Whole exome sequencing to identify genetic markers for trastuzumab-induced cardiotoxicity.

Udagawa C1,2, Nakamura H3, Ohnishi H1,2, Tamura K4, Shimoi T4, Yoshida M5, Yoshida T6, Totoki Y3, Shibata T3, Zembutsu H1,2.

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Abstract

Although trastuzumab-induced cardiotoxicity is an important determinant to limit the use of this drug, the molecular mechanism of risk for this toxicity is not well understood. To identify genetic variants determining the risk of trastuzumab-induced cardiotoxicity, we performed whole exome sequencing of germline DNA samples from 9 patients with trastuzumab-induced cardiotoxicity, and conducted a case-control association study of 2,258 genetic variants between 9 cases (with trastuzumab-induced cardiotoxicity) and general Japanese population controls registered in Human Genetic Variation Database (HGVD). The top variant which revealed the lowest P value in the screening study was rs139503277 in PHD Finger Protein 3 (Pmin = 0.00012, odds ratio (OR) = 51.23). To further validate the result of screening study, we carried out a replication study of 10 variants showing Pmin < 0.001 in the screening study using 234 independent patients treated with trastuzumab, including 10 cases and 224 controls (without trastuzumab-induced cardiotoxicity). In the replication study, we observed that three variants had effect in the same direction as in the screening study (rs78272919 in exon 2 of Keratin 15, rs5762940 in exon 2 of zinc and ring finger 3 and rs139944387 in exon 44 of Eyes shut homologs (EYS)). A combined result of the screening and the replication studies suggested an association of a locus on chromosome 6q12 with trastuzumab-induced cardiotoxicity (rs139944387 in EYS, combined-Pmin = 0.00056, OR = 13.73). This finding provides new insights into personalized trastuzumab therapy for the patients with HER2 positive cancer. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.