The common sequence variants that have recently been associated with cancer risk are particular to a single, or at most two, cancer types. Following up on our genome-wide scan of basal cell carcinoma1, we identified rs401681(C) on chromosome 5p15.33 satisfying our threshold for genome-wide significance (OR=1.25, P=3.7×10−12). We tested rs401681 for association with sixteen additional cancer types in over 30,000 cancer cases and 45,000 controls and found association with lung cancer (OR=1.15, P=7.2×10−8) and urinary bladder, prostate and cervix cancer (ORs 1.07–1.31, all P<4×10−4). However, rs401681(C) appears to confer protection against cutaneous melanoma (OR=0.88, P=8.0×10−4). Interestingly, most of these cancer types have a strong environmental component to their risk. Investigation of the region led us to rs2736098(A), that showed stronger association with some cancer types. However, neither variant could fully account for the association of the other. Rs2736098 corresponds to A305A in the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) protein while rs401681 is in an intron of the CLPTM1L gene.

Familial clustering studies indicate that breast cancer risk has a substantial genetic component. To identify new breast cancer risk variants, we genotyped approximately 300,000 SNPs in 1,600 Icelandic individuals with breast cancer and 11,563 controls using the Illumina Hap300 platform. We then tested selected SNPs in five replication sample sets. Overall, we studied 4,554 affected individuals and 17,577 controls. Two SNPs consistently associated with breast cancer: approximately 25% of individuals of European descent are homozygous for allele A of rs13387042 on chromosome 2q35 and have an estimated 1.44-fold greater risk than noncarriers, and for allele T of rs3803662 on 16q12, about 7% are homozygous and have a 1.64-fold greater risk. Risk from both alleles was confined to estrogen receptor-positive tumors. At present, no genes have been identified in the linkage disequilibrium block containing rs13387042. rs3803662 is near the 5' end of TNRC9 , a high mobility group chromatin-associated protein whose expression is implicated in breast cancer metastasis to bone.

We carried out a genome-wide association study of breast cancer predisposition with replication and refinement studies involving 6,145 cases and 33,016 controls and identified two SNPs (rs4415084 and rs10941679) on 5p12 that confer risk, preferentially for estrogen receptor (ER)-positive tumors (OR = 1.27, P = 2.5 x 10(-12) for rs10941679). The nearest gene, MRPS30, was previously implicated in apoptosis, ER-positive tumors and favorable prognosis. A recently reported signal in FGFR2 was also found to associate specifically with ER-positive breast cancer.

Fair color increases risk of cutaneous melanoma (CM) and basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Recent genome-wide association studies have identified variants affecting hair, eye and skin pigmentation in Europeans. Here, we assess the effect of these variants on risk of CM and BCC in European populations comprising 2,121 individuals with CM, 2,163 individuals with BCC and over 40,000 controls. A haplotype near ASIP, known to affect a similar spectrum of pigmentation traits as MC1R variants, conferred significant risk of CM (odds ratio (OR) = 1.45, P = 1.2 x 10(-9)) and BCC (OR = 1.33, P = 1.2 x 10(-6)). The variant in TYR encoding the R402Q amino acid substitution, previously shown to affect eye color and tanning response, conferred risk of CM (OR = 1.21, P = 2.8 x 10(-7)) and BCC (OR = 1.14, P = 6.1 x 10(-4)). An eye color variant in TYRP1 was associated with risk of CM (OR = 1.15, P = 4.6 x 10(-4)). The association of all three variants is robust with respect to adjustment for the effect of pigmentation.

The combination of gemcitabine and DTIC is active and well tolerated in patients with STS, providing in this phase II randomized trial superior progression-free survival and overall survival than DTIC alone. This regimen constitutes a valuable therapeutic alternative for these patients.