Finding the genetic determinants of adverse reactions to radiotherapy

Individual variation in radiosensitivity is thought to be at least partly determined by genetic factors. The remaining difference between individuals is caused by comorbidities, variation in treatment, body habitus and stochastic factors. Evidence for the heritability of radiosensitivity comes from rare genetic disorders and from cell-based studies. To what extent common and rare genetic variants might explain the genetic component of radiosensitivity has not been fully elucidated. If the genetic variants accounting for this heritability were to be determined, they could be incorporated into any future predictive statistical model of adverse reactions to radiotherapy. With the evolution of DNA sequencing and bioinformatics, radiogenomics has emerged as a new research field with the aim of finding the genetic determinants of adverse reactions to radiotherapy. Similar to the investigation of other complex genetic disease traits, early studies in radiogenomics involved candidate gene association studies--many plagued by false associations caused by low sample sizes and problematic experimental design. More recently, some promising genetic associations (e.g. with tumour necrosis factor) have emerged from large multi-institutional cohorts with built-in replication. At the same time, several small- to medium-sized genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been or are about to be published. These studies will probably lead to an increasing number of genetic polymorphisms that may predict adverse reactions to radiotherapy. The future of the field is to create large patient cohorts for multiple cancer types, to validate the genetic loci and build reliable predictive models. For example, the REQUITE project involves multiple groups in Europe and North America. For further discovery studies, larger GWAS will be necessary to include rare sequence variants through next generation sequencing. Ultimately, radiogenomics seeks to predict which cancer patients will show radiosensitivity or radioresistance, so oncologists and surgeons can alter treatment accordingly to lower adverse reactions or increase the efficacy of radiotherapy.