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Background: Specific germline mutations in the hereditary breast-ovarian cancer susceptibility (HBC/HBOC) genes, BRCA1, BRCA2 and PALB2, have been shown to recur in French Canadians of Quebec, Canada, and this has been attributed to common ancestors. Germline TP53 mutation carriers are known to segregate in Li-Fraumeni syndrome families, which feature young age of onset breast cancer. We have reported rare TP53 mutation carriers in French Canadian HBC families, though none recurred possibly due to the limited number of cancer families investigated. Here we describe TP53 germline mutations found in French Canadian cancer families provided from hereditary cancer clinics; investigate 37 new BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation-negative HBC/HBOC families for the TP53 mutations; and assess the frequency of TP53 mutations in a 1235 French Canadian breast cancer cases not selected for family history of cancer., Methods: TP53 mutation-positive pedigrees from French Canadian cancer families were provided from local hereditary cancer clinics. Bidirectional Sanger sequencing of all protein encoding exons of TP53 was performed using peripheral blood lymphocyte DNA from breast/ovarian cancer probands from 37 HBC/HBOC families of French Canadian descent. Targeted bidirectional Sanger sequencing assay of regions containing the identified TP53 mutations was performed on 1235 French Canadian breast cancer cases not selected for family history cancer., Results: Five new TP53 mutations were identified in six pedigrees from hereditary cancer clinics. No deleterious mutations were identified in cancer probands from 37 HBC/HBOC families. A targeted mutation screen of the 1235 breast cancer cases identified a c.844C>T [p.Arg282Trp] mutation carrier. This mutation was also found among the six mutation-positive cancer families provided by the local hereditary cancer clinics. The targeted screen also uncovered a new TP53 mutation, c.685T>C [p.Cys229Arg] that was found in two breast cancer cases. All TP53 mutation carriers were among the 656 women with breast cancer diagnosed less than 50 years of age., Conclusions: In all six new TP53 mutations were identified in French Canadians, where two each occurred in independently ascertained cases/families. Although all newly identified breast cancer mutation carriers reported a family history of cancer, none were consistent with features of Li-Fraumeni syndrome families.

Background: The PALB2 c.2323C>T [p.Q775X] mutation has been reported in at least three breast cancer families and breast cancer cases of French Canadian descent and this has been attributed to common ancestors. The number of mutation-positive cases reported varied based on criteria of ascertainment of index cases tested. Although inherited PALB2 mutations are associated with increased risks of developing breast cancer, risk to ovarian cancer has not been fully explored in this demographically unique population., Methods: We screened the PALB2 p.Q775X variant in 71 families with at least three cases of breast cancer (n=48) or breast and ovarian cancers (n=23) that have previously been found negative for at least the most common BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations reported in the French Canadian population and in 491 women of French Canadian descent who had invasive ovarian cancer and/or low malignant potential tumors of the major histopathological subtypes., Results: We identified a PALB2 p.Q775X carrier in a breast cancer family, who had invasive ductal breast carcinomas at 39 and 42 years of age. We also identified a PALB2 p.Q775X carrier who had papillary serous ovarian cystadenocarcinoma at age 58 among the 238 serous subtype ovarian cancer cases investigated, who also had breast cancer at age 52., Conclusion: Our findings, taken together with previous reports, support adding PALB2 c.2323C>T p.Q775X to the list of cancer susceptibility genes for which founder mutations have been identified in the French Canadian population.

Background: The 3398delAAAAG mutation in BRCA2 was recently found to recur in breast and/or ovarian cancer families from the French Canadian population of Quebec, a population that has genetic attributes consistent with a founder effect. To characterize the contribution of this mutation in this population, this study established the frequency of this mutation in breast and ovarian cancer cases unselected for family history of cancer, and determined if mutation carriers shared a common ancestry., Methods: The frequency was estimated by assaying the mutation in series of French Canadian breast cancer cases diagnosed before age 41 (n = 60) or 80 (n = 127) years of age, and ovarian cancer cases (n = 80) unselected for family history of cancer by mutation analysis. Haplotype analysis was performed to determine if mutation carriers shared a common ancestry. Members from 11 families were analyzed using six polymorphic microsatellite markers (cen-D13S260-D13S1699-D13S1698-D13S1697-D13S1701-D13S171-tel) spanning approximately a 3.6 cM interval at the chromosomal region 13q13.1, which contains BRCA2. Allele frequencies were estimated by genotyping 47 unaffected female individuals derived from the same population. Haplotype reconstruction of unaffected individuals was performed using the program PHASE., Results: The recurrent BRCA2 mutation occurred in 1 of 60 (1.7%) women diagnosed with breast cancer before 41 years of age and one of 80 (1.3%) women with ovarian cancer. No mutation carriers were identified in the series of breast cancer cases diagnosed before age 80. Mutation carriers harboured one of two haplotypes, 7-3-9-3 - [3/4]-7, that varied with marker D13S1701 and which occurred at a frequency of 0.001. The genetic analysis of D13S1695, a polymorphic marker located approximately 0.3 cM distal to D13S171, did not favour a genetic recombination event to account for the differences in D13S1701 alleles within the haplotype. Although mutation carriers harbour genotypes that are frequent in the French Canadian population, neither mutation-associated haplotype was plausible in reconstructed haplotypes of 47 individuals of French Canadian descent., Conclusion: These results suggest that mutation carriers share a related ancestry; further supporting the concept that recurrent BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in the French Canadian population could be attributed to common founders. This finding provides further support for targeted screening of recurrent mutations in this population before large-scale mutation analyses are performed.