GATA3 germline variants in childhood pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia: association with CRLF2 overexpression and overweight in Mexican patients

Abstract

Introduction: CRLF2 abnormalities are prevalent in Hispanics from the U.S. and Mexican children with pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). This trait is associated with unfavorable prognosis. Furthermore, SNPs rs3824662 and rs3781093 in GATA3 have been associated with an increased risk of pre-B ALL. In particular, rs3824662 is associated with CRLF2-ALL, with a higher prevalence in Hispanic patients. Additionally, rs3824662 is associated with adipogenesis, since Hispanic patients have a high prevalence of obesity and overweight, it has been suggested that obesity predisposes to CRLF2-ALL. Methods: In this study, we evaluated rs3824662 and rs3781093 as predisposition markers for pre-B ALL in Mexican children using Taqman probes. Results: Both risk alleles were found to be associated with susceptibility to pre-B ALL, predisposition to CRLF2-ALL, overweight status, and overall survival. The risk alleles of both SNPs in Mexican patients were among the most frequent compared with other non-Amerindian populations. SNP rs3824662 and rs3781093 were informative for our patients. Analysis of nutritional status indicated that GATA3 alleles may impact overweight status. Discussion: Further studies on the relationship between nutritional status and GATA3, as well as analysis of other Amerindian ALL populations, are recommended.