Buas MF, He Q, Johnson LG, Onstad L, Levine DM, Thrift AP, Gharahkhani P, Palles C, Lagergren J, Fitzgerald RC, Ye W, Caldas C, Bird NC, Shaheen NJ, Bernstein L, Gammon MD, Wu AH, Hardie LJ, Pharoah PD, Liu G, Iyer P, Corley DA, Risch HA, Chow WH, Prenen H, Chegwidden L, Love S, Attwood S, Moayyedi P, MacDonald D, Harrison R, Watson P, Barr H, deCaestecker J, Tomlinson I, Jankowski J, Whiteman DC, MacGregor S, Vaughan TL, Madeleine MM. Germline variation in inflammation-related pathways and risk of Barrett's oesophagus and oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Gut. 2016 Aug 2. pii: gutjnl-2016-311622.

OBJECTIVE: Oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OA) incidence has risen sharply in Western countries over recent decades. Local and systemic inflammation is considered an important contributor to OA pathogenesis. Established risk factors for OA and its precursor, Barrett's oesophagus (BE), include symptomatic reflux, obesity and smoking. The role of inherited genetic susceptibility remains an area of active investigation. Here, we explore whether germline variation related to inflammatory processes influences susceptibility to BE/OA. DESIGN: We used data from a genomewide association study of 2515 OA cases, 3295 BE cases and 3207 controls. Our analysis included 7863 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 449 genes assigned to five pathways: cyclooxygenase (COX), cytokine signalling, oxidative stress, human leucocyte antigen and nuclear factor-κB. A principal components-based analytic framework was employed to evaluate pathway-level and gene-level associations with disease risk. RESULTS: We identified a significant signal for the COX pathway in relation to BE risk (p=0.0059, false discovery rate q=0.03), and in gene-level analyses found an association with microsomal glutathione-S-transferase 1 (MGST1); (p=0.0005, q=0.005). Assessment of 36 MGST1 SNPs identified 14 variants associated with elevated BE risk (q<0.05). Four of these were subsequently confirmed (p<5.5×10(-5)) in a meta-analysis encompassing an independent set of 1851 BE cases and 3496 controls, and are known strong expression quantitative trait loci for MGST1. Three such variants were associated with similar elevations in OA risk.
CONCLUSIONS: This study provides the most comprehensive evaluation of inflammation-related germline variation in relation to risk of BE/OA and suggests that variants in MGST1 influence disease susceptibility.

Madeleine MM, Johnson LG, Doody DR, Tipton ER, Carter JJ, Galloway DA. Natural Antibodies to Human Papillomavirus 16 and Recurrence of Vulvar High-Grade Intraepithelial Neoplasia (VIN3). J Low Genit Tract Dis. 2016 Jul;20(3):257-60.

OBJECTIVES: Approximately 30% of women treated for squamous high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN3), often associated with human papillomavirus (HPV), have recurrent disease. In this study, we assess predictors of recurrence that may provide targets for early prevention or treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Women with VIN3 who participated in a previous population-based case-control study with blood and tumor samples completed a follow-up telephone interview an average of 5 years after initial diagnosis. The risk of recurrence was determined by proportional hazards modeling. RESULTS: Women with VIN3 in the follow-up study (n = 65) were similar to women with VIN3 in the parent study (n = 215) with regard to age at primary diagnosis, level of current cigarette smoking (>60%), and lifetime number of partners. We found that 22 (33.8%) of 65 participants had a vulvar recurrence and that 73.4% recurred within 3 years of treatment. Recurrences occurred more often among women
with common warts in the decade before diagnosis (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.5, 95% CI = 1.1-5.8) and among those with a previous anogenital cancer (HR = 2.7, 95% CI = 1.2-6.3). Interestingly, recurrence was less frequent among women who mounted a natural antibody response to HPV16 (HR = 0.4, 95% CI = 0.2-0.9). CONCLUSIONS: These data provide strong preliminary evidence that VIN3 recurrence was less frequent among those with HPV16 antibodies. Vaccination with the currently licensed HPV vaccine as part of adjunctive therapy for VIN3 would increase antibody response and may decrease risk of recurrence. Randomized controlled trials are needed to determine whether HPV vaccination is effective against VIN3 recurrence.

Coghill AE, Johnson LG, Berg D, Resler AJ, Leca N, Madeleine MM. Immunosuppressive Medications and Squamous Cell Skin Carcinoma: Nested Case-Control Study Within the Skin Cancer after Organ Transplant (SCOT) Cohort. Am J Transplant. 2016 Feb;16(2):565-73.

Organ transplant recipients (OTRs) have a substantially elevated risk of squamous cell skin carcinoma (SCSC), largely attributed to immunosuppressive medications used to prevent graft rejection, although data to support the role of newer drugs in SCSC risk are sparse. We investigated the association between immunosuppressive medications and SCSC risk among cardiac and renal transplant recipients in the SCOT cohort study. Incident cases were ascertained through medical record review after self-report of skin biopsy (n = 170). Controls without SCSC (n = 324) were matched to cases on sex, age, race, transplant year, hospital, donor type, organ transplanted, and time between transplantation and interview. Conditional logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between specific medications and SCSC. Users of the antimetabolite azathioprine were more than twice as likely to develop SCSC (odds ratio [OR] = 2.67, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.23-5.76). In contrast, the newer antimetabolite preparations (i.e., mycophenolic acid [MPA]) were associated with lower SCSC risk (OR = 0.45, 95% CI 0.29-0.69). This inverse association between MPA and SCSC persisted among OTRs with no history of azathioprine use, even after adjustment for simultaneous use of the calcineurin inhibitor tacrolimus (OR = 0.52, 95% CI
0.32-0.84). Our data suggest that the increased risk of SCSC historically associated with azathioprine is not seen in OTRs prescribed newer regimens,
including MPA and tacrolimus.

Hardikar S, Johnson LG, Malkki M, Petersdorf EW, Galloway DA, Schwartz SM, Madeleine MM. A population-based case-control study of genetic variation in cytokine genes associated with risk of cervical and vulvar cancers. Gynecol Oncol. 2015;139(1):90-6. 

OBJECTIVE: Persistent infection with oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) is known to be the necessary cause of cervical cancer and a majority of vulvar cancers. Persistent HPV infections must evade host immune responses, including cytokines released by activated T-helper (Th) cells. In this study, we investigated the risk of cervical and vulvar cancers associated with common genetic variations in 560 tagging single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in candidate cytokine genes. METHODS: The study included 399 invasive squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) and 502 in situ or invasive adenocarcinomas (AC) of the cervix; 357 in situ or invasive vulvar SCC; and 1109 controls from the Seattle-area case-control studies of HPV-related cancers. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using a log additive model, with adjustment for multiple testing. RESULTS: Statistically significant risks were observed for HPV16-containing SCC of the cervix with the variant allele rs879576 in IL17RA and rs2229094 in TNF [OR, 95% CI and multiple-testing corrected p: 1.91 (1.30-2.79), p=0.018 and 0.61 (0.45-0.83), p=0.02, respectively]. We also observed significantly increased risk of HPV-positive vulvar cancers associated with variant alleles in CSF2 (rs25882 and rs27438, 26-28% increased risk) and IL-12B (rs2569254 and rs3181225, 40-41% increased risk) genes. CONCLUSIONS: We found that variation in several Th-cytokine genes is significantly associated with cervical and vulvar cancer risk. The strong association between these HPV-related cancers and common variation in cytokine genes in the Th1 and Th17 pathways may be important for development of new therapies.

Clarke CA, Robbins HA, Tatalovich Z, Lynch CF, Pawlish KS, Finch JL, Hernandez BY, Fraumeni JF Jr, Madeleine MM, Engels EA. Risk of merkel cell carcinoma after solid organ transplantation. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2015;107(2). pii: dju382. 

BACKGROUND: Solid organ transplant recipients have elevated risks of virus-related cancers, in part because of long-term immunosuppression. Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is an aggressive skin cancer recently found to have a viral origin, but little is known regarding the occurrence of MCC after transplant. METHODS: We linked the US Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients with data from 15 population-based cancer registries to ascertain MCC occurrence among 189498 solid organ transplant recipients from 1987 to 2009. Risks for MCC following transplantation were compared with the general population using standardized incidence ratios, and Poisson regression was used to compare incidence rates according to key patient and transplant characteristics. All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS: After solid organ transplantation, overall risk of MCC was increased 23.8-fold (95% confidence interval = 19.6 to 28.7, n = 110). Adjusted risks were highest among older recipients, increased with time since transplantation, and varied by organ type (all P ≤ .007). Azathioprine, cyclosporine, and mTOR inhibitors given for maintenance immunosuppression increased risk, and non-Hispanic white recipients on cyclosporine and azathioprine experienced increasing MCC risk with lower latitude of residence (ie, higher ultraviolet radiation exposure, P = .012). CONCLUSIONS: MCC risk is sharply elevated after solid organ transplant, likely resulting from long-term immunosuppression. Immunosuppressive medications may act synergistically with ultraviolet radiation to increase risk.

Paulson KG, Tegeder A, Willmes C, Iyer JG, Afanasiev OK, Schrama D, Koba S, Thibodeau R, Nagase K, Simonson WT, Seo A, Koelle DM, Madeleine MM, Bhatia S, Nakajima H, Sano S, Hardwick J, Disis ML, Cleary MA, Becker JC, Nghiem P. Downregulation of MHC-I expression is prevalent but reversible in Merkel cell carcinoma. Cancer Immunol Res. 2014;2(11):1071-9.

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is an aggressive, polyomavirus-associated skin cancer. Robust cellular immune responses are associated with excellent outcomes in MCC patients, but are typically absent. We determined the prevalence and reversibility of class I MHC (MHC-I) downregulation in MCC, a potentially reversible immune evasion mechanism. Cell surface MHC-I expression was assessed on 5 MCC cell lines using flow cytometry as well as immunohistochemically on tissue microarrays representing 114 patients. Three additional patients were included who had received intralesional interferon treatment and had evaluable before and after specimens. mRNA expression analysis of antigen presentation pathway genes from 35 MCC tumors was used to examine mechanisms of down-regulation. 84% of MCCs (n=114) demonstrated reduced MHC-I expression as compared to surrounding tissues and 51% had poor or undetectable expression. Expression of MHC-I was lower in polyomavirus-positive MCCs as compared to virus-negative MCCs (p<0.01). The MHC-I downregulation mechanism was multifactorial and did not depend solely on HLA gene expression. Treatment of MCC cell lines with ionizing radiation, etoposide, or interferon resulted in MHC-I upregulation, with interferons strongly upregulating MHC expression in vitro and in 3 of 3 patients treated with intralesional interferon. MCC tumors may be amenable to immunotherapy, but downregulation of MHC-I is frequently present in these tumors, particularly those that are polyomavirus-positive. This downregulation is reversible with any of several clinically available treatments that may thus promote the effectiveness of immune stimulating therapies for MCC.

Madeleine MM, Carter JJ, Johnson LG, Wipf GC, Davis C, Berg D, Nelson K, Daling JR, Schwartz SM, Galloway DA. Risk of squamous cell skin cancer after organ transplant associated with antibodies to cutaneous papillomaviruses, polyomaviruses, and TMC6/8 (EVER1/2) variants. Cancer Med. 2014;3(5):1440-7. 

Squamous cell skin cancer (SCSC) disproportionately affects organ transplant recipients, and may be related to increased viral replication in the setting of immune suppression. We conducted a nested case-control study among transplant recipients to determine whether SCSC is associated with antibodies to cutaneous human papillomaviruses (HPV), to genes associated with a rare genetic susceptibility to HPV (TMC6/TMC8), or to human polyomaviruses (HPyV). Cases (n = 149) had histologically confirmed SCSC, and controls (n = 290) were individually matched to cases on time since transplant, type of transplant, gender, and race. All subjects had serum drawn immediately prior to transplant surgery. Antibodies to 25 cutaneous HPVs and six HPyVs were assayed by detection of binding to virus-like particles, and 11 TMC6/8 variants were genotyped. After correction for multiple comparisons, only antibodies to HPV37 were associated with SCSC (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.2-3.4). Common genetic variants of TMC6/8 were not associated with SCSC, but three variants in TMC8 (rs12452890, rs412611, and rs7208422) were associated with greater seropositivity for species 2 betapapillomaviruses among controls. This study suggests that some betaHPVs, but not polyomaviruses, may play a role in the excess risk of SCSC among transplant recipients.

Safaeian M, Johnson LG, Yu K, Wang SS, Gravitt PE, Hansen JA, Carrington M, Schwartz SM, Gao X, Hildesheim A, Madeleine MM. Human Leukocyte Antigen Class I and II Alleles and Cervical Adenocarcinoma. Front Oncol. 2014 Jun 19;4:119. 

Background: Associations between human leukocyte antigens (HLA) alleles and cervical cancer are largely representative of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), the major histologic subtype. We evaluated the association between HLA class I (A, B, and C) and class II (DRB1 and DQB1) loci and risk of cervical adenocarcinoma (ADC), a less common but aggressive histologic subtype. Methods: We pooled data from the Eastern and Western US Cervical Cancer studies, and evaluated the association between individual alleles and allele combinations and ADC (n = 630 ADC; n = 775 controls). Risk estimates were calculated for 11 a priori (based on known associations with cervical cancer regardless of histologic type) and 38 non a priori common alleles, as odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), adjusted for age and study. In exploratory analysis, we compared the risk associations between subgroups with HPV16 or HPV18 DNA in ADC tumor tissues in the Western US study cases and controls. Results: Three of the a priori alleles were significantly associated with decreased risk of ADC [DRB1*13:01 (OR = 0.61; 95% CI: 0.41-0.93), DRB1*13:02 (OR = 0.49; 95% CI: 0.31-0.77), and DQB1*06:03 (OR = 0.64; 95% CI: 0.42-0.95)]; one was associated with increased risk [B*07:02 (OR = 1.39; 95% CI: 1.07-1.79)]. Among alleles not previously reported, DQB1*06:04 (OR = 0.46; 95% CI: 0.27-0.78) was associated with decreased risk of ADC and remained significant after correction for multiple comparisons, and C*07:02 (OR = 1.41; 95% CI: 1.09-1.81) was associated with increased risk. We did not observe a difference by histologic subtype. ADC was most strongly associated with increased risk with B*07:02/C*07:02 alleles (OR = 1.33; 95% CI: 1.01-1.76) and decreased risk with DRB1*13:02/DQB1*06:04 (OR = 0.41; 95% CI: 0.21-0.80). Conclusion: Results suggest that HLA allele associations with cervical ADC are similar to those for cervical SCC. An intriguing finding was the difference in risk associated with several alleles restricted to HPV16 or HPV18-related tumors, consistent with the hypothesis that HLA recognition is HPV type-specific.

Edlefsen KL, Martínez-Maza O, Madeleine MM, Magpantay L, Mirick DK, Kopecky KJ, Lacroix AZ, De Roos AJ. Cytokines in serum in relation to future non-Hodgkin lymphoma risk: Evidence for associations by histologic subtype. Int J Cancer. 2014; 135(4):913-22.

Specific associations for lymphoma in the general population suggest that chronic immune dysfunction/dysregulation may be associated with the development of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Furthermore, polymorphisms in several cytokine genes have been associated with increased lymphoma risk, most consistently with genes for TNF and IL10. To evaluate the hypothesis that prediagnostic circulating cytokine levels would be associated with increased B-cell lymphoma risk, we conducted a nested case-control study within the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study cohort involving 491 B-cell NHL cases and 491 controls. Levels of eleven cytokines, including IL1β, IL2, IL4, IL5, IL6, IL10, IL12, IL13, TNF, IFNγ and GM-CSF, were measured using a Luminex suspension bead-based multiplexed array in prediagnostic serum samples collected a median of 6 years prior to the lymphoma diagnosis. We observed a modestly increased risk of all B-cell NHL in women with increased levels of the cytokines TNF and IL10 (OR1.22, CI 1.07-1.38 and OR 1.09, CI 1.04-1.15, respectively, per doubling in the serum cytokine concentration) and this association showed some variation according to histologic subtype. The increased risk was strongest for those neoplasms diagnosed in close proximity to the blood draw for some histologic subtypes but not others, suggesting a component of reverse causation. Further study will be required to better understand how genetic polymorphisms in TNF and IL10 genes may interact with circulating cytokine levels and states of chronic immune dysfunction/stimulation to contribute to the risk of B-cell NHL.

Madeleine MM, Johnson LG, Daling JR, Schwartz SM, Carter JJ, Berg D, Nelson K, Davis CL, Galloway DA. Cohort Profile: The Skin Cancer After Organ Transplant Study. Int J Epidemiol 2013;42(6):1669-77.

The Skin Cancer after Organ Transplant (SCOT) study was designed to investigate the link between genus beta human papillomavirus (HPV) and squamous cell skin cancer (SCSC). We focused on a population receiving immunosuppressive therapy for extended periods, transplant patients, as they are at extremely high risk for developing SCSC. Two complementary projects were conducted in the Seattle area: (i) a retrospective cohort with interview data from 2004 recipients of renal or cardiac transplants between 1995 and 2010 and (ii) a prospective cohort with interview data from 328 people on the transplant waiting lists between 2009 and 2011. Within the retrospective cohort, we developed a nested case-control study (172 cases and 337 control subjects) to assess risk of SCSC associated with markers of HPV in SCSC tumour tissue and eyebrow hair bulb DNA (HPV genotypes) and blood (HPV antibodies). In the prospective cohort, 135 participants had a 1-year post-transplant visit and 71 completed a 2-year post-transplant visit. In  both arms of the cohort, we collected samples to assess markers of HPV infection  such as acquisition of new types, proportion positive for each type, persistence  of types at consecutive visits and number of HPV types detected. In the prospective cohort, we will also examine these HPV markers in relation to levels  of cell-mediated immunity. The goal of the SCOT study is to use the data we collected to gain a more complete understanding of the role of immune suppression in HPV kinetics and of genus beta HPV types in SCSC.