Germline variants of uncertain significance, their frequency, and clinico-pathological features in a cohort of Sri Lankan patients with hereditary breast cancer

BMC Research Notes

Research Note

Kawmadi Gunawardena¹  Nirmala D. Sirisena¹  Nilaksha Neththikumara¹  Vajira H.W. Dissanayake¹  Gayani Anandagoda¹ 

[1] Department of Anatomy, Genetics and Biomedical Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo 8, Sri Lanka;

关键词: Breast cancer;    cancer phenotype;    Germline variants;    Hereditary cancer;    VUS;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13104-023-06365-4

 received in 2022-10-21, accepted in 2023-05-22,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundNext-Generation Sequencing (NGS)-based testing in cancer patients has led to increased detection of variants of uncertain significance (VUS). VUS are genetic variants whose impact on protein function is unknown. VUS pose a challenge to clinicians and patients due to uncertainty regarding their cancer predisposition risk. Paucity of data exists on the pattern of VUS in under-represented populations. This study describes the frequency of germline VUS and clinico-pathological features in Sri Lankan hereditary breast cancer patients.MethodsData of 72 hereditary breast cancer patients who underwent NGS-based testing between January 2015 and December 2021 were maintained prospectively in a database and analyzed retrospectively. Data were subjected to bioinformatics analysis and variants were classified according to international guidelines.ResultsGermline variants were detected in 33/72(45.8%) patients, comprising 16(48.5%) pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants and 17(51.5%) VUS. Distribution of VUS in breast cancer predisposing genes were :APC:1(5.8%), ATM:2(11.7%), BRCA1:1(5.8%), BRCA2:5(29.4%), BRIP1:1(5.8%), CDKN2A:1(5.8%), CHEK2:2(11.7%), FANC1:1(5.8%), MET:1(5.8%), STK11:1(5.8%), NF2:1(5.8%). Mean age at cancer diagnosis in patients with VUS was 51.2 years. Most common tumour histopathology was ductal carcinoma 11(78.6%). 50% of tumours in patients having VUS in BRCA1/2 genes were hormone receptor negative. 73.3% patients had family history of breast cancer.ConclusionsA significant portion of patients had a germline VUS. Highest frequency was in BRCA2 gene. Majority had family history of breast cancer. This highlights the need to undertake functional genomic studies to determine the biological effects of VUS and identify potentially clinically actionable variants that would be useful for decision-making and patient management.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023