The OncoArray Consortium: A Network for Understanding the Genetic Architecture of Common Cancers

Area of Science:

• Genetics
• Cancer Research
• Genomics

Background:

• Common cancers often involve inherited susceptibility and multistep development.
• The OncoArray, an inexpensive genotyping microarray, was created through multi-institutional collaboration.
• It features a genome-wide backbone of 230,000 SNPs, plus dense mapping of susceptibility regions and rare variants.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement a large-scale genotyping array for common cancer susceptibility.
• To facilitate the identification of novel genetic loci associated with various cancers.
• To enable joint modeling of genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors in cancer etiology.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a novel genotyping technology for efficient data generation.
• Established standardized protocols for SNP selection, quality control, and ancestry analysis.
• Genotyped nearly 450,000 samples across multiple sites with rigorous quality control.

Main Results:

• Successfully genotyped 447,705 samples with a 97% success rate.
• 494,763 SNPs passed stringent quality control measures.
• Standardized ancestry analysis was performed across participating sites.

Conclusions:

• The OncoArray provides a powerful resource for identifying new cancer susceptibility loci.
• Enables fine-mapping of known and novel cancer-associated regions.
• Facilitates comprehensive analysis of cancer causation, pleiotropy, and risk factor interactions.