Multi-tissue transcriptome-wide association studies identified 235 genes for intrinsic subtypes of breast cancer

Abstract

Background Although genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of breast cancer (BC) identified common variants which differ between intrinsic subtypes, genes through which these variants act to impact BC risk have not been fully established. Transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS) have identified genes associated with overall BC risk, but subtype-specific differences are largely unknown. Methods We performed two multi-tissue TWASs for each BC intrinsic subtype including an expression-based approach that collated TWAS signals from expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) across multiple tissues and a novel splicing-based approach that collated signals from splicing QTLs (sQTLs) across intron clusters and subsequently across tissues. We utilized summary statistics for five intrinsic subtypes including Luminal A-like, Luminal B-like, Luminal B/HER2-negative-like, HER2-enriched-like, and Triple-negative BC, generated from 106,278 BC cases and 91,477 controls in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium. Results Overall, we identified 235 genes in 88 loci across were associated with at least one of the five intrinsic subtypes. Most genes were subtype-specific, and many have not been reported in previous TWAS. We discovered common variants that modulate expression of CHEK2 confer increased risk to Luminal-A-like BC, in contrast to the viewpoint that CHEK2 primarily harbors rare, penetrant mutations. Additionally, our splicing-based TWAS provided population-level support for MDM4 splice variants that increased triple-negative BC risk. Conclusion Our comprehensive, multi-tissue TWAS corroborated previous GWAS loci for overall BC risk and intrinsic subtypes, while underscoring how common variation which impacts expression and splicing of genes in multiple tissue types can be used to further elucidate the etiology of BC.