Genetic variation in bone morphogenetic protein and colon and rectal cancer

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP) are part of the TGF-β-signaling pathway; genetic variation in these genes may be involved in colorectal cancer. In this study, we evaluated the association between genetic variation in BMP1 (11 tagSNPs), BMP2 (5 tagSNPs), BMP4 (3 tagSNPs), BMPR1A (9 tagSNPs), BMPR1B (21 tagSNPs), BMPR2 (11 tagSNPs) and GDF10 (7 tagSNPs) with risk of colon and rectal cancer and tumor molecular phenotype. We used data from population-based case-control studies (colon cancer n = 1,574 cases, 1,970 controls; rectal cancer n = 791 cases, 999 controls). We observed that genetic variation in BMPR1A, BMPR1B, BMPR2, BMP2 and BMP4 was associated with risk of developing colon cancer, with 20 to 30% increased risk for most high-risk genotypes. A summary of high-risk genotypes showed over a twofold increase in colon cancer risk at the upper risk category (OR = 2.49 95% CI = 1.95, 3.18). BMPR2, BMPR1B, BMP2 and GDF10 were associated with rectal cancer. BMPR2 rs2228545 was associated with an almost twofold increased risk of rectal cancer. The risk associated with the highest category of the summary score for rectal cancer was 2.97 (95% CI = 1.87, 4.72). Genes in the BMP-signaling pathway were consistently associated with CIMP+ status in combination with both KRAS-mutated and MSI tumors. BMP genes interacted statistically significantly with other genes in the TGF-β-signaling pathway, including TGFβ1, TGFβR1, Smad 3, Smad 4 and Smad 7. Our data support a role for genetic variation in BMP-related genes in the etiology of colon and rectal cancer. One possible mechanism is via the TGF-β-signaling pathway.