Thus, smokers who carry the CHRNA3 and CHRNA5 variants are expected to be at increased risk for lung cancer compared with smokers who do not carry these alleles even if they smoked the same number of cigarettes.
Expression analysis of the six candidate genes mapping in the lung cancer risk-associated chromosome 15q25 locus revealed a 30-fold up-regulation of the gene encoding the CHRNA5 subunit and a 2-fold down-regulation of the CHRNA3 subunit in lung adenocarcinoma as compared with the normal lung.
In the chr15q25.1 region spanning the nicotinic receptors CHRNA3 and CHRNA5, we identified multiple SNPs associated with CPD (p<10(-3)), including rs1051730, which has been associated with nicotine dependence, smoking intensity and lung cancer risk.
Nicotine dependence risk and lung cancer risk are associated with variants in a region of chromosome 15 encompassing genes encoding the nicotinic receptor subunits CHRNA5, CHRNA3 and CHRNB4.
Genome-wide association studies have provided evidence that common variation at 5p15.33 [telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT)-cleft lip and palate transmembrane 1-like (CLPTM1L)], 6p21.33 and 15q25.1 (CHRNA5-CHRNA3) influences lung cancer risk and cancer types with strong environmental risk factors.
These findings suggest that SNPs in the CHRNA3 and CHRNA5 region contribute to lung cancer risk, and while variant alleles are less frequent in African Americans, risk in this group may be greater than in whites and less likely to reflect an indirect effect on lung cancer risk through nicotine dependence.
Genetic association studies have shown the importance of variants in the CHRNA5-CHRNA3-CHRNB4 cholinergic nicotinic receptor subunit gene cluster on chromosome 15q24-25.1 for the risk of nicotine dependence, smoking, and lung cancer in populations of European descent.
To examine if variation at any of these loci influences the risk of lung cancer in never-smokers, we compared 5p15.33-TERT (rs2736100), 5p15.33-CLPTM1L (rs4975616), 6p21.33-BAT3 (rs3117582), 15q25.1-CHRNA3 (rs8042374) and 15q25.1-CHRNA3 (rs12914385) genotypes in a series of 239 never-smoker lung cancer cases and 553 never-smoker controls.
These results suggest that the rs3743073 polymorphism in CHRNA3 is predictive for lung cancer risk and prognostic in advanced stage NSCLC in Chinese Han population.
Associations of SNPs in LOC123688 (rs10519203; odds ratio [OR] = 1.60, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.25 to 2.05, P = .00016), CHRNA5 (rs2036527; OR = 1.67, 95% CI = 1.26 to 2.21, P = .00031), and CHRNA3 (rs1051730; OR = 1.81, 95% CI = 1.26 to 2.59, P = .00137) genes with lung cancer risk reached Bonferroni-corrected levels of statistical significance (all statistical tests were two-sided).
A four-SNP haplotype spanning CHRNA5 (rs11637635 C, rs17408276 T, rs16969968 G) and CHRNA3 (rs578776 G) was associated with increased lung cancer risk (P = 0.002).
Recent genome-wide association studies have associated single nucleotide polymorphisms spanning the nAChR encoding genes cluster CHRNA3/A5/B4 with both nicotine dependence and lung cancer incidence and susceptibility.
In a nested case-control study comparing 746 lung cancer cases to 1,477 controls, all of whom were non-Hispanic white smokers in the β-Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial, we examined whether lung cancer risk is associated with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) tagging the AGPHD1, CHRNA5, CHRNA3, and CHRNB4 genes and whether such risk is modified by diet and other characteristics.
We also investigated the relationship between the rs1051730 SNP in an intron of the CHRNA3 gene (the polymorphism most significantly associated with lung cancer risk and smoking behavior) and TSD.