Impact of Genetic Variant on Stroke Risk in Childhood Cancer Survivors Treated With Cranial Radiation Therapy

Yadav Sapkota, PhD, clinical research scientist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, discusses the relationship between a genetic variant and the risk of stroke in childhood cancer survivors treated with cranial radiation therapy.

It is known that childhood cancer survivors who received prior cranial radiation therapy are at an increased risk of stroke, says Sapkota. Therefore, researchers sought to determine whether there was a genetic feature that could predict the risk of stroke in this population. Investigators analyzed whole-genome sequencing data from 686 childhood cancer survivors treated with CRT for their primary cancer from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort study. Among those survivors, 17% (n = 116) developed a clinically diagnosed stroke, says Sapkota.

Investigators then assessed genetic variants among those children and found that a common single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was associated with an approximately 3-fold increased risk of developing stroke in European survivors, he concludes.