Hartge, Patricia

Abstract Background. The incidence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) has increased dramatically since at least the 1950s, and only a fraction of this increase can be explained by established risk factors. During this timeframe, there has been a major increase in the use of blood transfusions, anesthesia, and invasive surgical procedures, all of which can impact immune function. Methods. We conducted a population-based case-control study from 1998–2000 using SEER cancer registries in Detroit, Iowa, Los Angeles and Seattle. NHL cases (N=759) were newly diagnosed, HIV-negative, and aged 20–74 years. Controls (N=589) were identified through random digit dialing (<65 years old) and Medicare files (age 65 years and older), and were frequency matched to cases on sex, age, race, and study site. Data on history of blood transfusions, anesthetics (general and regional), and surgeries (type, frequency, and age for 21 anatomic regions) >1 year before diagnosis (or date of enrollment for controls) were collected during in-person interviews. Unconditional logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), adjusted for the matching factors. NHL subtypes (follicular and diffuse) were designated according to SEER cancer registry pathology reports, and risk of each subtype was estimated using polychotomous logistic regression. Results. History of blood transfusion was weakly associated with increased risk of NHL (OR=1.26; 95% CI 0.91–1.73), and the elevated risk was specific to transfusions first given 5 to 29 years before diagnosis (OR=1.69; 95% CI 1.08–2.62). Risk was also specific to blood transfusions given for a medical indication (OR=2.09; 95% CI 1.03–4.26), while transfusions given for trauma, obstetric or surgical indications were not associated with risk. Exposure to general or regional anesthesia (OR=1.35 for 24+ times compared to 0–6; 95% CI 0.91–2.02) and total number of surgeries (OR=1.22 for 7+ surgeries compared to 0; 95% CI 0.77–1.93) were weakly and positively associated with risk of NHL, although neither association achieved statistical significance. Results were similar for general versus regional anesthesia. In analysis of surgeries at specific anatomic sites, there were no associations with NHL risk, except for a suggestive positive association for surgery involving the appendix, stomach or bowel (OR=1.24; 95% CI 0.98–1.58). When blood transfusion, anesthesia, and total number of surgeries were included in the same model, ORs for time since first transfusion and total number of surgeries remained unchanged, while the association for anesthesia weakened. These results were generally similar for both diffuse and follicular subtypes, with the exception that total number of surgeries showed a suggestive positive association with follicular (OR=1.61 for 7+ surgeries compared to 0; 95% CI 0.74–3.51) but not diffuse NHL. Conclusion: History of blood transfusion was associated with an increased risk of NHL. Total number of surgeries, type of surgery, and use of anesthesia were only weakly associated with risk, although the suggestive positive association for number of surgeries with follicular lymphoma warrants further investigation.

Abstract Small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) is an incurable indolent lymphoma, and there are relatively few prognostic biomarkers for this important NHL subtype. We evaluated the hypothesis that inherited variability in cytokine and immune-related genes was associated with overall survival in SLL. We genotyped 73 SNPs in 44 candidate genes in 140 SLL patients aged 20–70 years who participated in a population-based case-control study conducted from 1998–2000 through the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) cancer registries in Detroit, Seattle, Iowa, and Los Angeles. DNA was extracted from a venous blood sample or mouthwash buccal cell sample. All genotyping was conducted at the National Cancer Institute Core Genotyping Facility using the Taqman platform. Histology, stage, presence of B-symptoms, first course of therapy, date of last follow-up, and vital status were derived from linkage to registry databases at each study site in the spring of 2005. Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval for the association between individual SNPs and overall survival, adjusted for age, demographic and clinical factors. Multiple simultaneous modeling strategies were used to identify the best summary multi-SNP risk score to predict survival. At last follow-up, there were 45 deaths in 140 patients (32%). The median follow-up of the 95 surviving patients was 58 months (range 24–75 months). In multivariate modeling, SNPs in IL13 (rs1800925; HRCC=2.36, 1.24–4.49), IL7R (rs1494555; HRGG =2.20, 0.84–5.76), and TNF-alpha (rs1800630; HRAC/AA=1.73, 0.95–3.17) were the strongest and most robust predictors of survival. Two or more deleterious genotypes from these three SNPs increased the risk of death (HR=2.2, 1.2–4.1) compared with one or fewer deleterious genotypes (p=0.009). Three groups (low, intermediate, and high risk) were defined by combining the SNP score and a clinical/demographic score. The 5-year Kaplan-Meier survival estimates for these groups were 85%, 65%, and 11%, respectively. Compared to patients with a low risk score, patients with intermediate (HR=2.5, 1.2–5.1) or high (HR=11, 4.3–27.7) risk scores had poorer overall survival (p=3.9 x 10−8). Our preliminary results suggest that SNPs in IL13, IL7R, and TNF-alpha alone and in combination predict overall survival in SLL, lending support to the hypothesis that host genetic background is a promising class of prognostic biomarkers in SLL.

Abstract DLBCL is a curable subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, although a significant number of patients do not achieve a remission or they relapse with conventional chemotherapy. While clinical variables (e.g., IPI), tumor (somatic) genetic alterations, and gene expression profiling have all been shown to predict outcome, there remains a need for additional prognostic biomarkers. One understudied class of biomarkers is host genetic background. We evaluated the hypothesis that germline variability in 73 SNPs from 44 candidate immune genes was associated with overall survival in DLBCL. We addressed this hypothesis in 365 DLBCL patients aged 20–70 years who participated in a population-based case-control study conducted from 1998–2000 (prior to the use of R-CHOP) through the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) cancer registries in Detroit, Seattle, Iowa, and Los Angeles. Germline DNA was extracted from a venous blood sample or mouthwash buccal cell sample, which was collected a median of 4.8 months after diagnosis in this population-based study. All genotyping was conducted at the National Cancer Institute Core Genotyping Facility using the Taqman platform, and was successful in over 95% of the DNA samples for the SNPs evaluated. Histology, stage, presence of B-symptoms, first course of therapy, date of last follow-up, and vital status were derived from linkage to registry databases at each study site in the spring of 2005. Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to evaluate the association between individual SNPs, adjusted for age, demographic and clinical factors. Parallel modeling strategies were used to identify the best summary multi-SNP risk score to predict survival. At a median follow-up of 56 months (range, 27-78 months) for surviving patients, there were 96 deaths in 365 patients (26%). In multivariate modeling, SNPs in IL1A (rs1800587; HRCT/TT=1.90, 1.26–2.87), IL6 (rs1800795; HRGG=1.48, 0.99–2.23), IL-10 (rs1800896; HRAG/GG=1.48, 0.91–2.38), and IFNGR2 (rs2070385; HRAG/GG=1.35, 0.86–2.11) were the strongest and most robust predictors of overall survival. A summary score of the number of deleterious genotypes from these four genes in combination with clinical and demographic variables was strongly associated with survival (p=9.3 x 10−12); Kaplan-Meier 5-year survival estimates for low, intermediate, and high risk patients were 89%, 68%, and 47% respectively. In conclusion, host genetic background as measured by germline polymorphisms in immune genes including IL1A, IL6, IL10, and IFNGR2 were associated with overall survival in DLBCL after accounting for clinical and demographic factors. These promising results require confirmation and need further evaluation in patients treated with R-CHOP in conjunction with tumor and other prognostic biomarkers.

Abstract Background: Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) has been associated with ovarian cancer and Chlamydia trachomatis (chlamydia) is the leading cause of PID in the developed world. Primary infection with chlamydia is often asymptomatic and may persist for several months/years, thus ascertainment of PID in epidemiologic studies is challenging due to pervasive misclassification and under-reporting. To improve our understanding of the role of chlamydia and other infectious agents in developing ovarian cancer, we evaluated serologic markers of infection with incident ovarian cancer using a staged approach in two independent populations. Methods: Studies included: 1) a case-control study conducted in Poland of 278 ovarian cancer cases diagnosed from 2000 to 2003 and age- and study site-matched controls (n=556) and 2) a nested case-control study from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial including 160 women who eventually developed ovarian cancer and 159 matched controls. We calculated odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between serologic marker titers and ovarian cancer risk using logistic regression adjusted for matching factors and potential confounders. We evaluated laboratory cutpoints indicative of prior chlamydia infection and tested more stringent marker thresholds, identified in Poland and applied in PLCO, that could be relevant for a PID-like infection. Results: In the Polish study, positivity for the chlamydia plasmid-encoded Pgp3 protein was associated with increased ovarian cancer risk [OR (95% CI): 1.63 (1.20-2.22)]; when a positive result was redefined at a higher titer, ovarian cancer risk increased [cutpoint 2: 2.00 (1.38-2.89); cutpoint 3 (max OR): 2.19 (1.29-3.73)]. All other chlamydia markers measured were associated with increased risk at the more stringent positivity threshold in Poland. In the prospective PLCO study, Pgp3 was associated with elevated risk at the laboratory cutpoint [1.43 (0.78-2.63)]; using higher thresholds, Pgp3 was associated with increased ovarian cancer risk [cutpoint 2: 2.25 (1.07-4.71); cutpoint 3: 2.53 (0.63-10.08)]. In both studies, markers of other infections (i.e., Mycoplasma genitalium, herpes simplex virus-2, human papillomavirus, herpes simplex virus-1, polyomavirus, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, Epstein Barr virus, cytomegalovirus) measured were not associated with risk. Conclusions: In two independent populations, the gold standard serologic marker of prior/current chlamydia infection (Pgp3) was associated with a doubling in ovarian cancer risk, whereas markers of other infectious agents were unrelated. Although these findings need to be replicated, they suggest potential ovarian cancer risk reduction through targeted treatment of chlamydia infections. Citation Format: Britton Trabert, Tim Waterboer, Sally B. Coburn, Louise A. Brinton, Mark E. Sherman, Jolanta Lissowska, Beata Peplonska, Patricia Hartge, Michael Pawlita, Nicolas Wentzensen. Serologic markers of infectious agents and ovarian cancer: Markers of prior Chlamydia trachomatis infection associated with increased ovarian cancer risk in two independent populations [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4942.

Abstract Objective Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) identify associations of individual SNPs with cancer risk but usually only explain a fraction of the inherited variability. Pathway analysis of genetic variants has been shown for many disorders to be a powerful tool in discovering novel networks of susceptibility genes. Design We have conducted a large agnostic pathway-based meta-analysis of GWAS data using the summary-based adaptive rank truncated product (sARTP) method to identify novel gene sets and pathways associated with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) in 9,040 cases and 12,495 controls. We performed expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis and functional annotation of the top SNPs in genes identified in PDA-associated gene sets and pathways. Results We identified 14 gene sets and pathways associated with PDA at FDR &lt; 0.05. Five of the strongest signals (P-value ≤ 1.3x10-5 Bonferroni corrected) were in genes from KEGG maturity onset diabetes of the young, Reactome regulation of beta cell development, Biocarta role of epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor transactivation by G-protein-coupled receptors in cardiac hypertrophy pathway, Nikolsky breast cancer chr17q11-q21 amplicon gene set, and Pujana ATM Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) network gene set. We identified and validated rs876493 and three correlated SNPs (PGAP3) and rs3124737 (CASP7) as eQTLs in two normal derived pancreas tissue datasets. Conclusion Our agnostic gene set and pathway analysis integrated with functional annotation and eQTL analysis provides novel insight into genes and pathways that may be biologically relevant for risk of PDA. Citation Format: Naomi Walsh, Han Zhang, Paula L. Hyland, Qi Yang, Evelina Mocci, Mingfeng Zhang, Erica J. Childs, Zhaoming Wang, Stephen Chanock, Patricia Hartge, Robert Hoover, Peter Kraft, Donghui Li, Eric J. Jacobs, Gloria M. Petersen, Brian M. Wolpin, Harvey A. Risch, Laufey T. Amundadottir, Kai Yu, Alison P. Klein, Rachael Z. Stolzenberg-Solomon. Large pathway and gene set analysis of GWAS data identifies novel associations for pancreatic cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 242.

Abstract A growing number of loci within the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region have been implicated in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) etiology. Here, we test a complementary hypothesis of “heterozygote advantage” regarding the role of HLA and NHL, whereby HLA diversity is beneficial and homozygous HLA loci are associated with increased disease risk. HLA alleles at class I and II loci were imputed from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) using SNP2HLA for 3,617 diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL), 2,686 follicular lymphomas (FL), 2,878 chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphomas (CLL/SLL), 741 marginal zone lymphomas (MZL), and 8,753 controls of European descent. Both DLBCL and MZL risk were elevated with homozygosity at class I HLA-B and -C loci (OR DLBCL = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.06–1.60; OR MZL = 1.45, 95% CI = 1.12–1.89) and class II HLA-DRB1 locus (OR DLBCL = 2.10, 95% CI = 1.24–3.55; OR MZL = 2.10, 95% CI = 0.99–4.45). Increased FL risk was observed with the overall increase in number of homozygous HLA class II loci (P trend &lt; 0.0001, FDR = 0.0005). These results support a role for HLA zygosity in NHL etiology and suggests that distinct immune pathways may underly the etiology of the different NHL subtypes. Significance: HLA gene diversity reduces risk for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Cancer Res; 78(14); 4086–96. ©2018 AACR.

Objective Determinants of the increased risk of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in SLE are unclear. Using data from a recent lymphoma genome-wide association study (GWAS), we assessed whether certain lupus-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were also associated with DLBCL. Methods GWAS data on European Caucasians from the International Lymphoma Epidemiology Consortium (InterLymph) provided a total of 3857 DLBCL cases and 7666 general-population controls. Data were pooled in a random-effects meta-analysis. Results Among the 28 SLE-related SNPs investigated, the two most convincingly associated with risk of DLBCL included the CD40 SLE risk allele rs4810485 on chromosome 20q13 (OR per risk allele=1.09, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.16, p=0.0134), and the HLA SLE risk allele rs1270942 on chromosome 6p21.33 (OR per risk allele=1.17, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.36, p=0.0362). Of additional possible interest were rs2205960 and rs12537284. The rs2205960 SNP, related to a cytokine of the tumour necrosis factor superfamily TNFSF4, was associated with an OR per risk allele of 1.07, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.16, p=0.0549. The OR for the rs12537284 (chromosome 7q32, IRF5 gene) risk allele was 1.08, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.18, p=0.0765. Conclusions These data suggest several plausible genetic links between DLBCL and SLE.