The Contribution of Genetic Variants to the Risk of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma in the Kazakh Population: Study of Common Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms and Their Clinicopathological Correlations

Chromosomal localization of mutated genes in non-syndromic familial thyroid cancer

Familial non-medullary thyroid carcinoma (FNMTC) is a type of thyroid cancer characterized by genetic susceptibility, representing approximately 5% of all non-medullary thyroid carcinomas. While some cases of FNMTC are associated with familial multi-organ tumor predisposition syndromes, the majority occur independently. The genetic mechanisms underlying non-syndromic FNMTC remain unclear. Initial studies utilized SNP linkage analysis to identify susceptibility loci, including the 1q21 locus, 2q21 locus, and 4q32 locus, among others. Subsequent research employed more advanced techniques such as Genome-wide Association Study and Whole Exome Sequencing, leading to the discovery of genes such as IMMP2L, GALNTL4, WDR11-AS1, DUOX2, NOP53, MAP2K5, and others. But FNMTC exhibits strong genetic heterogeneity, with each family having its own pathogenic genes. This is the first article to provide a chromosomal landscape map of susceptibility genes associated with non-syndromic FNMTC and analyze their potential associations. It also presents a detailed summary of variant loci, characteristics, research methodologies, and validation results from different countries.

Variants in TPO rs2048722, PTCSC2 rs925489 and SEMA4G rs4919510 affect thyroid carcinoma susceptibility risk

BACKGROUND

Thyroid carcinoma (THCA) is a malignant endocrine tumor all around the world, which is influenced by genetic and environmental factors.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the association between TPO rs2048722, PTCSC2 rs925489, SEMA4G rs4919510 polymorphisms and THCA susceptibility in Chinese population.

METHODS

We recruited 365 THCA patients and 498 normal controls for the study. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between TPO rs2048722, PTCSC2 rs925489, SEMA4G rs4919510 polymorphisms and THCA susceptibility. MDR was used to assess the genetic interactions among the three SNPs.

RESULTS

Overall analysis demonstrated that rs925489 of PTCSC2 was evidently associated with increased risk of THCA in multiple genetic models (OR = 1.59, 95%CI = 1.12-2.24, p = 0.009). The results of stratified analysis illustrated that rs2048722 of TPO can significantly increase the THCA susceptibility of participants less than or equal to 44 years old and smokers. Similarly, rs925489 of PTCSC2 obviously improved the risk of THCA among participants older than 44 years, males, smokers and drinkers. However, rs4919510 of SEMA4G has a protective effect on the development of THCA among participants with less than or equal to 44 years old and non-drinkers. Interestingly, there was a strong genetic interaction among the three SNPs in the occurrence of THCA risk.

CONCLUSION

TPO rs2048722, PTCSC2 rs925489 and SEMA4G rs4919510 polymorphisms were evidently associated with the risk of THCA in the Chinese population, which was affected by age, gender, smoking and drinking consumption.

Investigating the Association Between rs2439302 Polymorphism and Thyroid Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background and Aims

The extent of surgical treatment for most patients with thyroid cancer (TC) remains controversial and varies widely. As an emerging technology, genetic testing facilitates tumor typing and disease progression monitoring and is expected to influence the choice of surgical approach for patients with TC. Recent genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified that rs2439302 (8p12) variants near NRG1 are associated with TC risk; however, the results remain inconclusive. Therefore, we aimed to perform a meta-analysis to clarify the association between rs2439302 variants and the risk of TC.

Methods

We search eligible studies using Pubmed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane library by July 2021. We analyzed the pooled OR and the corresponding 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of the included studies and then conducted subgroup analysis according to the ethnicity. We also performed a sensitivity analysis to validate the findings.

Results

This meta-analysis finally included 7 studies involving 6,090 cases and 14,461 controls. Results showed that the G allele of the rs2439302 polymorphism was a significant risk factor of TC in Allele (G/C), Dominant (GG+GC/CC), Recessive (GG/GC+CC), Homozygote (GG/CC), Heterozygote (GC/CC) models, with pooled ORs of 1.38 (95%CI, 1.31–1.45), 1.51 (95%CI, 1.41–1.62), 1.52 (95%CI, 1.40–1.66), 1.90 (95%CI, 1.71–2.10), and 1.40 (95%CI, 1.30–1.51), respectively. The subgroup analysis showed that rs2439302 polymorphism was associated with higher TC risk in different ethnicities with OR > 1. The sensitivity analysis exhibited that the results were stable by omitting any included studies.

Conclusions

The study revealed that rs2439302 variants were associated with higher TC risk and may have a major influence on the choice of operative approach for patients with TC.

Genetic susceptibility to hereditary non-medullary thyroid cancer

Non-medullary thyroid cancer (NMTC) is the most common type of thyroid cancer. With the increasing incidence of NMTC in recent years, the familial form of the disease has also become more common than previously reported, accounting for 5-15% of NMTC cases. Familial NMTC is further classified as non-syndromic and the less common syndromic FNMTC. Although syndromic NMTC has well-known genetic risk factors, the gene(s) responsible for the vast majority of non-syndromic FNMTC cases are yet to be identified. To date, several candidate genes have been identified as susceptibility genes in hereditary NMTC. This review summarizes genetic predisposition to non-medullary thyroid cancer and expands on the role of genetic variants in thyroid cancer tumorigenesis and the level of penetrance of NMTC-susceptibility genes.

Susceptibility Genes and Chromosomal Regions Associated With Non-Syndromic Familial Non-Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma: Some Pathogenetic and Diagnostic Keys

Thyroid cancer is the malignant tumor that is increasing most rapidly in the world, mainly at the expense of sporadic papillary thyroid carcinoma. The somatic alterations involved in the pathogenesis of sporadic follicular cell derived tumors are well recognized, while the predisposing alterations implicated in hereditary follicular tumors are less well known. Since the genetic background of syndromic familial non-medullary carcinoma has been well established, here we review the pathogenesis of non-syndromic familial non-medullary carcinoma emphasizing those aspects that may be useful in clinical and pathological diagnosis. Non-syndromic familial non-medullary carcinoma has a complex and heterogeneous genetic basis involving several genes and loci with a monogenic or polygenic inheritance model. Most cases are papillary thyroid carcinoma (classic and follicular variant), usually accompanied by benign thyroid nodules (follicular thyroid adenoma and/or multinodular goiter). The possible diagnostic and prognostic usefulness of the changes in the expression and/or translocation of various proteins secondary to several mutations reported in this setting requires further confirmation. Given that non-syndromic familial non-medullary carcinoma and sporadic non-medullary thyroid carcinoma share the same morphology and somatic mutations, the same targeted therapies could be used at present, if necessary, until more specific targeted treatments become available.