Understanding of the etiology and risk of pancreatic cancer (PaCa) is still poorly understood. This study evaluated the prevalence of 10 Polish founder mutations in four genes among PaCa patients and ...assessed their possible association with the risk of disease in Poland. In the study 383 PaCa patients and 4,000 control subjects were genotyped for founder mutations in: BRCA1 (5382insC, 4153delA, C61G), CHEK2 (1100delC, IVS2 + 1G > A, del5395, I157T), NBS1 (657del5) and PALB2 (509_510delGA, 172_175delTTGT). A statistically significant association between the 657del5 mutation and an increased risk of pancreatic cancer was observed for NBS1 gene. The Slavic NBS1 gene mutation (657delACAAA) was detected in 8 of 383 (2.09%) unselected cases compared with 22 of 4,000 (0.55%) controls (OR: 3.80, p = 0.002). The PALB2 509_510delGA and 172_175delTTGT mutations combined were seen in 2 (0.52%) unselected cases of PaCa and in 8 (0.20%) of 4,000 controls (OR: 2.61, p = 0.49). For BRCA1, the three mutations combined were detected in 4 of 383 (1.04%) PaCa patients and in 17 of 4,000 (0.42%) controls (OR: 2.46, p = 0.20). CHEK2 mutations were not associated with the risk of pancreatic cancer (OR: 1.11, p = 0.72). The founder mutation in NBS1 (657del5) was associated with an increased risk of PaCa in heterozygous carriers, indicating that this mutation appears to predispose to cancer of the pancreas. By identifying pancreatic cancer risk groups, founder mutation testing in Poland should be considered for people at risk for PaCa.
What's new?
The genetic and molecular mechanisms that lead to pancreatic cancer are still poorly understood. In this study, the authors examined founder mutations that are known to be associated with several types of cancer in Poland. They found that a particular mutation in NBS1 was associated with a significant increase in the risk of pancreatic cancer. Screening for this mutation may therefore help identify people who are at risk for pancreatic cancer in Poland and probably other Slavic populations.
There is a need for sensitive and specific biomarkers for the early detection of colorectal cancer. In this retrospective study, we assessed whether a high blood copper level was associated with the ...presence of colorectal cancer. The blood copper level was measured among 187 colorectal cancer patients and 187 matched controls. Cases and controls were matched for sex, smoking status (yes/no) and year of birth. Among the cases, the mean blood copper level was 1031 µg/L (range 657 µg/L to 2043 µg/L) and among the controls, the mean blood copper level was 864 µg/L (range 589 µg/L to 1433 µg/L). The odds ratio for colorectal cancer for those in the highest quartile of copper level (versus the lowest) was 12.7 (95% CI: 4.98–32.3; p < 0.001). Of the patients with stage I–II colon cancer, 62% had a copper level in the highest quartile. A blood copper level in excess of 930 µg/L is associated with an increase in the prevalence of colorectal cancer in the Polish population and its potential use in early detection programs should be considered.
The
gene belongs to a cluster of DNA-editing enzymes on chromosome 22 and encodes an activation-induced cytidine deaminase. A large deletion of
was associated with increased breast cancer risk, but ...the evidence is inconclusive. To investigate whether or not
is a breast cancer susceptibility gene, we sequenced this gene in 617 Polish patients with hereditary breast cancer. We detected a single recurrent truncating mutation (c.783delG, p.Val262Phefs) in four of the 617 (0.65%) hereditary cases by sequencing. We then genotyped an additional 12,484 women with unselected breast cancer and 3740 cancer-free women for the c.783delG mutation. The
c.783delG allele was detected in 60 (0.48%) unselected cases and 19 (0.51%) controls (OR = 0.95, 95% CI 0.56-1.59,
= 0.94). The allele was present in 8 of 1968 (0.41%) familial breast cancer patients from unselected cases (OR = 0.80, 95% CI 0.35-1.83,
= 0.74). Clinical characteristics of breast tumors in carriers of the
mutation and non-carriers were similar. No cancer type was more frequent in the relatives of mutation carriers than in those of non-carriers. We conclude the
deleterious mutation p.Val262Phefs does not confer breast cancer risk. These data do not support the hypothesis that
is a breast cancer susceptibility gene.
Background
The objective of this study was to determine spectrum and prevalence of germline mutations in
TP53
gene among Polish women with early-onset breast cancer (BC), which has not been ...determined until now.
Methods
A cohort of 100 females with BC diagnosed ≤ 30 years of age and with a positive family history of cancer was used as a discovery cohort. 1880 women with BC ≤ 45 years old and a control group of 2000 healthy women were genotyped as a replication phase of this study.
Results
Four heterozygous pathogenic missense mutations were detected in a group of 100 patients with early-onset breast cancer. On the basis of software prediction and available literature data, all these variants were defined as pathogenic. None of these
TP53
variants were detected among 1880 breast cancer patients and 2000 healthy controls. No large mutations were found among early-onset cases using MLPA reaction.
Conclusion
Germline pathogenic
TP53
variants were found in 4% early-onset Polish BC patients. No founder mutations were identified in Polish population. To improve the treatment and surveillance screening, the search for germline TP53 pathogenic variants is recommended for all female BC cases diagnosed ≤ 30 years old.
There are several genes associated with ovarian cancer risk. Molecular changes in borderline ovarian tumor (BOT) indicate linkage of this disease to type I ovarian tumors (low-grade ovarian ...carcinomas). This study determined the prevalence and association of mutations in BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, RAD51C, and CHEK2 with the risk of BOTs.
The study group consisted of 102 patients with histologically confirmed BOT and 1743 healthy controls. In addition, 167 cases with ovarian cancer G1 were analyzed. The analyses included genotyping of 21 founder and recurrent mutations localized in 5 genes (BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, RAD51C, and CHEK2). The risk for developing BOT and low-grade ovarian cancer, as well as the association of tested mutations with survival, was estimated.
The CHEK2 missense mutation (c.470T>C) was associated with 2-times increased risk of BOT (OR=2.05, p=0.03), at an earlier age at diagnosis and about 10% worse rate of a 10-year survival. Mutations in BRCA1 and PALB2 were associated with a high risk of ovarian cancer G1 (OR=8.53, p=0.005 and OR=7.03, p=0.03, respectively) and were related to worse all-cause survival for BRCA1 carriers (HR=4.73, 95%CI 1.45-15.43, p=0.01).
Results suggest that CHEK2 (c.470T>C) may possibly play a role in the pathogenesis of BOT, but due to the low number of BOT patients, obtained results should be considered as preliminary. Larger more in-depth studies are required.
The goal of this study was to estimate the risk of thyroid cancer following breast cancer and to identify therapeutic and genetic risk factors for the development of thyroid cancer after breast ...cancer. We followed 10,832 breast cancer patients for a mean of 14 years for new cases of thyroid cancer. All women were genotyped for three Polish founder mutations in BRCA1 (C61G, 4153delA, 5382insC) and four mutations in CHEK2 (1100delC, IVS2 + 1G/A, del5395, I157T). Information was collected on chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormonal therapies, and oophorectomy. Of the 10,832 women, 53 (0.49%) developed a second primary thyroid cancer. Based on Polish population statistics, the expected number was 12.4 (SIR = 4.3). The ten-year risk of developing thyroid cancer was higher in women who carried a CHEK2 mutation (1.5%) than in women who carried no mutation (0.9%). The age-adjusted hazard ratio for developing thyroid cancer was 1.89 (0.46-7.79;
= 0.38) for those with a CHEK2 protein-truncating mutation and 2.75 (1.29-5.85;
= 0.009) for those with a CHEK2 missense mutation.
An important group of breast cancers is those associated with inherited susceptibility. In women, several predisposing mutations in genes involved in DNA repair have been discovered. Women with a ...germline pathogenic variant in BRCA1 have a lifetime cancer risk of 70%. As part of a larger prospective study on heavy metals, our aim was to investigate if blood arsenic levels are associated with breast cancer risk among women with inherited BRCA1 mutations. A total of 1084 participants with pathogenic variants in BRCA1 were enrolled in this study. Subjects were followed from 2011 to 2020 (mean follow-up time: 3.75 years). During that time, 90 cancers were diagnosed, including 67 breast and 10 ovarian cancers. The group was stratified into two categories (lower and higher blood As levels), divided at the median (<0.85 µg/L and ≥0.85 µg/L) As level among all unaffected participants. Cox proportional hazards models were used to model the association between As levels and cancer incidence. A high blood As level (≥0.85 µg/L) was associated with a significantly increased risk of developing breast cancer (HR = 2.05; 95%CI: 1.18–3.56; p = 0.01) and of any cancer (HR = 1.73; 95%CI: 1.09–2.74; p = 0.02). These findings suggest a possible role of environmental arsenic in the development of cancers among women with germline pathogenic variants in BRCA1.
Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and metallothioneins (MTs) are Zinc-related proteins which are involved in processes crucial for carcinogenesis such as angiogenesis, proliferation and apoptosis. ...Several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in MMPs and MTs that affect genes expression have been associated with cancer risk, including breast, lung and colon.
The study group consisted of 648 unselected patients (299 with breast cancer, 199 with lung cancer, 150 with colon cancer) and 648 unaffected individuals. Five SNPs, rs1799750 in
rs243865 in
rs11568818 in
rs2252070 in
and rs28366003 in
were genotyped and serum zinc (Zn) level was measured. The cancer risk was calculated using multivariable logistic regression with respect to Zn.
None of the 5 tested polymorphisms showed a correlation with cancer risk in studied groups, although for
,
and
non-significant differences in genotypes frequencies among cases and controls were observed.
Analyses of polymorphisms, rs1799750 in
, rs243865 in
, rs11568818 in
, rs2252070 in
and rs28366003 in
in relation to serum Zn level did not show significant association with breast, lung and colon cancer risk among polish patients. Further studies are needed to verify this observation.
There are twenty recurrent mutations in six breast-cancer-predisposing genes in Poland (BRCA1, BRCA2, CHEK2, PALB2, NBN, and RECQL). The frequencies of the twenty alleles have not been measured in a ...large series of early-onset breast cancer patients from Poland unselected for family history. We genotyped 2464 women with breast cancer diagnosed below age 41 years for twenty recurrent germline mutations in six genes, including BRCA1, BRCA2 CHEK2, PALB2, NBN, and RECQL. A mutation in one of the six genes was identified in 419 of the 2464 early-onset breast cancer cases (17%), including 22.4% of those cases diagnosed below age 31. The mutation frequency was 18.8% for familial breast cancer cases and 6% for non-familial cases. Among women with breast cancer below age 31, the mutation frequency was 23.6% for familial cases and 17.4% in non-familial cases. The majority of mutations (76.2%) were seen in BRCA1 and BRCA2. In Poland, a panel of twenty recurrent mutations in six genes can identify a genetic basis for a high percentage of early-onset cases and testing is recommended for all women with breast cancer at age 40 or below.
The current cancer testing gene panels tend to be comprehensive rather than site-specific. BARD1 is one of the genes commonly included in the multi-cancer testing panels. Mutations in BARD1 confer an ...increase in the risk for breast cancer, but it is not studied whether or not they predispose to prostate cancer. To establish if BARD1 mutations also predispose to prostate cancer, we screened BARD1 in 390 Polish patients with hereditary prostate cancer. No truncating mutations were identified by sequencing. We also genotyped 5715 men with unselected prostate cancer, and 10,252 controls for three recurrent BARD1 variants, including p.Q564X, p.R658C and p.R659=. Neither variant conferred elevated risk of prostate cancer (ORs between 0.84 and 1.15, p-values between 0.57 and 0.93) nor did they influence prostate cancer characteristics or survival. We conclude that men with a BARD1 mutation are not at elevated prostate cancer risk. It is not justified to inform men about increased prostate cancer risk in case of identification of a BARD1 mutation. However, a female relative of a man with a BARD1 mutation may benefit from this information and be tested for the mutation, because BARD1 is a breast cancer susceptibility gene.
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