Publications

These publications are examples of research made possible with data from CanPath and its regional cohorts.

2023

Molecular Genetic Characteristics of FANCI, a Proposed New Ovarian Cancer Predisposing Gene

Authors: Caitlin T Fierheller, Wejdan M Alenezi, Corinne Serruya, Timothée Revil, Setor Amuzu, Karine Bedard, Deepak N Subramanian, Eleanor Fewings, Jeffrey P Bruce, Stephenie Prokopec, Luigi Bouchard, Diane Provencher, William D Foulkes, Zaki El Haffaf, Anne-Marie Mes-Masson, Marc Tischkowitz, Ian G Campbell, Trevor J Pugh, Celia M T Greenwood, Jiannis Ragoussis, Patricia N Tonin

Researchers investigated the genetic characteristics of the FANCI gene, which has been linked to an increased risk of ovarian cancer. Using data from 171 CARTaGENE participants and other sources, they confirmed that a specific FANCI variant is associated with ovarian cancer and discovered potential genetic links to other cancer types.

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2022

The role of ultra-processed food consumption and depression on type 2 diabetes incidence: a prospective community study in Quebec, Canada

Authors: Akankasha Sen, Anne-Sophie Brazeau, Sonya Deschênes, Hugo Ramiro Melgar-Quiñonez, Norbert Schmitz

Researchers analyzed the association between depression and ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption as risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes (T2D) using baseline data (2009-2010) from 3,880 CARTaGENE participants. Participants with high depressive symptoms and high UPF consumption were at the highest risk for T2D. The study suggests that early management and monitoring of both risk factors could be essential for diabetes prevention.

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2022

Prediction of Cardiovascular Events by Pulse Waveform Parameters: Analysis of CARTaGENE

Authors: Louis-Charles Desbiens, Catherine Fortier, Annie-Claire Nadeau-Fredette, François Madore, Bernhard Hametner, Siegfried Wassertheurer, Mohsen Agharazii, Rémi Goupil

Researchers conducted the largest study to date evaluating non-invasive pulse waveform parameters’ association with cardiovascular events. By adding two waveform parameters to the existing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease score, they improved cardiovascular prediction and reclassified up to 5.7% of patients in another risk category.

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2022

Harnessing the power of data linkage to enrich the cancer research ecosystem in Canada

Authors: Robin Urquhart, Philip Awadalla, Parveen Bhatti, Trevor Dummer, Simon Gravel, Jennifer Vena, Riaz Alvi, Philippe Broet, Cynthia Kendell, Victoria Kirsh, Guillaume Lettre, Kimberly Skead, Grace Shen-Tu, Ellen Sweeney, Donna Turner

This abstract discusses a project aimed at linking cancer registry and administrative health data to Canada’s largest population health study, the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health (CanPath). The project seeks to enrich the cancer research ecosystem in Canada by providing researchers with a comprehensive dataset that includes genetics, environment, lifestyle, and behaviour data. The linked data will be made available through a cloud-based solution called the CanPath Data Safe Haven, which is accessible to researchers through secure access. The project will address concerns related to the accessibility of cancer data in Canada, bring more value to existing data, and support an enhanced understanding of the impacts of cancer on marginalized populations.

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2022

Identification of human mitochondrial RNA cleavage sites and candidate RNA processing factors

Authors: Guillermo Carbajosa, Aminah T Ali, Alan Hodgkinson

Researchers created a technique to find and measure specific RNA cutting events among 799 CARTaGENE participants and samples from the GTEx project. They uncovered new sites where RNA is cut during mitochondrial processing and discovered genes linked to these processes, shedding light on how genetic variations might affect mitochondrial functions and health conditions.

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2022

Identification of FAT3 as a new candidate gene for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

Authors: Dina Nada, Cédric Julien, Simon Papillon-Cavanagh, Jacek Majewski, Mohamed Elbakry, Wesam Elremaly, Mark E Samuels, Alain Moreau

Researchers aimed to identify rare genetic variations associated with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) by examining the DNA of 60 CARTaGENE participants (healthy controls) and individuals from other sources. They found that the FAT3 gene, while not statistically significant on its own, showed an excess of rare genetic changes in AIS patients, and further investigations revealed specific variants within FAT3 that were more common in severe AIS cases compared to milder cases and healthy individuals, suggesting that FAT3 may play a role in the development of AIS.

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2022

Uncovering the Contribution of Moderate-Penetrance Susceptibility Genes to Breast Cancer by Whole-Exome Sequencing and Targeted Enrichment Sequencing of Candidate Genes in Women of European Ancestry

Authors: Martine Dumont, Nana Weber-Lassalle, Charles Joly-Beauparlant, Corinna Ernst, Arnaud Droit, Bing-Jian Feng, Stéphane Dubois, Annie-Claude Collin-Deschesnes, Penny Soucy, Maxime Vallée, Frédéric Fournier, Audrey Lemaçon, Muriel A Adank, Jamie Allen, Janine Altmüller, Norbert Arnold, Margreet G E M Ausems, Riccardo Berutti, Manjeet K Bolla, Shelley Bull, Sara Carvalho, Sten Cornelissen, Michael R Dufault, Alison M Dunning, Christoph Engel, Andrea Gehrig, Willemina R R Geurts-Giele, Christian Gieger, Jessica Green, Karl Hackmann, Mohamed Helmy, Julia Hentschel, Frans B L Hogervorst, Antoinette Hollestelle, Maartje J Hooning, Judit Horváth, M Arfan Ikram, Silke Kaulfuß, Renske Keeman, Da Kuang, Craig Luccarini, Wolfgang Maier, John W M Martens, Dieter Niederacher, Peter Nürnberg, Claus-Eric Ott, Annette Peters, Paul D P Pharoah, Alfredo Ramirez, Juliane Ramser, Steffi Riedel-Heller, Gunnar Schmidt, Mitul Shah, Martin Scherer, Antje Stäbler, Tim M Strom, Christian Sutter, Holger Thiele, Christi J van Asperen, Lizet van der Kolk, Rob B van der Luijt, Alexander E Volk, Michael Wagner, Quinten Waisfisz, Qin Wang, Shan Wang-Gohrke, Bernhard H F Weber, Genome Of The Netherlands Project, Ghs Study Group, Peter Devilee, Sean Tavtigian, Gary D Bader, Alfons Meindl, David E Goldgar, Irene L Andrulis, Rita K Schmutzler, Douglas F Easton, Marjanka K Schmidt, Eric Hahnen, Jacques Simard

The aim of this study was to perform a large-scale whole-exome sequencing study, followed by a targeted validation, in breast cancer patients and healthy women of European descent. Using data from 920 CARTaGENE participants and four other sources, the researchers identified 20 novel genes with modest association evidence for overall and subtype-specific breast cancers.

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2022

Recombination affects allele-specific expression of deleterious variants in human populations

Authors: Michelle P Harwood, Isabel Alves, Hilary Edgington, Mawusse Agbessi, Vanessa Bruat, David Soave, Fabien C Lamaze, Marie-Julie Favé, Philip Awadalla

This study investigates how changes in the genetic makeup of a population, influenced by random genetic drift and selective forces, impact the variation in observable traits over time. The researchers found that specific factors like recombination rates and population size affect patterns of allele-specific gene expression, with regions of high recombination showing a higher efficiency in using this mechanism to suppress harmful genetic variations.

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2022

Analyzing cohort studies with interval-censored data: A new model-based linear rank-type test

Authors: Rodolphe Jantzen, Pascale Tubert-Bitter, Philippe Broët

When analyzing cohort studies with interval-censored data, the researchers suggest that statisticians employ their proposed test to test survival distributions’ quality between two or more groups.

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2022

The Genetic and Molecular Analyses of RAD51C and RAD51D Identifies Rare Variants Implicated in Hereditary Ovarian Cancer from a Genetically Unique Population

Authors: Wejdan M Alenezi, Larissa Milano, Caitlin T Fierheller, Corinne Serruya, Timothée Revil, Kathleen K Oros, Supriya Behl, Suzanna L Arcand, Porangana Nayar, Dan Spiegelman, Simon Gravel, Anne-Marie Mes-Masson, Diane Provencher, William D Foulkes, Zaki El Haffaf, Guy Rouleau, Luigi Bouchard, Celia M T Greenwood, Jean-Yves Masson, Jiannis Ragoussis, Patricia N Tonin

This study aimed to identify specific genetic mutations associated with increased risk of ovarian cancer. The mutations they discovered were found in many early-onset cases, particularly RAD51D, suggesting their role in hereditary ovarian cancer and the importance of the genes in the development of this disease.

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