Genetic variants in PARP1 (rs3219090) and IRF4 (rs12203592) genes associated with melanoma susceptibility in a Spanish population

Background Few high penetrance genes are known in Malignant Melanoma (MM), however, the involvement of low-penetrance genes such as MC1R, OCA2, ASIP, SLC45A2 and TYR has been observed. Lately, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been the ideal strategy to identify new common, low-penetrance susceptibility loci. In this case–control study, we try to validate in our population nine melanoma associated markers selected from published GWAS in melanoma predisposition. Methods We genotyped the 9 markers corresponding to 8 genes (PARP1, MX2, ATM, CCND1, NADSYN1, CASP8, IRF4 and CYP2R1) in 566 cases and 347 controls from a Spanish population using KASPar probes. Genotypes were analyzed by logistic regression and adjusted by phenotypic characteristics. Results We confirm the protective role in MM of the rs3219090 located on the PARP1 gene (p-value 0.027). Additionally, this SNP was also associated with eye color (p-value 0.002). A second polymorphism, rs12203592, located on the IRF4 gene was associated with protection to develop MM for the dominant model (p-value 0.037). We have also observed an association of this SNP with both lentigines (p-value 0.014) and light eye color (p-value 3.76 × 10-4). Furthermore, we detected a novel association with rs1485993, located on the CCND1 gene, and dark eye color (p-value 4.96 × 10-4). Finally, rs1801516, located on the ATM gene, showed a trend towards a protective role in MM similar to the one firstly described in a GWAS study. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first time that these SNPs have been associated with MM in a Spanish population. We confirmed the proposed role of rs3219090, located on the PARP1 gene, and rs12203592, located on the IRF4 gene, as protective to MM along the same lines as have previous genome-wide associated works. Finally, we have seen associations between IRF4, PARP1, and CCND1 and phenotypic characteristics, confirming previous results for the IRF4 gene and presenting novel data for the last two, suggesting that pigmentation characteristics correlated with eye color are potential mediators between PARP1 and MM protection

Intra-Tumour Genetic Heterogeneity and Prognosis in High-Risk Neuroblastoma

Spatial ITH is defined by genomic and biological variations within a tumour acquired by tumour cell evolution under diverse microenvironments, and its role in NB patient prognosis is understudied. In this work, we applied pangenomic techniques to detect chromosomal aberrations in at least two different areas of each tumour and/or in simultaneously obtained solid and liquid biopsies, detecting ITH in the genomic profile of almost 40% of HR-NB. ITH was better detected when comparing one or more tumour pieces and liquid biopsy (50%) than between different tumour pieces (21%). Interestingly, we found that patients with ITH analysed by pangenomic techniques had a significantly better survival rate that those with non-heterogeneous tumours, especially in cases without MYCN amplification. Moreover, all patients in the studied cohort with high ITH (defined as 50% or more genomic aberration differences between areas of a tumour or simultaneously obtained samples) survived after 48 months. These results clearly support analysing at least two solid tumour areas (separately or mixed) and liquid samples to provide more accurate genomic diagnosis, prognosis and therapy options in HR-NB