Complex segregation analysis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Guangdong, China: evidence for a multifactorial mode of inheritance (complex segregation analysis of NPC in China)

Abstract

The striking geographical and ethnic distribution of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) suggests the involvement of genetic and environmental factors in NPC development. The purpose of this study is to investigate the fit of single gene, polygenic and multifactorial models to the observed pattern of transmission of NPC in a hospital-based family history study conducted by the Cancer Center of Sun YatSen University (CCSYU) in Guangzhou, China. Complex segregation analysis of a total of 1903 Cantonese pedigrees ascertained at CCSYU was conducted using a unified mixed model after the pedigrees were partitioned into 3737 nuclear families. The mixed model assumes that a phenotype is influenced by the additive and independent effect of a major gene, together with multifactorial components (genetic and environmental) and a random environmental effect. The current results do not provide evidence for a major gene and the observed data are best explained by a multifactorial mode of inheritance for NPC.

The Incidence and Prognosis of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Patients With Family History

“…Current epidemiological and experimental data identify at least three important etiologic factors: viral, environmental, and genetic [1,3]. In viral factor, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been associated with NPC, especially the nonkeratinizing type.…”

MicroRNA-200c plays an oncogenic role in nasopharyngeal carcinoma by targeting PTEN

“…[1][2][3] Genetic predisposition, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection, and environmental factors all contribute to the development of NPC. [4][5][6][7][8] Although combination of radiotherapy with chemotherapy is effective against locally confined tumors, relapsed and distantly metastasized NPCs remain as one of the major causes of cancer-related deaths in humans. 9 It is therefore critical to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the development and malignant transformation of NPC in hope to uncover novel targets for therapeutic treatment of this disease.…”

Gene discovery in familial cancer syndromes by exome sequencing: prospects for the elucidation of familial colorectal cancer type X

“…95 This conclusion has been supported by a more recent analysis that investigated the fit of single gene, polygenic and multifactorial models to the observed pattern of transmission of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in a hospital-based family history study, which also suggested a multifactorial mode of inheritance for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. 96 So far, no high-penetrance causal mutation or gene has been identified for familial nasopharyngeal carcinoma, although several susceptibility loci have been tentatively identified by linkage studies. [97][98][99] Similarly, familial testicular germ cell tumors are defined as testicular germ cell tumors that have been diagnosed in at least two blood relatives.…”