rs11979158

Age-stratified genome-wide association study of 4,512 glioblastoma cases and 10,582 controls identified age-specific genetic effects on disease susceptibility. SNPs at 7p11.2 (rs723527, rs11979158 near EGFR) showed increased association in older individuals (age 54+, OR=1.28-1.42), while a lower-grade glioma-associated SNP at 8q24.21 (rs55705857) was associated with younger diagnosis (age 18-53, OR=1.76, p=9.30×10−11). IDH1/2 mutations occurred in 15% of younger GBM cases versus 0.8-2.1% in older cases, suggesting many younger cases represent 'secondary GBM' with LGG-like features.

A case-control study examining seven known glioma risk loci in individuals with a family history of brain tumours (104 FHBT-glioma cases, 2,868 controls). Three SNPs were associated with glioma risk: rs2736100 (TERT; OR=1.41, 95% CI 1.05-1.89), rs4977756 (CDKN2A-CDKN2B; OR=2.01, p=0.01), and rs6010620 (RTEL1; OR=0.51, p=0.012 for glioblastoma). Only rs6010620 remained significant after correction for multiple comparisons.

Genome-wide association study of glioma in 1,856 cases and 4,955 controls that confirmed seven previously reported susceptibility loci. Strong replication was found for rs2736100 (TERT, OR=0.72), rs4977756 (CDKN2BAS, OR=1.35), and rs6010620 (RTEL1, OR=0.66). Consistent associations were observed for loci at EGFR, CCDC26, and PHLDB1. Meta-analysis of 85 candidate loci in 5,015 cases and 11,601 controls identified no novel genome-wide significant associations, suggesting glioma genetic architecture may involve fewer common variants than other cancers.