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Abstract Autosomal dominant CDK13-related disease is characterized by congenital heart defects, dysmorphic facial features, and intellectual developmental disorder (CHDFIDD). Heterozygous pathogenic variants, particularly missense variants in the kinase domain, have previously been described as disease causing. Using the determination of a methylation pattern and comparison with an established episignature, we reveal the first hypomorphic variant in the kinase domain of CDK13, leading to a never before described autosomal recessive form of CHDFIDD in a boy with characteristic features. This highlights the utility of episignatures in variant interpretation, as well as a potential novel diagnostic approach in unsolved cases or for disease prognosis.

Abstract Background With the introduction of Olaparib treatment for BRCA-deficient recurrent ovarian cancer, testing for somatic and/or germline mutations in BRCA1/2 genes in tumor tissues became essential for treatment decisions. In most cases only formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples, containing fragmented and chemically modified DNA of minor quality, are available. Thus, multiplex PCR-based sequencing is most commonly applied in routine molecular testing, which is predominantly focused on the identification of known hot spot mutations in oncogenes. Methods We compared the overall performance of an adjusted targeted capture-based enrichment protocol and a multiplex PCR-based approach for calling of pathogenic SNVs and InDels using DNA extracted from 13 FFPE tissue samples. We further applied both strategies to seven blood samples and five matched FFPE tumor tissues of patients with known germline exon-spanning deletions and gene-wide duplications in BRCA1/2 to evaluate CNV detection based solely on panel NGS data. Finally, we analyzed DNA from FFPE tissues of 11 index patients from families suspected of having hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, of whom no blood samples were available for testing, in order to identify underlying pathogenic germline BRCA1/2 mutations. Results The multiplex PCR-based protocol produced inhomogeneous coverage among targets of each sample and between samples as well as sporadic amplicon drop out, leading to insufficiently or non-covered nucleotides, which subsequently hindered variant detection. This protocol further led to detection of PCR-artifacts that could easily have been misinterpreted as pathogenic mutations. No such limitations were observed by application of an adjusted targeted capture-based protocol, which allowed for CNV calling with 86% sensitivity and 100% specificity. All pathogenic CNVs were confirmed in the five matched FFPE tumor samples from patients carrying known pathogenic germline mutations and we additionally identified somatic loss of the second allele in BRCA1/2. Furthermore we detected pathogenic BRCA1/2 variants in four the eleven FFPE samples from patients of whom no blood was available for analysis. Conclusions We demonstrate that an adjusted targeted capture-based enrichment protocol is superior to commonly applied multiplex PCR-based protocols for reliable BRCA1/2 variant detection, including CNV-detection, using FFPE tumor samples.

Abstract Background Breast cancer is the most prevalent tumor entity in Li-Fraumeni syndrome. Up to 80% of individuals with a Li-Fraumeni-like phenotype do not harbor detectable causative germline TP53 variants. Yet, no systematic panel analyses for a wide range of cancer predisposition genes have been conducted on cohorts of women with breast cancer fulfilling Li-Fraumeni(-like) clinical diagnostic criteria. Methods To specifically help explain the diagnostic gap of TP53 wild-type Li-Fraumeni(-like) breast cancer cases, we performed array-based CGH (comparative genomic hybridization) and panel-based sequencing of 94 cancer predisposition genes on 83 breast cancer patients suggestive of Li-Fraumeni syndrome who had previously had negative test results for causative BRCA1, BRCA2, and TP53 germline variants. Results We identified 13 pathogenic or likely pathogenic germline variants in ten patients and in nine genes, including four copy number aberrations and nine single-nucleotide variants or small indels. Three patients presented as double-mutation carriers involving two different genes each. In five patients (5 of 83; 6% of cohort), we detected causative pathogenic variants in established hereditary breast cancer susceptibility genes (i.e., PALB2, CHEK2, ATM). Five further patients (5 of 83; 6% of cohort) were found to harbor pathogenic variants in genes lacking a firm association with breast cancer susceptibility to date (i.e., Fanconi pathway genes, RECQ family genes, CDKN2A/p14ARF, and RUNX1). Conclusions Our study details the mutational spectrum in breast cancer patients suggestive of Li-Fraumeni syndrome and indicates the need for intensified research on monoallelic variants in Fanconi pathway and RECQ family genes. Notably, this study further reveals a large portion of still unexplained Li-Fraumeni(-like) cases, warranting comprehensive investigation of recently described candidate genes as well as noncoding regions of the TP53 gene in patients with Li-Fraumeni(-like) syndrome lacking TP53 variants in coding regions.

Abstract Background Germline mutations in the BRIP1 gene have been described as conferring a moderate risk for ovarian cancer (OC), while the role of BRIP1 in breast cancer (BC) pathogenesis remains controversial. Methods To assess the role of deleterious BRIP1 germline mutations in BC/OC predisposition, 6341 well-characterized index patients with BC, 706 index patients with OC, and 2189 geographically matched female controls were screened for loss-of-function (LoF) mutations and potentially damaging missense variants. All index patients met the inclusion criteria of the German Consortium for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer for germline testing and tested negative for pathogenic BRCA1/2 variants. Results BRIP1 LoF mutations confer a high OC risk in familial index patients (odds ratio (OR) = 20.97, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 12.02–36.57, P