A genome-wide association study identifies susceptibility loci for ovarian cancer at 2q31 and 8q24

Abstract

Ovarian cancer (OC) accounts for more deaths than all other gynecological cancers combined. To identify common low-penetrance OC susceptibility genes, we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 507,094 SNPs in 1,768 cases and 2,354 controls, with follow-up of 21,955 SNPs in 4,162 cases and 4,810 controls, leading to the identification of a confirmed susceptibility locus at 9p22 (BNC2)1. Here, we report on nine additional candidate loci (p≤10-4), identified after stratifying cases by histology, genotyped in an additional 4,353 cases and 6,021 controls. Two novel susceptibility loci with p≤5×10-8 were confirmed (8q24, p=8.0×10-15 and 2q31, p=3.8×10-14); two additional loci were also identified that approached genome-wide significance (3q25, p=7.1×10-8 and 17q21, p=1.4×10-7). The associations with serous OC were generally stronger than other subtypes. Analysis of HOXD1, MYC, TiPARP, and SKAP1 at these loci, and BNC2 at 9p22, supports a functional role for these genes in OC development.