1. A comprehensive analysis of germline predisposition to early-onset ovarian cancer
- Author
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Klara Horackova, Petra Zemankova, Petr Nehasil, Michal Vocka, Milena Hovhannisyan, Katerina Matejkova, Marketa Janatova, Marta Cerna, Petra Kleiblova, Sandra Jelinkova, Barbora Stastna, Pavel Just, Tatana Dolezalova, Barbora Nemcova, Marketa Urbanova, Monika Koudova, Jana Hazova, Eva Machackova, Lenka Foretova, Viktor Stranecky, Michal Zikan, Zdenek Kleibl, and Jana Soukupova
- Subjects
Ovarian cancer ,Early-onset ,Germline whole exome sequencing ,Polygenic risk score ,HLA ,Mutation burden ,Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Abstract The subset of ovarian cancer (OC) diagnosed ≤ 30yo represents a distinct subgroup exhibiting disparities from late-onset OC in many aspects, including indefinite germline cancer predisposition. We performed DNA/RNA-WES with HLA-typing, PRS assessment and survival analysis in 123 early-onset OC-patients compared to histology/stage-matched late-onset and unselected OC-patients, and population-matched controls. Only 6/123(4.9%) early-onset OC-patients carried a germline pathogenic variant (GPV) in high-penetrance OC-predisposition genes. Nevertheless, our comprehensive germline analysis of early-onset OC-patients revealed two divergent trajectories of potential germline susceptibility. Firstly, overrepresentation analysis highlighted a connection to breast cancer (BC) that was supported by the CHEK2 GPV enrichment in early-onset OC(p = 1.2 × 10–4), and the presumably BC-specific PRS313, which successfully stratified early-onset OC-patients from controls(p = 0.03). The second avenue pointed towards the impaired immune response, indicated by LY75-CD302 GPV(p = 8.3 × 10–4) and diminished HLA diversity compared with controls(p = 3 × 10–7). Furthermore, we found a significantly higher overall GPV burden in early-onset OC-patients compared to controls(p = 3.8 × 10–4). The genetic predisposition to early-onset OC appears to be a heterogeneous and complex process that goes beyond the traditional Mendelian monogenic understanding of hereditary cancer predisposition, with a significant role of the immune system. We speculate that rather a cumulative overall GPV burden than specific GPV may potentially increase OC risk, concomitantly with reduced HLA diversity.
- Published
- 2024
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