[Nancy Shamanna]

Genetics of multiple myeloma patients

by Nancy Shamanna on Sat Jul 12, 2014 9:09 pm

Bev posted a link to the article below in a comment on my recent column. It's about a study linking genetics to patients with multiple myeloma. It was done in the UK, and involved more than 1600 patients, which is quite a large group. It also has a link to 'SNIP' genes.

"Scientists identify first genetic link to myeloma", 27 November 2011

Excerpt:

For the first time researchers have identified genetic variations that influence a person's chances of developing a type of blood cancer called multiple myeloma, according to a British study part-funded by Cancer Research UK.

Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) scientists examined the common genetic variants of 1,675 patients with multiple myeloma in order to find a common link.

Little is known about what causes the cancer, but it has been known for some time that relatives of people with multiple myeloma have an increased risk of developing the disease.

Published in Nature Genetics, the 'genome wide association' study ... found that people with multiple myeloma had a greater chance of having tiny genetic variants known as single nucleo­tide polymorphisms, in chromosome three and seven.

They found that these were common in the general population, and increased a person's chances of developing the disease by 30 per cent.

Link to article:
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-us/cancer-news/news-report/scientists-identify-first-genetic-link-to-myeloma

Related research study:

Broderick P et al, Common variation at 3p22.1 and 7p15.3 influences multiple myeloma risk, Nature Genetics (2011)

Abstract:
To identify risk variants for multiple myeloma, we conducted a genome-wide association study of 1,675 individuals with multiple myeloma and 5,903 control subjects. We identified risk loci for multiple myeloma at 3p22.1 (rs1052501 in ULK4; odds ratio (OR) = 1.32; P = 7.47 × 10−9) and 7p15.3 (rs4487645, OR = 1.38; P = 3.33 × 10−15). In addition, we observed a promising association at 2p23.3 (rs6746082, OR = 1.29; P = 1.22 × 10−7). Our study identifies new genomic regions associated with multiple myeloma risk that may lead to new etiological insights.

http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v44/n1/full/ng.993.html

[mikeb]

Re: Genetics of multiple myeloma patients

by mikeb on Mon Feb 09, 2015 11:54 am

Hi Nancy,

Regarding the genetics of multiple myeloma, here is a 2014 paper that I've just come across that looks interesting:

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ah/2014/864058/

I have to admit that I only understand about 1/2 of the words in the abstract , but I'm going to plow through the whole paper to see what I can pick up.

And, since you took the MIT Intro Biology course from EdX, you might be interested in this upcoming one on "Molecular Biology: DNA Replication and Repair," also from MIT. (https://www.edx.org/course/molecular-biology-dna-replication-repair-mitx-7-28-1x). I'm planning on taking it since I liked the Intro course so much.

Mike

[Nancy Shamanna]

Re: Genetics of multiple myeloma patients

by Nancy Shamanna on Mon Feb 09, 2015 7:11 pm

Thanks, Mike, for the links. I have printed out the first 8 pages of the paper from 2014 to study.

Yes, I have really enjoyed auditing the MIT classes to date and will sign up for the molecular biology / cellular repair class, starting March 10. I have worked thru about six classes so far ... am now taking a class on evolution and genetics in a series of classes aimed at high school students wanting to get into university. The three classes that I took in 2014 on university first year biology, and then in immunology 1 and 2, were challenging, but I did get a lot out of them.

I am just auditing for my own learning and would recommend these classes to anyone who is interested in learning more biology. They have hundreds of classes though, in all sorts of subjects!