Risk of anthracycline-induced cardiac dysfunction in adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors: role of genetic susceptibility loci

There is a known genetic susceptibility to anthracycline-induced cardiac dysfunction in childhood cancer survivors, but this has not been adequately shown in adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients. Our aim was to determine if the previously identified variants associated with cardiac dysfunction in childhood cancer patients affect AYA cancer patients similarly. Forty-five variants were selected for analysis in 253 AYAs previously treated with anthracyclines. We identified four variants that were associated with cardiac dysfunction: SLC10A2:rs7319981 (p = 0.017), SLC22A17:rs4982753 (p = 0.019), HAS3:rs2232228 (p = 0.023), and RARG:rs2229774 (p = 0.050). HAS3:rs2232228 and SLC10A2:rs7319981 displayed significant effects in our AYA cancer survivor population that were in the opposite direction than that reported in childhood cancer survivors. Genetic variants in the host genes were further analyzed for additional associations with cardiotoxicity in AYA cancer survivors. The host genes were then evaluated in a panel of induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes to assess changes in levels of expression when treated with doxorubicin. Significant upregulation of HAS3 and SLC22A17 expression was observed (p < 0.05), with non-significant anthracycline-responsivity observed for RARG. Our study demonstrates that there is a genetic influence on cardiac dysfunction in AYA cancer patients, but there may be a difference in the role of genetics between childhood and AYA cancer survivors.