ED-16HFE POLYMORPHISMS AFFECT SURVIVAL OF BRAIN TUMOR PATIENTS

• Published in: Neuro-oncology (Charlottesville, Va.) Va.), 2014-11, Vol.16 (Suppl 5), p.v69-v69
• Main Authors: Lee, Sang, Slagle-Webb, Becky, Sheehan, Jonas, Zhu, Junjia, Muscat, Joshua, Glantz, Michael, Connor, James
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abstracts
• ISSN: 1522-8517; 1523-5866
• DOI: 10.1093/neuonc/nou253.16

The HFE protein plays a key role in the regulation of body iron. HFE polymorphisms (H63D and C282Y) are the common genetic variants in Caucasians. Based on frequency data, both HFE polymorphisms have been associated with increased risk in a number of cancers. The prevalence of the two major HFE polymorphisms in a human brain tumor patient population and the impact of HFE polymorphisms on survival have not been studied. In the present study, male GBM patients with H63D HFE polymorphism (H63D) have poorer overall survival than wild type (WT) male GBM (p = 0.03). In GBM patients with the C282Y HFE polymorphism (C282Y), female patients have shorter survival than male patients (p = 0.05). In addition, female metastatic brain tumor patients with C282Y have shorter survival times post diagnosis than WT patients (p = 0.02) or male metastatic brain tumor patients with C282Y (p = 0.02). There is a tendency toward a lower proportion of H63D genotype in GBM patients than a non-tumor control group (p = 0.09) or other subtypes of brain tumors. In conclusion, our study suggests that HFE genotype impacts survival of brain tumor patients in a gender specific manner. We previously reported that glioma and neuroblastoma cell lines with HFE polymorphisms show greater resistance to chemo and radiotherapy. Taken together, these data suggest HFE genotype is an important consideration for evaluating and planning therapeutic strategies in brain tumor patients. [This project was supported in part by the Tara Leah Witmer Endowment and Pennsylvania Department of Health Commonwealth Universal Research Enhancement (CURE) Program.]