and gene sets related to sex determination and cancer progression are associated with susceptibility to testicular germ cell tumor. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 842. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-842