This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: theoncologist.2009-0042v1 14/7/657    most recent eLetters: Submit a response to this article Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services E-mail this article link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints/Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Savas, S. Articles by Liu, G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Savas, S. Articles by Liu, G.

Clinical Genetics and Genetic Counseling

Studying Genetic Variations in Cancer Prognosis (and Risk): A Primer for Clinicians

^aDivision of Applied Molecular Oncology, Department of Medical Biophysics, Ontario Cancer Institute, Toronto, Canada; ^bDivision of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Department of Medicine, Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, Canada

Key Words. Cancer predisposition • Treatment response and prognosis • Low-penetrance alleles • SNPs • Genome-wide association studies • Candidate gene approach

Correspondence: Sevtap Savas, Ph.D., Discipline of Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 300 Prince Philip Drive, Room H4333, St. John's, Newfoundland, A1B 3V6 Canada. Telephone: 709-777-2233; Fax: 709-777-7497; e-mail: savas{at}mun.ca

Received March 9, 2009; accepted for publication May 16, 2009; first published online in THE ONCOLOGIST Express on July 6, 2009.

Disclosures

Sevtap Savas: None; Geoffrey Liu: None.

Section editors Paula Ryan and Patrick Morrison have disclosed no financial relationships relevant to the content of this article.

The content of this article has been reviewed by independent peer reviewers to ensure that it is balanced, objective, and free from commercial bias.

Rare, high-penetrance genetic variations account for a small portion of genetic cancer syndromes. In contrast, most cancers develop from a combination of minor genetic influences and environmental factors. There are numerous publications on cancer susceptibility. In contrast, genetic studies in treatment response and outcome analyses are a rapidly emerging field. Approaches used in disease susceptibility can be adapted for genetic outcome studies. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on how candidate genes and genetic variations are selected to evaluate gene–outcome, gene–prognosis, and gene–treatment response relationships as applicable to the practicing oncologist.