Confirmation of BIK and SAMHD1 as Prostate Cancer Susceptibility Genes

To independently assess data for recently reported genes-BIK, SAMHD1, FAM111A, and AOX1-in which rare variants have been associated with prostate cancer (PCa) risk and aggressiveness.

The study included 4448 PCa cases from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and 103,221 population-based controls from the Genome Aggregation Database (gnomAD). Gene-based and variant-based association tests were performed within each major ancestry group using Fisher's exact test and Firth logistic regression. Bonferroni-corrected significance thresholds were applied to account for multiple testing.

In the NFE population, suggestive statistical evidence of association with PCa risk was found for two of the four genes, BIK and SAMHD1. The evidence was primarily driven by missense variants: BIK S87G and SAMHD1 Q465K and V112I. The effect sizes of these variants were stronger than, or comparable to, those of well-established PCa risk variants such as HOXB13 G84E and CHEK2 T367fs. A weak association signal was observed between AOX1 and PCa aggressiveness. Statistical power was limited for analyses in other ancestry groups, particularly for tests of PCa aggressiveness. Implication of BIK and SAMHD1 as PCa susceptibility genes represents a major breakthrough since the discovery of HOXB13 in 2012 and may have clinical utility for risk stratification and contribute to our understanding of the molecular etiology of PCa.