First risk genes found for bone marrow cancer
Sunday 27 November 2011 - A team of scientists led by the ICR has shown for the first time that a person’s genes influences their risk of developing multiple myeloma. The finding brings scientists closer to understanding the drivers of multiple myeloma, an aggressive cancer that affects a type of white blood cell in the bone marrow.
Relatives of multiple myeloma patients were known to have a two- to fourfold increased risk of suffering the disease themselves, but until now scientists had not identified any genes responsible.
Using a technique called a genome wide association study, the team scanned the DNA of 1,675 patients with multiple myeloma and compared them to around 5,900 healthy controls. They found two regions of the genome that were more common in people with multiple myeloma and were therefore linked to a higher chance of developing the disease. These genetic variants were found at position 3p22.1 and 7p15.3.
While the additional risk from carrying any of the variants is modest – around a 30 per cent increased risk – they are common in the population. The scientists therefore estimate the genes found play a role in around 37 per cent of multiple myeloma cases in European countries. The team have started a larger study and expect to find further genetic factors.
