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SNP-Target Genes Interaction Perturbing the Cancer Risk in the Post-GWAS
Wenmin Yang1,2,3, Te Zhang1,2,3, Xuming Song1,2,3
1Department of Thoracic Surgery, Nanjing Medical University Affiliated Cancer Hospital and Jiangsu Cancer Hospital and Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research, Nanjing 210009, China.
Abstract:
Cancer ranks as the second leading cause of death worldwide, and, being a genetic disease, it is highly heritable. Over the past few decades, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified many risk-associated loci harboring hundreds of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Some of these cancer-associated SNPs have been revealed as causal, and the functional characterization of the mechanisms underlying the cancer risk association has been illuminated in some instances. In this review, based on the different positions of SNPs and their modes of action, we discuss the mechanisms underlying how SNPs regulate the expression of target genes to consequently affect tumorigenesis and the development of cancer.
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