Head and neck cancer in young adults and nonsmokers

TY - JOUR

T1 - Head and neck cancer in young adults and nonsmokers

T2 - study of cancer susceptibility by genome-wide high-density SNP microarray mapping

AU - Pfeiffer, Jens

AU - Wiech, Thorsten

AU - Maier, Wolfgang

AU - Ridder, Gerd J

AU - Laszig, Roland

AU - Birkenhäger, Ralf

PY - 2011/10/1

Y1 - 2011/10/1

N2 - CONCLUSION: Our results raise the question as to whether specific patterns of 'germline loss of heterozygosity (LOH)' could contribute to the genetic susceptibility for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).OBJECTIVES: HNSCC usually occurs in older individuals with a history of smoking. However, about 5% of HNSCC patients have never used tobacco or develop this disease at an exceptionally young age. Therefore, genetic susceptibility must contribute significantly to HNSCC risk. The objective was to introduce a novel approach that might help to unveil candidate genes contributing to cancer predisposition and to identify individuals at risk for HNSCC, and to present our observations with this method in a specific group of patients.METHODS: High-resolution SNP (single-nucleotide polymorphism) microarray mapping for homozygous stretches in germline DNA was performed in 12 patients who appeared particularly susceptible to develop HNSCC, because they were exceptionally young or never users of tobacco.RESULTS: We could identify strings of consecutive homozygous SNPs that were much longer than would be expected to appear by chance alone, indicating regions of DNA deletions that we named germline LOH.

AB - CONCLUSION: Our results raise the question as to whether specific patterns of 'germline loss of heterozygosity (LOH)' could contribute to the genetic susceptibility for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).OBJECTIVES: HNSCC usually occurs in older individuals with a history of smoking. However, about 5% of HNSCC patients have never used tobacco or develop this disease at an exceptionally young age. Therefore, genetic susceptibility must contribute significantly to HNSCC risk. The objective was to introduce a novel approach that might help to unveil candidate genes contributing to cancer predisposition and to identify individuals at risk for HNSCC, and to present our observations with this method in a specific group of patients.METHODS: High-resolution SNP (single-nucleotide polymorphism) microarray mapping for homozygous stretches in germline DNA was performed in 12 patients who appeared particularly susceptible to develop HNSCC, because they were exceptionally young or never users of tobacco.RESULTS: We could identify strings of consecutive homozygous SNPs that were much longer than would be expected to appear by chance alone, indicating regions of DNA deletions that we named germline LOH.

KW - Adult

KW - Aged

KW - Carcinoma, Squamous Cell

KW - Female

KW - Genetic Predisposition to Disease

KW - Genome-Wide Association Study

KW - Germany

KW - Head and Neck Neoplasms

KW - Humans

KW - Loss of Heterozygosity

KW - Male

KW - Middle Aged

KW - Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis

KW - Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide

KW - Retrospective Studies

U2 - 10.3109/00016489.2011.590151

DO - 10.3109/00016489.2011.590151

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 21631177

VL - 131

SP - 1091

EP - 1098

JO - ACTA OTO-LARYNGOL

JF - ACTA OTO-LARYNGOL

SN - 0001-6489

IS - 10

ER -