Cited 5 times since 2024 (3.9 per year) source: EuropePMC Cell reports. Medicine, Volume 5, Issue 5, 3 1 2024, Pages 101529 Genetic variants for head size share genes and pathways with cancer. Knol MJ, Poot RA, Evans TE, Satizabal CL, Mishra A, Sargurupremraj M, van der Auwera S, Duperron MG, Jian X, Hostettler IC, van Dam-Nolen DHK, Lamballais S, Pawlak MA, Lewis CE, Carrion-Castillo A, van Erp TGM, Reinbold CS, Shin J, Scholz M, Håberg AK, Kämpe A, Li GHY, Avinun R, Atkins JR, Hsu FC, Amod AR, Lam M, Tsuchida A, Teunissen MWA, Aygün N, Patel Y, Liang D, Beiser AS, Beyer F, Bis JC, Bos D, Bryan RN, Bülow R, Caspers S, Catheline G, Cecil CAM, Dalvie S, Dartigues JF, DeCarli C, Enlund-Cerullo M, Ford JM, Franke B, Freedman BI, Friedrich N, Green MJ, Haworth S, Helmer C, Hoffmann P, Homuth G, Ikram MK, Jack CR, Jahanshad N, Jockwitz C, Kamatani Y, Knodt AR, Li S, Lim K, Longstreth WT, Macciardi F, Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) Consortium, Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) Consortium, Mäkitie O, Mazoyer B, Medland SE, Miyamoto S, Moebus S, Mosley TH, Muetzel R, Mühleisen TW, Nagata M, Nakahara S, Palmer ND, Pausova Z, Preda A, Quidé
The size of the human head is highly heritable, but genetic drivers of its variation within the general population remain unmapped. We perform a genome-wide association study on head size (N = 80,890) and identify 67 genetic loci, of which 50 are novel. Neuroimaging studies show that 17 variants affect specific brain areas, but most have widespread effects. Gene set enrichment is observed for various cancers and the p53, Wnt, and ErbB signaling pathways. Genes harboring lead variants are enriched for macrocephaly syndrome genes (37-fold) and high-fidelity cancer genes (9-fold), which is not seen for human height variants. Head size variants are also near genes preferentially expressed in intermediate progenitor cells, neural cells linked to evolutionary brain expansion. Our results indicate that genes regulating early brain and cranial growth incline to neoplasia later in life, irrespective of height. This warrants investigation of clinical implications of the link between head size and cancer.
