Towards Evidence-Based Management of Inherited Breast and Breast-Ovarian Cancer

Inherited breast-ovarian cancer was described in 1866. The underlying genetic defects in BRCA1/2 were demonstrated 128 years later. We now have 10 years of experience with genetic testing in BRCA kindreds. The majority of breast cancer kindreds (familial breast cancer) do not demonstrate ovarian cancer and are not associated with BRCA mutations. The effect of early diagnosis and treatment is monitored through international collaborations

MRI screening of women with hereditary predisposition to breast cancer:diagnostic performance and survival analysis

This letter to the editor refers to the article available at doi:10.1007/ s10549-014-2931-9, and a rebuttal letter to this letter to the editor is available at doi:10.1007/s10549-014-3200-7

Prospective observational data informs understanding and future management of Lynch syndrome: insights from the Prospective Lynch Syndrome Database (PLSD)

The Prospective Lynch Syndrome Database (PLSD) has been developed as an international, multicentre, prospective, obser- vational study that aims to provide age and organ-specific cancer risks according to gene and gender, estimates of survival after cancer and information on the effects of interventions. Recent reports from PLSD provided improved estimates of cancer risks and survival and showed that different time intervals between surveillance colonoscopies did not affect the incidence, stage or prognosis of colorectal cancer. The PLSD reports suggest that current management guidelines for Lynch syndrome should be revised in light of the different gene and gender-specific cancer risks and the good prognosis for the most commonly associated cancers. In this review, we describe the discrepancies between the current management guidelines for Lynch Syndrome and the most recent prospective observational studies, indicating the areas of further research.Peer reviewe

MUTYH Mutations Do Not Cause HNPCC or Late Onset Familial Colorectal Cancer

Recently, carriers of biallelic mutations in the base excision repair gene MUTYH, have been demonstrated to have a predisposition for multiple adenomas and colorectal cancer. Still, many questions remain unanswered concerning MUTYH. We have addressed the following: Do biallelic MUTYH mutation carriers invariably demonstrate FAP, and may MUTYH be a gene causing HNPCC, HNPCC-like or dominantly inherited late onset colorectal cancer? We examined affecteds from our total series of HNPCC, HNPCC-like and dominantly inherited late onset colorectal cancer kindreds not demonstrated to have any MMR mutations. Bloodsamples from 96 patients were subjected to sequencing of exon 7 and exon 13 in the MUTYH gene. Two heterozygotes and one homozygote for the European founder mutations were found. The homozygous carrier did not meet criteria for FAP/AFAP. We conclude that MUTYH, when mutated, causes a rare recessively inherited disorder including colorectal- and duodenal cancers. It is not verified that heterozygous carriers of MUTYH mutations have an increased risk of cancer, and they do not explain the occurrence of familial colorectal cancer in the population

Cancer Predisposition Sequencing Reporter (CPSR): A flexible variant report engine for high-throughput germline screening in cancer

The value of high-throughput germline genetic testing is increasingly recognized inclinical cancer care. Disease-associated germline variants in cancer patients areimportant for risk management and surveillance, surgical decisions and can also havemajor implications for treatment strategies since many are in DNA repair genes. Withthe increasing availability of high-throughput DNA sequencing in cancer clinics andresearch, there is thus a need to provide clinically oriented sequencing reports forgermline variants and their potential therapeutic relevance on a per-patient basis. Tomeet this need, we have developed the Cancer Predisposition Sequencing Reporter(CPSR), an open-source computational workflow that generates a structured reportof germline variants identified in known cancer predisposition genes, highlightingmarkers of therapeutic, prognostic and diagnostic relevance. A fully automated vari-ant classification procedure based on more than 30 refined American College ofMedical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) criteria represents an integral part of theworkflow. Importantly, the set of cancer predisposition genes profiled in the reportcan be flexibly chosen from more than 40 virtual gene panels established by scientificexperts, enabling customization of the report for different screening purposes andclinical contexts. The report can be configured to also list actionable secondary vari-ant findings, as recommended by ACMG. CPSR demonstrates comparable sensitivityand specificity for the detection of pathogenic variants when compared to otheralgorithms in the field. Technically, the tool is implemented in Python/R, and is freelyavailable through Docker technology. Source code, documentation, example reportsand installation instructions are accessible via the project GitHub page: https://github.com/sigven/cpsr.publishedVersio

Ten modifiers of BRCA1 penetrance validated in a Norwegian series

BACKGROUND: Common genetic variants have been shown to modify BRCA1 penetrance. The aim of this study was to validate these reports in a special cohort of Norwegian BRCA1 mutation carriers that were selected for their extreme age of onset of disease. METHODS: The ten variants rs13387042, rs3803662, rs8170, rs9397435, rs700518, rs10046, rs3834129, rs1045485, rs2363956 and rs16942 were selected to be tested on samples from our biobank. We selected female BRCA1 mutation carriers having had a diagnosis of breast or ovarian cancer below 40 years of age (young cancer group, N = 40), and mutation carriers having had neither breast nor ovarian cancer above 60 years of age (i.e., old no cancer group, N = 38). Relative risks and odd ratios of belonging to the young cancer versus old no cancer groups were calculated as a function of having or not having the SNPs in question. RESULTS: Five of the ten variants were found to be significantly associated with early onset cancer. Some of the variation between our results and those previously reported may be ascribed to stochastic effects in our limited number of patient studies, and/or genetic drift in linkage disequilibrium in the genetically isolated Norwegian population. This is in accordance with the understanding that the SNPs are markers in linkage disequilibrium with their respective disease-causing genetic variants, and that this may vary between different populations. CONCLUSIONS: The results confirmed associations previously reported, with the notion that the degree of association may differ between other populations, which must be considered when discussing the clinical use of the associations described

Germline PTEN mutations are rare and highly penetrant

Cowden syndrome (multiple hamartoma syndrome, MIM 158350) is an early onset syndrome characterized by multiple hamartomas in the skin, mucous membranes, breast, thyroid and endometrium. Patients with Cowden syndrome have increased risk of breast cancer, thyroid cancer and endometrial cancer. In 1997 germline mutations in PTEN were demonstrated to cause Cowden syndrome. We report the results of diagnostic and predictive testing in all families with Cowden syndrome or suspected Cowden syndrome registered at the Norwegian cancer family clinics. PTEN mutations were found in all six families meeting the clinical criteria for Cowden syndrome, in none of the two families assumed to have Cowden syndrome but not fulfilling the criteria, and in none of the eight families selected in our computerized medical files to have a combination of breast and thyroid cancers. Age-related penetrances for the various neoplasms are given. All families but one were small and de novo mutations were found

Evolutionary Instability of Collateral Susceptibility Networks in Ciprofloxacin-Resistant Clinical Escherichia coli Strains

ABSTRACT Collateral sensitivity and resistance occur when resistance development toward one antimicrobial either potentiates or deteriorates the effect of others. Previous reports on collateral effects on susceptibility focus on newly acquired resistance determinants and propose that novel treatment guidelines informed by collateral networks may reduce the evolution, selection, and spread of antimicrobial resistance. In this study, we investigate the evolutionary stability of collateral networks in five ciprofloxacin-resistant, clinical Escherichia coli strains. After 300 generations of experimental evolution without antimicrobials, we show complete fitness restoration in four of five genetic backgrounds and demonstrate evolutionary instability in collateral networks of newly acquired resistance determinants. We show that compensatory mutations reducing efflux expression are the main drivers destabilizing initial collateral networks and identify rpoS as a putative target for compensatory evolution. Our results add another layer of complexity to future predictions and clinical application of collateral networks. IMPORTANCE Antimicrobial resistance occurs due to genetic alterations that affect different processes in bacteria. Thus, developing resistance toward one antimicrobial drug may also alter the response toward others (collateral effects). Understanding the mechanisms of such collateral effects may provide clinicians with a framework for informed antimicrobial treatment strategies, limiting the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. However, for clinical implementation, it is important that the collateral effects of resistance development are repeatable and temporarily stable. Here, we show that collateral effects caused by resistance development toward ciprofloxacin in clinical Escherichia coli strains are not temporarily stable because of compensatory mutations restoring the fitness burden of the initial resistance mutations. Consequently, this instability is complicating the general applicability and clinical implementation of collateral effects into treatment strategies