Nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate and cancer: Evaluation of a possible common genetic background through the analysis of GWAS data

Previous research suggests a genetic overlap between nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P) and cancer. The aim of the present study was to identify common genetic risk loci for NSCL/P and cancer entities that have been reported to co-occur with orofacial clefting. This was achieved through the investigation of large genome-wide association study datasets. Investigations of 12 NSCL/P single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 32 cancer datasets, and 204 cancer SNPs in two NSCL/P datasets, were performed. The SNPs rs13041247 (20q12) and rs6457327 (6p21.33) showed suggestive evidence for an association with both NSCL/P and a specific cancer entity. These loci harbor genes of biological relevance to oncogenesis (MAFB and OCT4, respectively). This study is the first to characterize possible pleiotropic risk loci for NSCL/P and cancer in a systematic manner. The data represent a starting point for future research by identifying a genetic link between NSCL/P and cancer.