Copy number variation at 1q21.1 associated with neuroblastoma

Copy number variation in neuroblastoma Copy number variations (CNVs) and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are two important potential sources of phenotypic variation in humans. Until now, only SNPs have been associated with cancer, but the increasing recognition that germline DNA dosage is a critical component of human diversity raises the possibility that CNVs might also influence susceptibility to this cancer. Diskin et al . now report that a common CNV at chromosome 1q21.1 is associated with the childhood cancer neuroblastoma, and that a transcript within this CNV, the previously unknown neuroblastoma breakpoint family gene NBPF23 , is involved in the early stages of tumorigenesis.