Association of Single-Nucleotide Variants in the Human Leukocyte Antigen and Other Loci With Childhood Hodgkin Lymphoma

IMPORTANCE: Studies focusing on genetic susceptibility of childhood Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) are limited. OBJECTIVES: To identify genetic variants associated with childhood-onset HL vs adult-onset HL. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This genetic association study was performed with 3 cohorts: the St Jude Lifetime Cohort Study (SJLIFE), initiated in 2007 with ongoing follow-up, and the original and expansion cohorts of the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS), initiated in the 1990s with ongoing follow-up. Results of these genome-wide association studies (GWASs) were combined via meta-analysis. Data were analyzed from June 2021 to June 2022. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Childhood HL was the focused outcome. Single-nucleotide variant (SNV, formerly single-nucleotide polymorphism) array genotyping and imputation were conducted for the CCSS original cohort, and whole-genome sequencing was performed for the SJLIFE and CCSS expansion cohort. RESULTS: A total of 1286 HL cases (mean diagnosis [SD] age, 14.6 [3.9] years), 6193 non-HL childhood cancer cases, and 369 noncancer controls, all of European ancestry, were included in the analysis. Using step-wise conditional logistic regression, the odds ratios (ORs) for each of the 3 independent SNVs identified in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) locus were 1.80 (95% CI, 1.59-2.03; P = 2.14 × 10(−21)) for rs28383311, 1.53 (95% CI, 1.37-1.70; P = 2.05 × 10(−14)) for rs3129198, and 1.51 (95% CI, 1.35-1.69; P = 6.21 × 10(−13)) for rs3129890. Further HLA imputation revealed 9 alleles and 55 amino acid changes that potentially conferred HL susceptibility. In addition, 5 non-HLA loci were identified: (1) rs1432297 (OR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.18-1.41; P = 2.5 × 10(−8); r(2) = 0.55; D′ = 0.75 with previously reported rs1432295, REL); (2) rs2757647 (OR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.18-1.42; P = 3.5 × 10(−8); r(2) = 0.59; D′ = 0.83 with previously reported rs6928977, AHI1); (3) rs13279159 (OR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.20-1.47; P = 1.7 × 10(−8); r(2) = 0.75; D′ = 1.00 with previously reported rs2019960, PVT1); (4) rs3824662 (OR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.33-1.73; P = 3.9 × 10(−10); r(2) = 0.91; D′ = 1.00 with previously reported rs3781093, GATA3); and (5) rs117953624 (OR, 1.98; 95% CI, 1.56-2.51; P = 1.5 × 10(−8); minor allele frequency, 0.02), a novel uncommon SNV mapped to PDGFD. Twelve of 18 previously reported genome-wide significant non-HLA SNVs (67%) were replicated with statistically significant results. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this genetic association study, a predominantly common and potentially unique genetic etiology was found between childhood-onset and adulthood-onset HL.