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Background: defective DNA repair has a causal role in hereditary colorectal cancer (CRC). Defects in the base excision repair gene MUTYH are responsible for MUTYH-associated polyposis and CRC predisposition as an autosomal recessive trait. Numerous reports have suggested MUTYH mono-allelic variants to be low penetrance risk alleles. We report a large collaborative meta-analysis to assess and refine CRC risk estimates associated with bi-allelic and mono-allelic MUTYH variants and investigate age and sex influence on risk.Methods: MUTYH genotype data were included from 20 565 cases and 15 524 controls. Three logistic regression models were tested: a crude model; adjusted for age and sex; adjusted for age, sex and study.Results: all three models produced very similar results. MUTYH bi-allelic carriers demonstrated a 28-fold increase in risk (95% confidence interval (CI): 6.95-115). Significant bi-allelic effects were also observed for G396D and Y179C/G396D compound heterozygotes and a marginal mono-allelic effect for variant Y179C (odds ratio (OR)=1.34; 95% CI: 1.00-1.80). A pooled meta-analysis of all published and unpublished datasets submitted showed bi-allelic effects for MUTYH, G396D and Y179C (OR=10.8, 95% CI: 5.02-23.2; OR=6.47, 95% CI: 2.33-18.0; OR=3.35, 95% CI: 1.14-9.89) and marginal mono-allelic effect for variants MUTYH (OR=1.16, 95% CI: 1.00-1.34) and Y179C alone (OR=1.34, 95% CI: 1.01-1.77).Conclusions: overall, this large study refines estimates of disease risk associated with mono-allelic and bi-allelic MUTYH carriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is now recognised that a part of the inherited risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) can be explained by the co-inheritance of low-penetrance genetic variants. The accumulated experience to date in identifying these variants has served to highlight difficulties in conducting statistically and methodologically rigorous studies and follow-up analyses. The COGENT (COlorectal cancer GENeTics) consortium includes 20 research groups in Europe, Australia, the Americas, China and Japan. The overarching goal of COGENT is to identify and characterise low-penetrance susceptibility variants for CRC through association-based analyses. In this study, we review the rationale for identifying low-penetrance variants for CRC and our proposed strategy for establishing COGENT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aim: The mismatch repair (MMR) genes are in charge of maintaining genomic integrity. Mutations in the MMR genes are at the origin of a familial form of colorectal cancer (CRC). This syndrome accounts for only a small proportion of the excess familial risk of CRC. The characteristics of the alleles that account for the remainder of cases are unknown. To assess the putative associations between common variants in MMR genes and CRC, we performed a genetic case-control study using a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) tagging approach. Patients and methods: A total of 2299 cases and 2284 unrelated controls were genotyped for 68 tagging SNPs in seven MMR genes (MLH1, MLH3, MSH2, MSH3, MSH6, PMS1 and PMS2). Genotype frequencies were measured in cases and controls and analysed using univariate analysis. Haplotypes were constructed and analysed using logistic regression. We also carried out a two-locus interaction analysis and a global test analysis. Results: Genotype frequencies were found to be marginally different in cases and controls for MSH3 rs26279 with a rare homozygote OR = 1.31 [95% confidence interval (Cl) 1.05 to 1.62], ptrend = 0.04. We found a rare MLH1 (frequency <5%) haplotype, increasing the risk of colorectal cancer: (OR = 9.76; 95% Cl, 1.25 to 76.29; p = 0.03). The two-locus interaction analysis has exhibited signs of interaction between SNPs located in genes MSH6 and MSH2. Global testing has showed no evidence of interaction. Conclusion: It is unlikely that common variants in MMR genes contribute significantly to colorectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]