Stuart G Reeves

Publications (3)9.01 Total impact

• Article: DNA repair gene polymorphisms and risk of early onset colorectal cancer in Lynch syndrome.

  Stuart G Reeves, Cliff Meldrum, Claire Groombridge, Allan Spigelman, Janina Suchy, Grzegorz Kurzawski, Jan Lubinski, Rodney J Scott
  [show abstract] [hide abstract]
  ABSTRACT: DNA repair plays a pivotal role in maintaining genomic integrity with over 130 genes involved in various repair pathways that include base excision repair, nucleotide excision repair, double strand break repair and DNA mismatch repair. Polymorphisms within genes that are involved in these processes have been widely reported to be associated with cancer susceptibility in an extensive range of malignancies that include colorectal cancer (CRC). Lynch syndrome is caused by inherited germline mutations in DNA mismatch repair genes, predominantly in MLH1 and MSH2, that predispose to a variety of epithelial malignancies, most notably CRC. Despite being a relatively well understood hereditary cancer syndrome there remain several questions in relation to genetic influences on disease expression. Since Lynch syndrome is associated with a breakdown in DNA mismatch repair variation in other DNA repair genes may influence disease expression. In this report we have genotyped 424 Australian and Polish Lynch syndrome participants for eight common DNA repair gene polymorphisms to assess any association with the age of CRC onset. The DNA repair gene SNPs included in the study were: BRCA2 (rs11571653), MSH3 (rs26279), Lig4 (rs1805386), OGG1 (rs1052133), XRCC1 (rs25487), XRCC2 (rs3218536 and rs1799793) and XRCC3 (rs861539). Cox multi-variant regression modelling failed to provide any convincing evidence of an effect in any of the polymorphisms analysed. The data suggest that polymorphisms in DNA repair genes do not contribute to cancer risk in a population of CRC patients who are at increased risk of disease as a result in a deficiency of DNA mismatch repair.
  Cancer epidemiology. 10/2011; 36(2):183-9.
• Article: MTHFR 677 C>T and 1298 A>C polymorphisms and the age of onset of colorectal cancer in hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer.

  Stuart G Reeves, Cliff Meldrum, Claire Groombridge, Allan D Spigelman, Janina Suchy, Grzegorz Kurzawski, Jan Lubinski, Patrick McElduff, Rodney J Scott
  [show abstract] [hide abstract]
  ABSTRACT: Hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) or Lynch syndrome is characterized by inactivating germline mutations in DNA mismatch repair genes resulting in an increased risk of developing an epithelial malignancy. There is considerable variability in disease expression observed in this syndrome, which is thought to be due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Alterations in the kinetics of methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) due to the presence of polymorphisms in the MTHFR gene have been associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). Two common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located within the MTHFR gene, 677 C>T and 1298 A>C, that alter the function of the encoded protein have been the focus of many studies on CRC risk outside the context of an inherited predisposition to disease. In this report, a total of 417 HNPCC participants were genotyped for the 677 C>T and 1298 A>C SNPs to determine whether there exists an association with the age of disease onset of CRC. Genotyping of both SNPs was performed by TaqMan(R) assay technology. Associations in disease risk were further investigated using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox hazard regression. The average ages of disease diagnosis were found to be different between individuals harbouring either one of the MTHFR polymorphisms. Both Kaplan-Meier and Cox hazard regression analyses revealed a more complex relationship between the two polymorphisms and the age of CRC onset. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that compound heterozygotes for the two SNPs developed CRC 10 years later compared with those carrying only wild-type alleles.
  European journal of human genetics: EJHG 01/2009; 17(5):629-35. · 3.56 Impact Factor
• Article: IGF1 is a modifier of disease risk in hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer.

  Stuart G Reeves, Dominique Rich, Cliff J Meldrum, Kim Colyvas, Grzegorz Kurzawski, Janina Suchy, Jan Lubinski, Rodney J Scott
  [show abstract] [hide abstract]
  ABSTRACT: Patients diagnosed with HNPCC harbouring a confirmed germline mutation in DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes have an 80% lifetime risk of developing an epithelial malignancy. There is, however, considerable variation in the age of disease onset in these patients. Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGFI) has been implicated in colorectal cancer (CRC), and elevated plasma IGFI levels are associated with both sporadic and hereditary CRC risk. In this study, we further investigate the cytosine-adenine (CA) dinucleotide repeat polymorphism located near the promoter region of IGF1 and its relation to early onset CRC risk in 443 Australian and Polish MMR gene mutation carriers using DNA sequencing, Kaplan-Meier survival curves and Cox proportional hazard regression analysis. A significantly smaller number of IGF1 CA repeats was observed in the Polish patient population, which was associated with an earlier age of disease onset compared to the Australian patients. The threshold for the observed modifying effect was again shown to be in patients with 17 or less CA repeats compared to those with 18 or more. Furthermore, when MMR mutation group (i.e., MLH1 or MSH2), gender and family clustering were included in the final Cox model we observed a more robust trend for the role of the IGF1 CA repeat in predicting age of disease onset in HNPCC patients. In addition, this effect was shown to be equal in both MLH1 and MSH2 mutation carrier groups and not restricted to a particular MMR subgroup (p = 0.001). We conclude that the IGF1 CA repeat is an important modifier of disease onset in HNPCC and the first polymorphism to yield consistent results across different populations.
  International Journal of Cancer 08/2008; 123(6):1339-43. · 5.44 Impact Factor