Blood type, ABO genetic variants, and ovarian cancer survival

Blood Group Antigen A Carriers Exhibit an Extended Progression-Free Survival with no more Immune-Related Adverse Events

Extensive investigations have been conducted regarding the potential correlation between blood type and the immune system, as well as cancer risk in the Southern Chinese population. However, the prognostic value of the blood group and its genetic determinants in the context of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment remains unclear. Therefore, the associations between the ABO blood group and its single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were examined in relation to ICI treatment outcomes in 370 eligible patients with cancer. This approach allowed us to derive the blood group from the SNPs responsible for blood group determination. In the discovery cohort (N = 168), antigen A carriers (blood types A and AB) exhibited an extended progression-free survival (PFS; hazard ratio (HR) = 0.58, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.34-0.98). The association results from the SNP-derived blood were consistent with those from the measured blood group. In the validation cohort (N = 202), Cox regression analysis revealed that the antigen A carriers (rs507666 AA+GA genotype carriers) experienced significantly extended PFS compared with the non-antigen A carriers (HR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.40-0.93). Therefore, a longer PFS was observed in antigen A carriers (P value = 0.003, HR = 0.60, 95% CI = 0.44-0.84). Furthermore, haplotype 2 carriers (rs507666 GA and rs659104 GG) demonstrated both extended PFS and improved overall survival. Notably, the presence of antigen A was not associated with the occurrence of overall immune-related adverse events (irAEs) or organ-specific toxicity. In summary, our findings revealed that antigen A carriers did not experience a higher incidence of irAEs while exhibiting better immunotherapy efficacy.

Genome-wide association study of serum tumor markers in Southern Chinese Han population

Background

Serum indicators AFP, CA50, CA125, CA153, CA19-9, CEA, f-PSA, SCC-Ag have been confirmed as tumor markers (TMs). We conducted a genome-wide association study on 8 tumor markers of our 427 Han population in southern China, in order to identify genetic loci that are significantly associated with the level of 8 tumor markers.

Methods

We use Gene Titan multi-channel instrument and Axiom Analysis Suite 6.0 software for genotyping. We used IMPUTE2 software for imputation, and 1000 Genomes Project (Phase 3) was used as haplotype reference. After necessary quality control and statistical analysis, genetic loci genome-wide associated with TMs (p < 5E-8) will be identified. Finally, we selected Top SNPs (p < 5E-7) from the GWAS results for replication test. We used SPSS software to draw the distribution box plots of serum TMs under different genotypes of significant loci.

Results

The results showed that there were only MUC1 (mucin 1)-rs4072037 significantly genome-wide associated with CA153 (p = 1.28E-18). However, we found that a total of 30 genetic loci have a suggestively significant genome-wide association with the level of 8 serum tumor markers (p < 5E-6). Then 3 Top SNPs (p < 5E-7) were selected for replication verification. The results showed that MUC1-rs4072037 was still significantly associated with CA153 in another population (p = 3.73E-08). Comparing with the TT genotype of rs4072037, the CA153 level was higher under CC or CT genotype of rs4072037.

Conclusion

MUC1-rs4072037 is significantly genome-wide associated with CA153 level. There are 30 genetic loci suggestively genome-wide associated with level of tumor markers among the Han population from Southern China.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-022-09236-6.

Assessment of gynecological and lifestyle-related risk factors of ovarian cancer

INTRODUCTION

Ovarian cancer remains the most lethal gynecological cancer. Assessment of gynecological and lifestyle-related risk factors is essential to reduce the occurrence and the mortality rate of the disease.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Surveys were collected among 71 patients with ovarian cancer and 76 women without gynecological cancer. Questionnaires included questions about medical history and lifestyle in the past.

RESULTS

The control group had breastfed longer (p = 0.034) and used hormonal contraception more often (p = 0.00037) than the study group. The patients in FIGO (French. Fédération internationale de gynécologie et d'obstétrique) stage III or IV had a higher number of lifetime ovulatory cycles (p = 0.001) than the control group. Women at FIGO stage IV slept significantly less than patients at other stages (p = 0.0026). Oncological patients reporting sedentary work more often were diagnosed at advanced stages (p = 0.00328). The risk of ovarian cancer was 0.046 times smaller for women who had given birth (p = 0.025), 0.94 times smaller for every one month longer breastfeeding (p = 0.0428), 0.677 times smaller for every one year older age at menarche (p = 0.0152), 0.106 times smaller for women who had used hormonal contraception (p = 0.0019), and 5.46 times higher for women who ever worked night shifts (p = 0.0128).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study proves the importance of both gynecological and lifestyle-related risk factors of ovarian cancer and their impact on its prevalence. Lifestyle-related risk factors cannot be ignored, as they might have a direct influence on the aggravation of the risk of this type of cancer. Promoting an adequate amount of physical activity and sleep, breastfeeding, and having children could improve the detection and treatment of ovarian cancer in general.

Individuals with a Rh-positive but not Rh-negative blood group are more vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection: demographics and trend study on COVID-19 cases in Sudan

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In Sudan, several haematological studies were conducted to study the ABO blood group distribution among the population, in which the O blood group was dominant followed by the A blood group. However, there is no systematic study into any correlation between COVID-19 and the population's blood group types, therefore we have intended to study the possible effect of blood group on the acquisition of SARS-CoV-2 infection. A questionnaire-based case-control study was carried out on 557 individuals with COVID-19 in Sudan; factors such as age, blood group, previous malaria infection, history of ailments such as diabetes, hypertension and symptoms suffered were also considered and analysed. More women were infected than men, and individuals between 25 and 35 years were the most affected age group. O Rhesus-positive (O+) blood group was the least affected by the disease while A Rhesus-positive (A+) individuals were the most vulnerable. Fatigue, fever and loss of smell were the major symptoms among the patients, but 13% of SARS-COV-2-positive individuals remained asymptomatic. As the Sudan population is largely constituted of O Rhesus-positive inhabitants (approximately 50%) these results might explain the relatively lower COVID-19 incidence in the country.

Blood Group and Incidence of Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Chronic respiratory diseases are determined by genetic predisposition, and environmental and socioeconomic variables. One genetic factor underlying susceptibility to such diseases can be the ABO blood group system. The purpose of this study was to investigate the hypothesis that there would be a relationship between the blood group and risk of developing asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We reviewed medical history files of patients with the diagnosis of COPD or asthma, including those suffering from a cancerous disease accompanied by asthma or COPD, hospitalized from January 2016 to July 2017. The study involved 248 adult patients (85 women and 163 men; median age 65, range 20-95 years) with COPD (177; 71.4%) and asthma (71; 28.6%) with a known blood type. We found that the most frequent was blood type A (97; 39.1%) and the least blood type AB (26; 8.0%). The distribution of individual blood types in asthma was not different from that in COPD patients. Significant differences were found between the distribution of O and pooled non-O blood types (A, B, and AB); the pooled category was more frequent in both asthma and COPD patients. We conclude that the blood type is not a prognostic differentiating between the occurrence of asthma or COPD, although both are less common in people with blood type O. Further investigation is required to set the predisposing role of the ABO antigens for chronic respiratory diseases.

Does blood group affect survival following pancreatoduodenectomy for periampullary malignancy?

BACKGROUND

Blood group is reported to have an effect upon survival following pancreatoduodenectomy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. The effect of blood group is not known, however, among patients with other periampullary cancers. This study sought to review this.

METHODS

Data were collected for a range of factors and survival outcomes from patients treated at two centres. Those with blood groups B and AB were excluded, due to small numbers. Patient survival was compared between patients with blood groups O and A using multivariable analysis which accounted for confounding factors.

RESULTS

Among 431 patients, 235 (54.5%) and 196 (45.5%) were of blood groups A and O respectively. Baseline comparisons found a significant difference in the distribution of tumour types (p = 0.011), with blood group O patients having more ampullary carcinomas (33.2% vs 23.4%) and less pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (45.4 vs 61.3%) than group A. On multivariable analysis, after accounting for confounding factors including pathologic variables, survival was found to be significantly shorter in those with blood group A than group O (p = 0.047, HR 1.30 [95%CI: 1.00-1.69]).

CONCLUSIONS

There is a difference in the distribution of blood groups across the different types of periampullary cancers. Survival is shorter among blood group A patients.

ABO blood group polymorphism has an impact on prostate, kidney and bladder cancer in association with longevity

The aim of the present study was to assess the ABO blood group polymorphism association with prostate, bladder and kidney cancer, and longevity. The following data groups were analyzed: Prostate cancer (n=2,200), bladder cancer (n=1,530), renal cell cancer (n=2,650), oldest-old (n=166) and blood donors (n=994) groups. The data on the ABO blood type frequency and odds ratio in prostate cancer patients revealed a significantly higher blood group B frequency (P<0.05); the pooled men and women, separate men bladder cancer risk was significantly associated with the blood group B (P<0.04); however, no such association was identified in the female patients. The blood group O was observed to have a significantly decreased risk of bladder cancer for females (P<0.05). No significance for the ABO blood group type in the studied kidney cancer patients was identified. A comparison of the oldest-old and blood donor groups revealed that blood group A was significantly more frequent and blood type B was significantly rarer in the oldest-olds (P<0.05). The results of the present study indicated that blood type B was associated with the risk of prostate and bladder cancer, and could be evaluated as a determinant in the negative assocation with longevity. Blood types O and A may be positive factors for increasing the oldest-old age likelihood. The clustering analysis by the ABO type frequency demonstrated that the oldest-olds comprised a separate cluster of the studied groups.

Prognostic role of ABO blood group in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma after transarterial chemoembolization

Background

The association of ABO blood group with prognosis of several malignancies has been established. However, its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear.

Patients and methods

In this study, we investigated the prognostic role of ABO blood group in unresectable HCC patients receiving transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) as an initial treatment. Medical records of 2,611 HCC patients were collected, and clinical data of 282 unresectable HCC patients receiving TACE were ultimately analyzed retrospectively. A prognostic nomogram was generated for predicting 1-, 2-, and 3-year overall survival (OS) probability. A total of 114 (40.4%), 69 (24.5%), 64 (22.7%), and 35 (12.4%) HCC patients had blood groups O, A, B, and AB, respectively.

Results

The median OS times for patients with blood groups O, A, B, and AB were 24, 23, 20, and 20 months, respectively. Patients with blood group AB (hazard ratio [HR]=2.050, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.331–3.157, P=0.001) or group non-O (HR=1.479, 95% CI, 1.110–1.972, P=0.008) had a poorer OS than those with blood group O. The prognostic nomogram, with a c-index of 0.701, was modest in predicting OS of unresectable HCC patients.

Conclusion

Patients with non-O blood group, particularly blood group AB, had a worse OS compared with those having blood type O. ABO blood group can predict the prognosis in patients with unresectable HCC undergoing TACE as an initial therapy. Further external validation in larger cohorts is necessary to confirm their usefulness in clinical practice.

ABO blood groups as a prognostic factor for recurrence in ovarian and vulvar cancer

The relationship between ABO blood groups (BG) and risk of incidence in cancers including gynecological cancers has been widely studied, showing increased incidence risk for BG A patients. As available data are inconsistent we investigated whether BG and their anti-glycan antibodies (anti-A and anti-B) have prognostic values in gynecological cancers. We retrospectively evaluated 974 patients with gynecological cancers in three cancer centers (Switzerland and Australia) between 1974 and 2014 regarding the relationships between clinico-pathological findings and the BG. Time to disease recurrence was significantly influenced by BG in patients with ovarian (n = 282) and vulvar (n = 67) cancer. BG O or B patients showed a significantly increased risk for ovarian cancer relapse compared to A, 59% and 82%, respectively (p = 0.045; HR O vs A = 1.59 (CI 1.01-2.51) and (p = 0.036; HR A vs B = 0.55 (CI 0.32-0.96). Median time to relapse for advanced stage (n = 126) ovarian cancer patients was 18.2 months for BG O and 32.2 for A (p = 0.031; HR O vs A = 2.07 (CI 1.07-4.02)). BG also significantly influenced relapse-free survival in patients with vulvar cancer (p = 0.002), with BG O tending to have increased relapse risk compared to A (p = 0.089). Blood groups hence associate with recurrence in ovarian and vulvar cancer: women with BG O seem to have a lower ovarian cancer incidence, however are more likely to relapse earlier. The significance of the BG status as a prognostic value is evident and may be helpful to oncologists in prognosticating disease outcome and selecting the appropriate therapy.

Can 9q34.2 rs633862 polymorphism predict survival in epithelial ovarian cancer?

Objective

Our previous genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified that the ABO rs633862 variant in chromosome 9q34.2 was associated with the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) in Chinese Han women. The aim of the present study was to evaluate its prognostic effect on EOC.

Methods

A total of 669 EOC patients were enrolled for the genotyping of rs633862 variant in 9q34.2. We used Kaplan–Meier survival curves, univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard models to evaluate the association of rs633862 with overall survival (OS) in EOC patients.

Results

We found that rs633862 variant AG/GG genotypes were significantly associated with a longer OS by using univariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis, compared with the rs633862 AA genotype (HR = 0.69, 95% CI [0.49–0.98], p = 0.035), albeit with a boardline significance in the multivariate analysis. Similar findings were observed in the subgroup of high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma. Further expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis indicated that the rs633862 AA genotype was associated with an increased level of ABO mRNA expression (p = 1.8 × 10⁻¹¹).

Conclusions

Supplementary to the previous GWAS, our study provides additional evidence on the prognostic value of the 9q34.2 rs633862 variant in EOC patients, and this variant may function by regulating the ABO mRNA expression.

Correction: Blood type, ABO genetic variants, and ovarian cancer survival

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0175119.].