{"id":1493,"date":"2020-06-28T14:41:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-28T14:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/jmg\/?p=1493"},"modified":"2026-02-23T23:55:01","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T23:55:01","slug":"heritable-genetic-variants-in-key-cancer-genes-link-cancer-risk-with-anthropometric-traits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/jmg\/2020\/06\/28\/heritable-genetic-variants-in-key-cancer-genes-link-cancer-risk-with-anthropometric-traits\/","title":{"rendered":"Heritable genetic variants in key cancer genes link cancer risk with anthropometric traits (Contributed by Dr. Francesca M. Buffa)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Physical measures, like height and weight, are known to associate with cancer risk. However, the reasons for these associations are not well understood.\u00a0\u00a0Here we explore if differences in our genetic code might contribute to these associations.\u00a0\u00a0We study the genomes of 500,000 people living in the United Kingdom and show that differences in the genetic code that increase cancer risk also associate with physical measures. Notably, we find that a genetic code change found in over 1% of the population increases the risk of developing skin and brain cancers, but also the likelihood of being taller and leaner. (https:\/\/jmg.bmj.com\/content\/early\/2020\/06\/26\/jmedgenet-2019-106799<\/a> )<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Physical measures, like height and weight, are known to associate with cancer risk. However, the reasons for these associations are not well understood.\u00a0\u00a0Here we explore if differences in our genetic code might contribute to these associations.\u00a0\u00a0We study the genomes of 500,000 people living in the United Kingdom and show that differences in the genetic code […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nHeritable genetic variants in key cancer genes link cancer risk with anthropometric traits (Contributed by Dr. Francesca M. Buffa) - JMG Contact blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/jmg\/2020\/06\/28\/heritable-genetic-variants-in-key-cancer-genes-link-cancer-risk-with-anthropometric-traits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Heritable genetic variants in key cancer genes link cancer risk with anthropometric traits (Contributed by Dr. Francesca M. Buffa) - JMG Contact blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Physical measures, like height and weight, are known to associate with cancer risk. However, the reasons for these associations are not well understood.\u00a0\u00a0Here we explore if differences in our genetic code might contribute to these associations.\u00a0\u00a0We study the genomes of 500,000 people living in the United Kingdom and show that differences in the genetic code [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/jmg\/2020\/06\/28\/heritable-genetic-variants-in-key-cancer-genes-link-cancer-risk-with-anthropometric-traits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"JMG Contact blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-28T14:41:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-23T23:55:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"hqqu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@HuiQiQu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"hqqu\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/jmg\\\/2020\\\/06\\\/28\\\/heritable-genetic-variants-in-key-cancer-genes-link-cancer-risk-with-anthropometric-traits\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/jmg\\\/2020\\\/06\\\/28\\\/heritable-genetic-variants-in-key-cancer-genes-link-cancer-risk-with-anthropometric-traits\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"hqqu\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/jmg\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be0250f8d5b52412c3e7c222dabd591b\"},\"headline\":\"Heritable genetic variants in key cancer genes link cancer risk with anthropometric traits (Contributed by Dr. Francesca M. 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His research applies human genetics and multi-omics to complex and pediatric diseases, including GWAS, polygenic risk scores (PRS), single-cell transcriptomics, and integrative genomics to support precision medicine and clinical translation.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/HuiQiQu\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/jmg\\\/author\\\/hqiqu\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Heritable genetic variants in key cancer genes link cancer risk with anthropometric traits (Contributed by Dr. Francesca M. 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