Comparison of genetic susceptibility to lung adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma in Japanese patients using a novel panel for cancer-related drug-metabolizing enzyme genes

The differences in genetic susceptibility to lung adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma remain unclear. We developed a customized, targeted gene sequencing panel for efficient and sensitive identification of germline variants, including whole-gene deletion types for cancer-related drug-metabolizing enzyme genes in lung adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. The minor allele frequencies of the variants, confirmed as clinically significant in the Japanese population, did not differ significantly from those of normal participants listed in the public database. Genotype analysis comparing lung adenocarcinoma (n = 559) and squamous cell carcinoma (n = 151) indicated that the variants of DPYD (rs190771411, Fisher’s exact test, P = 0.045; rs200562975, P = 0.045) and ALDH2 (rs568781254, P = 0.032) were associated with an increased risk of squamous cell carcinoma compared to adenocarcinoma. Conversely, whole-gene deletion of CYP2A6 was associated with adenocarcinoma but not squamous cell carcinoma. Notably, whole-gene deletion of CYP2A6 was confirmed in 22 patients with lung adenocarcinoma but not in any patients with squamous cell carcinoma. Most patients with whole-gene deletion of CYP2A6 were female non-smokers. The discovery of a whole-gene deletion of CYP2A6 in patients with lung adenocarcinoma may have an important role in clinical practice and advance our understanding of CYP2A6 germline variants and their association with carcinogenesis or their susceptibility to lung adenocarcinoma.