Researchers find genetic variant contributing to disparities in childhood leukemia risk medicalxpress.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from medicalxpress.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
<p>Hispanic/Latino individuals have the highest risk of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in the United States. However, the basis for this difference is not well understood. Researchers recently identified a genetic variant that accounts for the increased risk of B-cell ALL in Hispanic/Latino children, and using ancient DNA, they traced the mutation all the way back to the first migrants who entered the Americas ~13,000 years ago. The findings were published in <em>Cell Genomics</em> on March 26.</p>
<p style="text-align:start">Children of Hispanic/Latino origin are 30-40% more likely to get Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) than non-Hispanic white children. However, the exact genetic basis and cause of that increased risk are unknown. Now researchers have revealed a key genetic variant contributing towards the increased risk, as well as details about the biological basis of ALL. The research team focused on the <em>IKZF1 </em>gene, known to relate to ALL but never before linked with ethnic risk disparities. Using genetic fine-mapping analysis, they independently analyzed each position along the gene—known as a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)—to determine whether having a certain variant increased ALL risk. They found three independent SNPs linked to higher ALL incidence, one of which was present in about 30% of people of Hispanic/Latino origin in the U.S. and less than 1% of people