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Evaluation of xeroderma pigmentosum XPA, XPC, XPD, XPF, XPB, XPG and DDB2 genes in familial early-onset lung cancer predisposition.

Matakidou A, Eisen T, Fleischmann C, Bridle H, Houlston RS,

Section of Cancer Genetics, Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, Surrey, United Kingdom. athena.matakidou@icr.ac.uk

Epidemiological data has implicated heterozygosity for xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) as a risk factor for lung cancer. XP has 8 known complementation groups, 7 of which are caused by mutations in genes encoding components of the nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway. To formally investigate the role of XP-related NER genes in lung cancer susceptibility, we screened germline DNA from 92 familial early-onset lung cancer patients for mutations in all coding regions and intron-exon boundaries of XPA, XPC, XPD, XPF, XPB, XPG and DDB2. Forty-one exonic variants were identified. Twenty-four were nonsynonymous, of which 14 were previously documented polymorphisms. Ten missense variants had not been previously described; none of which were detected in germline DNA from 278 cancer-free controls. Two of the novel missense changes are predicted to be functionally deleterious. Our findings are compatible with XP heterozygosity being a risk factor for lung cancer susceptibility.

Published 8 June 2006 in Int J Cancer, 119(4): 964-7.
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