Geographical distribution and oncogenic risk association of human papillomavirus type 58 E6 and E7 sequence variations.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) 58 accounts for a notable proportion of cervical cancers in East Asia and parts of Latin America, but it is uncommon elsewhere. The reason for such ethnogeographical predilection is unknown. In our study, nucleotide sequences of E6 and E7 genes of 401 HPV58 isolates collected from 15 countries/cities across four continents were examined. Phylogenetic relationship, geographical distribution and risk association of nucleotide sequence variations were analyzed. We found that the E6 genes of HPV58 variants were more conserved than E7. Thus, E6 is a more appropriate target for type-specific detection, whereas E7 is more appropriate for strain differentiation. The frequ…
Multiple independent variants at the TERT locus are associated with telomere length and risks of breast and ovarian cancer
Journal article TERT-locus SNPs and leukocyte telomere measures are reportedly associated with risks of multiple cancers. Using the Illumina custom genotyping array iCOGs, we analyzed ~480 SNPs at the TERT locus in breast (n = 103,991), ovarian (n = 39,774) and BRCA1 mutation carrier (n = 11,705) cancer cases and controls. Leukocyte telomere measurements were also available for 53,724 participants. Most associations cluster into three independent peaks. The minor allele at the peak 1 SNP rs2736108 associates with longer telomeres (P = 5.8 × 10!-7), lower risks for estrogen receptor (ER)-negative (P = 1.0 × 10!-8) and BRCA1 mutation carrier (P = 1.1 × 10!-5) breast cancers and altered promot…