Abstract 2854: Genetic variation in stromal genes decorin and lumican and susceptibility to serous ovarian cancer
Authors: Amankwah Ernest K. , Wang Qinggang , Tsai Ya-Yu , Fridley Brooke L. , Beesley Jonathan , Johnatty Sharon E. , Webb Penelope M. , Chenevix-Trench Georgia ,   Australian Ovarian Cancer Study Group, Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium, Phelan Catherine M. , Cunningham Julie M. , Vachon Celine M. , Vierkant Robert A. , Iversen Edwin S. , Berchuck Andrew , Schildkraut Joellen M. , Goode Ellen L. , Sellers Thomas A. , Kelemen Linda E. 
Published: February 2011

Introduction: Alterations in components of the stromal tissue that underlie the epithelium can initiate, promote or inhibit epithelial tumorigenesis. Decorin (DCN) and lumican (LUM) are stromal genes with reduced expression in serous ovarian cancer. We hypothesized that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in these genes may influence susceptibility to serous ovarian cancer.

Methods: To test this hypothesis, we compared genotype frequencies of 11 tagSNPs in DCN and LUM between 397 Caucasian cases with primary serous ovarian cancer and 920 Caucasian controls in two studies conducted at Mayo Clinic and Duke University (discovery set). Associations were evaluated further in a third Caucasian population of 436 cases and 1,098 controls in Australia (replication set). TagSNPs were selected from unrelated Caucasian samples within HapMap based on the following criteria: (i) minor allele frequency ≥ 0.05, (ii) pairwise linkage disequilibrium (LD) of r2 ≥ 0.8, and (iii) location within, and 5kb upstream and downstream of, each gene region. Genotyping was performed using the Illumina GoldenGate™ assay and associations between SNPs and serous cancer were evaluated using unconditional logistic regression to estimate per allele odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). Untyped genotypes for DCN rs13312816 in the discovery set, and for DCN rs3138165 and LUM rs17018765 in the replication set, were imputed using the MACH software.

Results: In the discovery set, we observed inverse associations between DCN rs3138165 (OR=0.7; 95%CI=0.5-1.0), DCN rs13312816 (OR=0.7; 95%CI=0.5-1.0), DCN rs516115 (OR=0.8; 95%CI=0.7-1.0) and LUM rs17018765 (OR=0.7; 95%CI=0.5-1.0) and risk of serous ovarian cancers (all Ptrend=0.06). Associations were confirmed in the replication set for DCN rs3138165 (OR=0.6; 95%CI=0.4-0.9; Ptrend=0.009), DCN rs13312816 (OR=0.7; 95%CI=0.5-0.9; Ptrend=0.01) and LUM rs17018765 (OR=0.6; 95%CI=0.4-0.9; Ptrend=0.008), but not for DCN rs516115 (Ptrend=0.20). To increase statistical power, data from the discovery and replication sets were combined (833 cases and 2,013 controls) following confirmation of no statistical heterogeneity in the ORs between study sites. In the combined sample, associations were strengthened for DCN rs3138165 (OR=0.7; 95%CI=0.5-0.9; Ptrend=0.002), DCN rs13312816 (OR=0.7; 95%CI=0.5-0.9; Ptrend=0.002), DCN rs516115 (OR=0.9; 95%CI=0.8-1.0; Ptrend=0.03) and LUM rs17018765 (OR=0.6; 95%CI=0.5-0.8; Ptrend=0.001). All four SNPs were in the same LD block on chromosome 12, suggesting that serous ovarian cancer susceptibility may be driven by a single, correlated variant in the region.

Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that genetic variation in DCN and LUM may influence susceptibility to serous ovarian cancer and contribute to the mounting evidence that supports the role of the stroma in epithelial ovarian cancer.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2854.