Grant Details
Grant Number: |
5R01CA272668-02 Interpret this number |
Primary Investigator: |
Oberg, Ann |
Organization: |
Mayo Clinic Rochester |
Project Title: |
Multifactor Risk Scores with Susceptibility Gene Mutations to Enhance Risk Assessment of Pancreatic Cancer |
Fiscal Year: |
2024 |
Abstract
PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
We propose to improve risk assessment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), a major lethal cancer
for which no early detection strategy exists. We hypothesize that a novel enhanced multifactor risk score
(eMRS) will improve risk stratification for moderate to high genetic risk strata for PDAC, by incorporating carrier
status of hereditary cancer syndrome pathogenic variants. We will develop a new eMRS using large Mayo
Clinic datasets of PDAC cases recruited since 2002 and primary care controls in the Mayo Clinic Biobank with
recently completed whole exome sequencing (WES) by Regeneron Genetics Center (RGC) to first assess the
limited number of existing published models. We will then construct our eMRS with these data and perform
independent validation using the UK Biobank. We will test the value of the model in a dataset of at-risk first-
degree relatives (FDRs) of Mayo Clinic PDAC patients. Our new eMRS for PDAC will for the first time
comprehensively accommodate inherited cancer syndrome pathogenic variants to stratify risk of PDAC in
identically processed sequencing and informatics workflows. The study team includes leaders in gene
identification and genetic epidemiology of PDAC, having led the GWAS that identified the risk SNPs that will be
included in risk model testing and development. By leveraging the three existing major genomic datasets and
one family dataset with accompanying epidemiologic and disease covariates, our specific aims are: (1) To use
uniquely coordinated datasets on Mayo Clinic PDAC cases and Mayo Biobank controls to validate published
polygenic risk score (PRS) and MRS models. We will assemble and analyze Mayo Clinic’s 4,552 prospectively
recruited cases and 53,229 controls to evaluate the heretofore unvalidated models. (2) To build and validate a
novel, enhanced eMRS for PDAC that incorporates cancer germline pathogenic variants. (2a) We will use the
datasets built for cases and controls in Aim 1 and include additional epidemiologic risk factors and germline
pathogenic variant status for hereditary cancer genes, which have not been previously available in public
datasets. (2b) We will validate our new eMRS with an independent dataset of genotype and risk factor data
extracted from 2,371 PDAC cases and the remaining 497,629 non-PDAC UK Biobank participants whose
germline DNA will have also been sequenced by RGC. (3) To determine the extent that PRS, MRS or eMRS
can further refine PDAC risk in first degree relatives of PDAC cases. We will compare standardized incidence
ratios (SIRs) in a dataset of personal cancer histories of 23,739 relatives assembled from Mayo Clinic PDAC
cases’ family history questionnaires to quantify and assess impact. This project will result in several useful
genetic risk stratification models to provide more precise risk assessment for PDAC. The results are
anticipated to have a translational impact on risk assessment, genetic counseling, and early detection of PDAC
through better, potentially targeted, identification of individuals at increased risk who in the future could be
offered minimally invasive surveillance or other options for early-stage detection and prevention.
Publications
None