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Last Posted: May 25, 2023
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Potential utility of risk stratification for multicancer screening with liquid biopsy tests
ES Kim et al, NPJ Precision Oncology, April 22, 2023

We develop and validate sex-specific pan-cancer risk scores (PCRSs), defined by the combination of body mass index, smoking, family history of cancers, and cancer-specific polygenic risk scores (PRSs), to predict the absolute risk of developing at least one of the many common cancer types. We demonstrate the added value of PRSs in improving the predictive performance of the risk factors only model and project the positive and negative predictive values for two promising multicancer screening tests across risk strata defined by age and PCRS.

Multi-ancestry genome-wide association analyses improve resolution of genes and pathways influencing lung function and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease risk.
Nick Shrine et al. Nature genetics 2023 3 (3) 410-422

Lung-function impairment underlies chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and predicts mortality. In the largest multi-ancestry genome-wide association meta-analysis of lung function to date, comprising 580,869 participants, we identified 1,020 independent association signals implicating 559 genes supported by =2 criteria from a systematic variant-to-gene mapping framework. These genes were enriched in 29 pathways. Individual variants showed heterogeneity across ancestries, age and smoking groups, and collectively as a genetic risk score showed strong association with COPD across ancestry groups.

The necessity of incorporating non-genetic risk factors into polygenic risk score models
S van Dam et al, Sci Reports, February 20, 2023

The growing public interest in genetic risk scores for various health conditions can be harnessed to inspire preventive health action. However, current commercially available genetic risk scores can be deceiving as they do not consider other, easily attainable risk factors, such as sex, BMI, age, smoking habits, parental disease status and physical activity. We show improved performance at identifying the 10% most at-risk individuals for type 2 diabetes (T2D) and coronary artery disease (CAD) by including common risk factors.

How rare mutations contribute to complex traits
LM Evans et al, Nature, February 8, 2023

Our understanding of the genetic mutations that affect complex human traits — such as height, smoking-related behaviour or the risk of diabetes — has been vastly broadened by genome-wide association studies (GWASs). But such research has focused largely on associations between traits of interest and variants that are common in the human population. Rare variants pose challenges to GWASs, because they can be studied using only large samples and in-depth genetic information, and can be more strongly confounded by non-genetic factors than can common variants,


Disclaimer: Articles listed in the Public Health Genomics and Precision Health Knowledge Base are selected by the CDC Office of Public Health Genomics to provide current awareness of the literature and news. Inclusion in the update does not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention nor does it imply endorsement of the article's methods or findings. CDC and DHHS assume no responsibility for the factual accuracy of the items presented. The selection, omission, or content of items does not imply any endorsement or other position taken by CDC or DHHS. Opinion, findings and conclusions expressed by the original authors of items included in the update, or persons quoted therein, are strictly their own and are in no way meant to represent the opinion or views of CDC or DHHS. References to publications, news sources, and non-CDC Websites are provided solely for informational purposes and do not imply endorsement by CDC or DHHS.

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