Replication Study for the Association of Five SNPs Identified by GWAS and Trastuzumab-Induced Cardiotoxicity in Japanese and Singaporean Cohorts

Trastuzumab (herceptin) is an effective drug for human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2)-positive cancer. However, cardiotoxicity remains a serious complication. In our previous genome-wide association study (GWAS), we identified potential associations for five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with trastuzumab-induced cardiotoxicity in a Japanese population. To validate this association, here we performed replication studies using Japanese and Singaporean case-control cohorts (Japan: 6 cases and 206 controls; Singapore: 22 cases and 178 controls). Although none of the SNPs showed a statistically significant association with trastuzumab-induced cardiotoxicity, we show that three (rs8032978, rs7406710 and rs9316695) and four (rs8032978, rs7406710, rs28415722 and rs11932853) SNPs had an effect in the same direction in the Japanese and the Singaporean cohort, respectively, as that in our previous study. Combining the previous study with the current replication studies, we find a strong association for two SNPs, rs8032978 and rs7406710, with trastuzumab-induced cardiotoxicity (Pcombined = 4.92 × 10−5 and 5.50 × 10−5, respectively). These data suggest that rs8032978 and rs7406710 could be predictive markers of trastuzumab-induced cardiotoxicity in Japanese and Singaporean populations, and support their potential use in clinical risk assessment. These findings offer a first step toward the development of clinically available markers for the potential risk of trastuzumab-induced cardiotoxicity as well as an improved understanding of the pathogenesis of this complication.