Genome-wide association study in Chinese men identifies two new prostate cancer risk loci at 9q31.2 and 19q13.4

Abstract

Prostate cancer risk-associated variants have been reported in populations of European descent, African-Americans and Japanese using genome-wide association studies (GWAS). To systematically investigate prostate cancer risk-associated variants in Chinese men, we performed the first GWAS in Han Chinese. In addition to confirming several associations reported in other ancestry groups, this study identified two new risk-associated loci for prostate cancer on chromosomes 9q31.2 (rs817826, P = 5.45 × 10-14) and 19q13.4 (rs103294, P = 5.34 × 10-16) in 4,484 prostate cancer cases and 8,934 controls. The rs103294 marker at 19q13.4 is in strong linkage equilibrium with a 6.7-kb germline deletion that removes the first six of seven exons in LILRA3, a gene regulating inflammatory response, and was significantly associated with the mRNA expression of LILRA3 in T cells (P < 1 × 10-4). These findings may advance the understanding of genetic susceptibility to prostate cancer. © 2012 Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved.