The Definition of Sarcomeric and Non-Sarcomeric Gene Mutations in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Patients: A Multicenter Diagnostic Study Across Turkiye

Background: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a common genetic heart disease and up to 40%-60% of patients have mutations in cardiac sarcomere protein genes. This genetic diagnosis study aimed to detect pathogenic or likely pathogenic sarcomeric and non-sarcomeric gene mutations and to confirm a final molecular diagnosis in patients diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Methods: A total of 392 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy were included in this nationwide multicenter study conducted at 23 centers across Turkiye. All samples were analyzed with a 17-gene hypertrophic cardiomyopathy panel using next-generation sequencing technology. The gene panel includes ACTC1, DES, FLNC, GLA, LAMP2, MYBPC3, MYH7, MYL2, MYL3, PLN, PRKAG2, PTPN11, TNNC1, TNNI3, TNNT2, TPM1, and TTR genes. Results: The next-generation sequencing panel identified positive genetic variants (variants of unknown significance, likely pathogenic or pathogenic) in 12 genes for 121 of 392 samples, including sarcomeric gene mutations in 30.4% (119/392) of samples tested, galactosidase alpha variants in 0.5% (2/392) of samples and TTR variant in 0.025% (1/392). The likely pathogenic or pathogenic variants identified in 69 (57.0%) of 121 positive samples yielded a confirmed molecular diagnosis. The diagnostic yield was 17.1% (15.8% for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy variants) for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy phenocopies and 0.5% for Fabry disease. Conclusions: Our study showed that the distribution of genetic mutations, the prevalence of Fabry disease, and TTR amyloidosis in the Turkish population diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy were similar to the other populations, but the percentage of sarcomeric gene mutations was slightly lower

Personalized detection of circulating tumor DNA antedates breast cancer metastatic recurrence

Purpose: Up to 30% of patients with breast cancer relapse after primary treatment. There are no sensitive and reliable tests to monitor these patients and detect distant metastases before overt recurrence. Here, we demonstrate the use of personalized circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) profiling for detection of recurrence in breast cancer. Experimental Design: Forty-nine primary patients with breast cancer were recruited following surgery and adjuvant therapy. Plasma samples (n = 208) were collected every 6 months for up to 4 years. Personalized assays targeting 16 variants selected from primary tumor whole-exome data were tested in serial plasma for the presence of ctDNA by ultradeep sequencing (average >100,000X). Results: Plasma ctDNA was detected ahead of clinical or radiologic relapse in 16 of the 18 relapsed patients (sensitivity of 89%); metastatic relapse was predicted with a lead time of up to 2 years (median, 8.9 months; range, 0.5–24.0 months). None of the 31 nonrelapsing patients were ctDNA-positive at any time point across 156 plasma samples (specificity of 100%). Of the two relapsed patients who were not detected in the study, the first had only a local recurrence, whereas the second patient had bone recurrence and had completed chemotherapy just 13 days prior to blood sampling. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that patient-specific ctDNA analysis can be a sensitive and specific approach for disease surveillance for patients with breast cancer. More importantly, earlier detection of up to 2 years provides a possible window for therapeutic intervention

Personalized detection of circulating tumor DNA antedates breast cancer metastatic recurrence.

PURPOSE: Up to 30% of breast cancer patients relapse after primary treatment. There are no sensitive and reliable tests to monitor these patients and detect distant metastases before overt recurrence. Here we demonstrate the use of personalized ctDNA profiling for detection of recurrence in breast cancer. METHODS: Forty-nine primary breast cancer patients were recruited following surgery and adjuvant therapy. Plasma samples (n=208) were collected every 6 months for up to 4 years. Personalized assays targeting 16 variants selected from primary tumor whole exome data were tested in serial plasma for the presence of ctDNA by ultra-deep sequencing (average >100,000X). RESULTS: Plasma ctDNA was detected ahead of clinical or radiological relapse in 16 of the 18 relapsed patients (sensitivity of 89%); metastatic relapse was predicted with a lead time of up to 2 years (median=8.9 months; range: 0.5-24.0 months). None of the 31 non-relapsing patients were ctDNA-positive at any time point across 156 plasma samples (specificity of 100%). Of the two relapsed patients who were not detected in the study, the first had only a local recurrence, while the second patient had bone recurrence and had completed chemotherapy just 13 days prior to blood sampling. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that patient-specific ctDNA analysis can be a sensitive and specific approach for disease surveillance for breast cancer patients. More importantly, earlier detection of up to two years provides a possible window for therapeutic intervention

Personalized detection of circulating tumor DNA antedates breast cancer metastatic recurrence.

PURPOSE: Up to 30% of breast cancer patients relapse after primary treatment. There are no sensitive and reliable tests to monitor these patients and detect distant metastases before overt recurrence. Here we demonstrate the use of personalized ctDNA profiling for detection of recurrence in breast cancer. METHODS: Forty-nine primary breast cancer patients were recruited following surgery and adjuvant therapy. Plasma samples (n=208) were collected every 6 months for up to 4 years. Personalized assays targeting 16 variants selected from primary tumor whole exome data were tested in serial plasma for the presence of ctDNA by ultra-deep sequencing (average >100,000X). RESULTS: Plasma ctDNA was detected ahead of clinical or radiological relapse in 16 of the 18 relapsed patients (sensitivity of 89%); metastatic relapse was predicted with a lead time of up to 2 years (median=8.9 months; range: 0.5-24.0 months). None of the 31 non-relapsing patients were ctDNA-positive at any time point across 156 plasma samples (specificity of 100%). Of the two relapsed patients who were not detected in the study, the first had only a local recurrence, while the second patient had bone recurrence and had completed chemotherapy just 13 days prior to blood sampling. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that patient-specific ctDNA analysis can be a sensitive and specific approach for disease surveillance for breast cancer patients. More importantly, earlier detection of up to two years provides a possible window for therapeutic intervention