PMS2

Gene Summary

Gene:PMS2; PMS1 homolog 2, mismatch repair system component
Aliases: MLH4, PMSL2, HNPCC4, PMS2CL
Location:7p22.1
Summary:The protein encoded by this gene is a key component of the mismatch repair system that functions to correct DNA mismatches and small insertions and deletions that can occur during DNA replication and homologous recombination. This protein forms heterodimers with the gene product of the mutL homolog 1 (MLH1) gene to form the MutL-alpha heterodimer. The MutL-alpha heterodimer possesses an endonucleolytic activity that is activated following recognition of mismatches and insertion/deletion loops by the MutS-alpha and MutS-beta heterodimers, and is necessary for removal of the mismatched DNA. There is a DQHA(X)2E(X)4E motif found at the C-terminus of the protein encoded by this gene that forms part of the active site of the nuclease. Mutations in this gene have been associated with hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC; also known as Lynch syndrome) and Turcot syndrome. [provided by RefSeq, Apr 2016]
Databases:OMIM, HGNC, Ensembl, GeneCard, Gene
Protein:mismatch repair endonuclease PMS2
Source:NCBIAccessed: 31 August, 2019

Ontology:

What does this gene/protein do?
Show (18)

Cancer Overview

Research Indicators

Publications Per Year (1994-2019)
Graph generated 31 August 2019 using data from PubMed using criteria.

Literature Analysis

Mouse over the terms for more detail; many indicate links which you can click for dedicated pages about the topic.

Tag cloud generated 31 August, 2019 using data from PubMed, MeSH and CancerIndex

Specific Cancers (7)

Data table showing topics related to specific cancers and associated disorders. Scope includes mutations and abnormal protein expression.

Note: list is not exhaustive. Number of papers are based on searches of PubMed (click on topic title for arbitrary criteria used).

Latest Publications: PMS2 (cancer-related)

Albero-González R, Hernández-Llodrà S, Juanpere N, et al.
Immunohistochemical expression of mismatch repair proteins (MSH2, MSH6, MLH1, and PMS2) in prostate cancer: correlation with grade groups (WHO 2016) and ERG and PTEN status.
Virchows Arch. 2019; 475(2):223-231 [PubMed] Related Publications
The role of DNA MMR genes in prostate cancer (PrCa) is controversial, as genetic alterations leading to microsatellite instability are incompletely defined in these tumors. ERG rearrangements and PTEN loss are concomitant events in PrCa. The aim of this study has been to analyze the immunohistochemical (IHC) expression of MSH2, MSH6, MLH1, PMS2, ERG, and PTEN and their potential association with the grade group (GG) grading system (WHO 2016) and PSA recurrence in a series of 200 PrCa (PSMAR-Biobank, Barcelona, Spain). MSH2, MLH1, PMS2, and PTEN losses were documented in 8%, 5%, 2%, and 36.5%, respectively. ERG expression was found in 48%. MSH6 showed an increase of expression with respect to basal levels in 42.1% of the cases. A statistical association between MSH6 overexpression and GG5 was found (p = 0.0281). ERG-wild-type cases were associated with single MSH2 loss (p = 0.024), and MSH2 and/or MLH1 loss (p = 0.019). The percentage of cases with PTEN loss was 20.5% (8/39) in GG1, 37.6% (53/141) of clustered GG2 to 4, and 60% (12/20) of GG5 (chi-square test, p = 0.01). Thus, PTEN expression loss was statistically more frequent in the upper-grade tumors. PMS2 loss was an infrequent event, but it was statistically associated with shorter time to PSA recurrence (p = 0.011). These results suggest the existence of an alternative non-ERG pathway associated with MSH2 or MLH1 expression loss. MSH6 overexpression could be a marker of aggressiveness in PrCa. The IHC assessment of DNA MMR proteins, ERG and PTEN, could identify different altered PrCa pathways, which could aid patient stratification.

Liu Y, Wang M, Chen Q, et al.
A novel heterozygous large deletion of MSH6 gene in a Chinese family with Lynch syndrome.
Gene. 2019; 704:103-112 [PubMed] Related Publications
Lynch syndrome (LS) is a common cancer syndrome that is inherited in an autosomal dominant manner. Its pathogenesis is thought to be closely related to germline mutations of mismatch repair (MMR) genes such as the MLH1, MSH2, PMS2 and MSH6 genes. This study identifies a Chinese family with LS clinically diagnosed according to the Amsterdam II criteria. In these patients, immuno-histochemical staining showed negative MSH6 expressions but positive MLH1, MSH2, and PMS2 expressions. In order to further explore the molecular biology of this LS family, we used targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) and Multiplex ligation dependent probe amplification (MLPA) to identify the mutation and verify the authenticity of the mutation in 15 family members. For NGS, two panels have been used, one is of MLH1, MSH2, PMS2 and MSH6 genes, the other one is of 139 cancer genetic susceptibility genes. And for the large deletions/duplications can also be identified by NGS panel, an adjusted data analysis strategy of NGS has been used. As a result, we identified a novel heterozygous large deletion in MSH6 gene that was found to be co-segregated among affected family members. This deletion results in the loss of a 3246 bp-sized fragment in MSH6 gene exons 5-9 which represents the coding regions of the MSH6 ATPase domain. This novel mutation has yet to be documented in the International Society for Gastrointestinal Hereditary Tumours (InSiGHT) database. This mutation resulted in MSH6 protein losing gene mismatch repair function, and further caused the microsatellite instable. We speculate that this mutation may significantly impact MMR function through impaired ATP domain function. Theoretically, this proband would likely benefit from PD-1 immune check-point blockade therapy, but conversely, we observed that tumors appeared to rapidly progress after 4 sessions of anti-PD-1 treatment. Further studies to validate the effectiveness of anti-PD-1 treatments in carriers of this mutation are necessary.

Germini DE, Franco MIF, Fonseca FLA, et al.
Association of expression of inflammatory response genes and DNA repair genes in colorectal carcinoma.
Tumour Biol. 2019; 42(4):1010428319843042 [PubMed] Related Publications
Inflammation is an important etiological factor of colorectal carcinoma and may be related to colorectal carcinoma growth and proliferation. This study aimed to verify whether the presence of chronic inflammation represented by tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-2, interleukin-6, and interleukin-10 gene expression is related to hMLH1, hMSH2, hMSH6, and PMS2 gene expression and the corresponding protein levels of these genes from the DNA repair system. A total of 83 patients were operated on for curative or palliative colorectal carcinoma. Expression of the inflammatory response genes tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-2, interleukin-6, and interleukin-10 as well as expression of the hMLH1, hMSH2, hMSH6, and PMS2 genes of the DNA repair system (mismatch repair) and the expression levels of the corresponding mismatch repair proteins were measured in neoplastic tissue by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry, respectively. Associations were observed between hMSH6 mRNA expression and interleukin-2 mRNA expression (p = 0.026) as well as between hMLH1 and hMSH2 gene expression and tumor necrosis factor-α gene expression (p = 0.042). Higher tissue levels of interleukin-2 and tumor necrosis factor-α gene expression were associated with lower hMSH6, hMLH1, and hMSH2 gene expression.

Pandey AS, Shrestha S
A novel frameshift mutation in the
Indian J Cancer. 2018 Oct-Dec; 55(4):410-412 [PubMed] Related Publications
A novel mutation in the MLH1 gene likely to be pathogenic for Lynch syndrome was discovered in a proband with a family history of colon cancer. Immunohistochemistry showed negative expression of PMS2 and MLH1 in the resected tumor sample. The mutation lies at the highly conserved C-terminus of the MLH1 protein, the region through which it dimerizes with PMS2 to carry out its mismatch repair function.

Thutkawkorapin J, Lindblom A, Tham E
Exome sequencing in 51 early onset non-familial CRC cases.
Mol Genet Genomic Med. 2019; 7(5):e605 [PubMed] Free Access to Full Article Related Publications
BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) cases with an age of onset <40 years suggests a germline genetic cause. In total, 51 simplex cases were included to test the hypothesis of CRC as a mendelian trait caused by either heterozygous autosomal dominant or bi-allelic autosomal recessive pathogenic variants.
METHODS: The cohort was whole exome sequenced (WES) at 100× coverage. Both a dominant- and recessive model were used for searching predisposing genetic factors. In addition, we assayed recessive variants of potential moderate risk that were enriched in our young-onset CRC cohort. Variants were filtered using a candidate cancer gene list or by selecting variants more likely to be pathogenic based on variant type (e.g., loss-of-function) or allele frequency.
RESULTS: We identified one pathogenic variant in PTEN in a patient subsequently confirmed to have a hereditary hamartoma tumor syndrome (Cowden syndrome) and one patient with a pathogenic heterozygous variant in PMS2 that was originally not identified by WES due to low quality reads resulting from pseudogenes. In addition, we identified three heterozygous candidate missense variants in known cancer susceptibility genes (BMPR1A, BRIP1, and SRC), three truncating variants in possibly novel cancer genes (CLSPN, SEC24B, SSH2) and four candidate missense variants in ACACA, NR2C2, INPP4A, and DIDO1. We also identify five possible autosomal recessive candidate genes: ATP10B, PKHD1, UGGT2, MYH13, TFF3.
CONCLUSION: Two clear pathogenic variants were identified in patients that had not been identified clinically. Thus, the chance of detecting a hereditary cancer syndrome in patients with CRC at young age but without family history is 2/51 (4%) and therefore the clinical benefit of genetic testing in this patient group is low. Of note, using stringent filtering, we have identified a total of ten candidate heterozygous variants and five possibly biallelic autosomal recessive candidate genes that warrant further study.

Cappellesso R, Lo Mele M, Munari G, et al.
Molecular characterization of "sessile serrated" adenoma to carcinoma transition in six early colorectal cancers.
Pathol Res Pract. 2019; 215(5):957-962 [PubMed] Related Publications
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a heterogeneous group of diseases both from the morphological and molecular point of view. The sessile serrated adenoma/polyp (SSA/P) has been proposed as the precursor lesion of CRCs characterized by CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP), DNA mismatch repair (MMR) system deficiency, and BRAF gene mutations. However, no study so far investigated the molecular landscape of "sessile serrated" adenoma to carcinoma transition in early CRCs. Six formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded CRCs developed within SSA/P were profiled for the immunohistochemical expression of MMR proteins (MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2, and Ep-CAM), p16, and β-catenin. DNA was extracted from the two components of each sample, after microdissection, and characterized for CIMP status and by applying a custom hotspot multigene mutational profiling of 164 hotspot regions of eleven CRC-associated genes (AKT1, APC, BRAF, CTNNB1, KIT, KRAS, NRAS, PDGFRA, PIK3CA, PTEN, and TP53). Five out of the six CRCs shared the same molecular profile (i.e. CIMP positive, MSI status, and BRAF mutation) with their SSA/P components. One out of five CRCs was also APC mutated, whereas another one showed an additional TP53 mutation. The remaining case was CIMP negative and MMR proficient in both the components, harbored a BRAF mutation in the SSA/P counterpart, whereas the CRC one was APC and TP53 mutated and showed p16 and β-catenin dysregulation. This study provides the molecular evidence that SSA/P, even without cytological dysplasia, is a precursor lesion of CRC and that conventional CRC might arise from mixed polyp.

Das S, Salami SS, Spratt DE, et al.
Bringing Prostate Cancer Germline Genetics into Clinical Practice.
J Urol. 2019; 202(2):223-230 [PubMed] Related Publications
PURPOSE: Until recently the role of germline genetics in prostate cancer care was not well defined. While important questions remain, we reviewed the current understanding of germline genetic alterations related to prostate cancer. We discuss the clinical implications for genetic counseling, genetic testing, early detection and treatment in men with these mutations.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched PubMed® for English language articles published since 2001 with the key words "germline mutations," "BRCA," "family history" or "prostate cancer genetics." We also used relevant data from websites, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, National Comprehensive Cancer Network®, Bureau of Labor Statistics and National Society of Genetic Counselors websites.
RESULTS: A number of germline mutations in DNA damage repair genes ( BRCA1, BRCA2, CHEK2, ATM and PALB2) and in DNA mismatch repair genes ( MLH1, MSH2, MSH6 and PMS2) can drive the development of prostate cancer. Careful genetic counseling coupled with multipanel gene testing can help identify men with these mutations and provide enhanced understanding of the disease risk. Cascade testing of family members can then have an impact extending well beyond the index patient. In men with a pathogenic germline mutation the optimal early detection paradigm is not well defined. Data from the IMPACT study ( ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00261456) that the cancer detection rate is substantially elevated in BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers at prostate specific antigen greater than 3 ng/ml has helped establish the importance of close prostate specific antigen screening in these men. Additionally, BRCA2 and likely other DNA damage repair mutations are associated with aggressive disease, although it is not yet clear how this impacts localized disease management. However, there is strong evidence that patients with metastatic, castration resistant prostate cancer who have DNA damage repair defects respond positively to targeting PARP enzymes. In many cancers there is also evidence that patients with an increased tumor mutational burden, such as in Lynch syndrome, are particularly sensitive to immune checkpoint inhibitors.
CONCLUSIONS: Emerging evidence supports the implementation of germline genetic counseling and testing as a key component of prostate cancer management. Further research is needed to elucidate the clinical significance of lesser known germline mutations and develop optimal screening, early detection and treatment paradigms in this patient population.

Quaas A, Heydt C, Waldschmidt D, et al.
Alterations in ERBB2 and BRCA and microsatellite instability as new personalized treatment options in small bowel carcinoma.
BMC Gastroenterol. 2019; 19(1):21 [PubMed] Free Access to Full Article Related Publications
BACKGROUND: Carcinomas of the small bowel are rare tumors usually with dismal prognosis. Most recently, some potentially treatable molecular alterations were described. We emphasize the growing evidence of individualized treatment options in small bowel carcinoma.
METHODS: We performed a DNA- based multi-gene panel using ultra-deep sequencing analysis (including 14 genes with up to 452 amplicons in total; KRAS, NRAS, HRAS, BRAF, DDR2, ERBB2, KEAP1, NFE2L2, PIK3CA, PTEN, RHOA, BRCA1, BRCA2 and TP53) as well as an RNA-based gene fusion panel including ALK, BRAF, FGFR1, FGFR2, FGFR3, MET, NRG1, NTRK1, NTRK2, NTRK3, RET and ROS1 on eleven formalin fixed and paraffin embedded small bowel carcinomas. Additionally, mismatch-repair-deficiency was analyzed by checking the microsatellite status using the five different mononucleotide markers BAT25, BAT26, NR-21, NR-22 and NR-27 and loss of mismatch repair proteins using four different markers (MLH1, MSH6, MSH2, PMS2).
RESULTS: In five out of eleven small bowel carcinomas we found potentially treatable genetic alterations. Three patients demonstrated pathogenic (class 5) BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations - one germline-related in a mixed neuroendocrine-non neuroendocrine neoplasm (MiNEN). Two additional patients revealed an activating ERBB2 mutation or PIK3CA mutation. Furthermore two tumors were highly microsatellite-instable (MSI-high), in one case associated to Lynch-syndrome. We did not find any gene fusions.
CONCLUSION: Our results underscore, in particular, the relevance of potentially treatable molecular alterations (like ERBB2, BRCA and MSI) in small bowel carcinomas. Further studies are needed to proof the efficacy of these targeted therapies in small bowel carcinomas.

Hirotsu Y, Mochizuki H, Amemiya K, et al.
Deficiency of mismatch repair genes is less frequently observed in signet ring cell compared with non-signet ring cell gastric cancer.
Med Oncol. 2019; 36(3):23 [PubMed] Related Publications
Signet ring cell (SRC) gastric cancer at advanced stage has poor prognosis. While a recent study reported nearly one-third of SRC cases contain tumors with deficient mismatch repair (MMR) genes, other studies in SRC have been inconclusive. To re-analyze the results, we performed immunohistochemical staining of MLH1, MSH2, MSH6 and PMS2 proteins in 38 SRC gastric tumors compared with 109 non-SRC (NSRC) tumors from 94 patients. In contrast to the previous study, all SRC gastric tumors normally expressed MMR proteins, whereas 22 of 109 of NSRC (20%) showed deficient MMR proteins. To reinforce our results, we referred to the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) genomic database and found that only 6 (6%) of 99 samples with diffuse gastric tumors showed deficient MMR, whereas 64 (21%) of 304 in intestinal gastric tumors showed deficient MMR. Our results as well as the TCGA database indicated that MMR genes are infrequently inactivated in SRC gastric cancer. These findings indicate that SRC patients may not be the best candidates for immuno-oncology therapy.

Roncati L
Microsatellite Instability Predicts Response to Anti-PD1 Immunotherapy in Metastatic Melanoma.
Acta Dermatovenerol Croat. 2018; 26(4):341-343 [PubMed] Related Publications
Dear Editor, Immune-checkpoint blockade is a type of passive immunotherapy aimed at enhancing preexisting anti-tumor responses of the organism, blocking self-tolerance molecular interactions between T-lymphocytes and neoplastic cells (1,2). Despite a significant increase in progression-free survival, a large proportion of patients affected by metastatic melanoma do not show durable responses even after appropriate diagnostic categorization and shared therapeutic choices (3-9). Therefore, predictive biomarkers of clinical response are urgently needed, and predictive immunohistochemistry (IHC) meets these requirements. Strong evidence suggests that DNA mismatch repair (MMR) deficiency is a frequent condition in malignant melanoma, as well as in other tumors (10). As is known, DNA MMR is a safeguard system for the detection and repair of DNA errors, which can randomly occur in the phase of DNA replication inside the cell. In humans, seven DNA MMR proteins (Mlh1, Mlh3, Msh2, Msh3, Msh6, Pms1, and Pms2) work in a coordinated and sequential manner to repair DNA mismatches. When this system is defective, the cell accumulates a series of replication errors in terms of new microsatellites; therefore, a condition of genetic hypermutability and microsatellite instability (MSI) takes place inside the cell itself (11). For this reason, my working group has started to search for MMR protein deficiency in melanoma biopsies from patients of both sexes and of all ages with metastatic spread, correlating the data with the response to pembrolizumab, the well-known anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (PD1) human monoclonal immunoglobulin G4, capable of blocking the interaction between PD1, the surface receptor of activated T-lymphocytes, and its ligand, the programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), favoring melanoma cell attack by T-lymphocytes (1) rather than its depression (12). PD-L1 is highly expressed in about half of all melanomas and thus the role of PD1 in melanoma immune evasion is now well established (13). Surprisingly, the best therapeutic results to pembrolizumab, in terms of progression-free survival and overall survival, occur precisely in those patients, approximately 7% in my database, affected by deficient MMR (dMMR) melanomas. In particular, the most important benefits to pembrolizumab-based treatment have occurred in a female patient, who developed a subungual melanoma in the second finger of the left hand at the age of 41 years, together with lymph node metastases to ipsilateral axilla at the onset. The patient was promptly submitted to amputation of the first phalanx and emptying of the axillary cable. The primary tumor was a vertical growth phase melanoma with a Breslow's depth of 1.4 mm; three mitotic figures for 1 mm2 were ascertained. There was no evidence of ulceration, regression, microsatellitosis, or lymphocytic infiltration; moreover, the surgical margins tested free of disease. Further molecular analyses did not show rearrangements in B-RAF and C-KIT genes. After four years, metastases appeared in the brain and ileum; however, at present the patient is still alive and in complete pembrolizumab response with progression-free survival and overall survival of 956 days and 2546 days, respectively. The tumor was afterwards identified as a dMMR melanoma for an exclusive loss of Msh6 expression on IHC (Figure 1). This finding is in line with the fact that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of pembrolizumab in 2017 for unresectable or metastatic solid tumors with MMR deficiency (14). In conclusion, dMMR melanoma seems to be a particular subset of disease that can be identified with high sensibility and specificity by predictive IHC as a complete loss of one or more DNA MMR proteins and that deserves targeted therapy.

Sui QQ, Jiang W, Wu XD, et al.
A frameshift mutation in exon 19 of MLH1 in a Chinese Lynch syndrome family: a pedigree study.
J Zhejiang Univ Sci B. 2019 Jan.; 20(1):105-108 [PubMed] Free Access to Full Article Related Publications
Lynch syndrome (LS), an autosomal dominantly inherited disease previously known as hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC), leads to a high risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) as well as malignancy at certain sites including endometrium, ovary, stomach, and small bowel (Hampel et al., 2008; Lynch et al., 2009). Clinically, LS is considered the most common hereditary CRC-predisposing syndrome, accounting for about 3% of all CRC cases (Popat et al., 2005). LS is associated with mutations of DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes such as MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2, and EPCAM (Ligtenberg et al., 2009; Lynch et al., 2009), which can trigger a high frequency of replication errors in both microsatellite regions and repetitive sequences in the coding regions of various cancer-related genes. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) tests followed by genetic analysis of these mutations play a significant role in diagnosis, treatment determination, and therapeutic response prediction of LS (Lynch et al., 2009; Alex et al., 2017; Ryan et al., 2017). Here, we report substitution of one base-pair in exon 1 of MLH3 (c.1397C>A) and a frameshift mutation in exon 19 of MLH1 (c.2250_2251ins AA) in a 43-year-old Chinese male with an LS pedigree.

Fulk K, Milam MR, Li S, et al.
Women with breast and uterine cancer are more likely to harbor germline mutations than women with breast or uterine cancer alone: A case for expanded gene testing.
Gynecol Oncol. 2019; 152(3):612-617 [PubMed] Related Publications
OBJECTIVE: We explored the germline mutation spectrum and prevalence among 1650 women with breast and uterine cancer (BUC) who underwent multi-gene hereditary cancer panel testing at a single commercial laboratory.
METHODS: The combined frequency of mutations in 23 BC and/or UC genes was compared between BUC cases and control groups with (1) no personal cancer history; (2) BC only; and (3) UC only using logistic regression.
RESULTS: Fourteen percent (n = 231) of BUC cases tested positive for mutations in BC and/or UC genes and were significantly more likely to test positive than individuals with BC only (P < 0.001), UC only (P < 0.01), or unaffected controls (P < 0.001). Analysis of gene-specific mutation frequencies revealed that MSH6, CHEK2, BRCA1, BRCA2, ATM, PMS2, PALB2 and MSH2 were most frequently mutated among BUC cases. Compared to BC only, BRCA1, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2 and PTEN mutations were more frequent among BUC; however, only ATM mutations were more frequent among BUC compared to UC only. All of the more commonly mutated genes have published management guidelines to guide clinical care. Of patients with a single mutation in a gene with established testing criteria (n = 152), only 81.6% met their respective criteria, and 65.8% met criteria for multiple syndromes.
CONCLUSIONS: Women with BUC are more likely to carry hereditary cancer gene mutations than women with breast or uterine cancer alone, potentially warranting expanded genetic testing for these women. Most mutations found via multi-gene panel testing in women with BUC have accompanying published management guidelines and significant implications for clinical care.

Keränen A, Ghazi S, Carlson J, et al.
Testing strategies to reduce morbidity and mortality from Lynch syndrome.
Scand J Gastroenterol. 2018; 53(12):1535-1540 [PubMed] Related Publications
OBJECTIVE: Lynch syndrome (LS) has an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern and is associated with increased risk for colorectal cancer (CRC) and other cancers. Various strategies are used to identify patients at risk and offer surveillance and preventive programs, the cost effectiveness of which is much dependent on the prevalence of LS in a population. Universal testing (UT) is proposed as an effective measure, targeting all newly diagnosed CRC patients under a certain age.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: LS cases were identified in a cohort of 572 consecutive CRC patients. Immunohistochemistry was performed in 539 cases, using antibodies against mismatch repair proteins MLH1, PMS2, MSH2, and MSH6. Microsatellite instability and gene mutation screening were performed in 57 cases.
RESULTS: In total 11 pathogenic variants were detected, identifying LS in 1.9% of new CRC cases. Comparing the results with current clinical methods, 2 pathogenic variants were found with Amsterdam criteria and 9 when using either Bethesda guidelines or our institution's prior clinical criteria. Pathogenic variants in MSH6 were the most common in our series. We also found different outcomes using different age cut offs.
CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates that UT of tumors before age on onset at 75 years would most likely be cost-efficient and essentially equivalent to applying the Bethesda guidelines or our institution's prior clinical criteria on all new CRC.

Kašubová I, Holubeková V, Janíková K, et al.
Next Generation Sequencing in Molecular Diagnosis of Lynch Syndrome - a Pilot Study Using New Stratification Criteria.
Acta Medica (Hradec Kralove). 2018; 61(3):98-102 [PubMed] Related Publications
The development of the new technologies such as the next-generation sequencing (NGS) makes more accessible the diagnosis of genetically heterogeneous diseases such as Lynch syndrome (LS). LS is one of the most common hereditary form of colorectal cancer. This autosomal dominant inherited disorder is caused by deleterious germline mutations in one of the mismatch repair (MMR) genes - MLH1, MSH2, MSH6 or PMS2, or the deletion in the EPCAM gene. These mutations eventually result in microsatellite instability (MSI), which can be easily tested in tumor tissue. According to the actual recommendations, all patients with CRC that are suspect to have LS, should be offered the MSI testing. When the MSI is positive, these patients should be recommended to genetic counseling. Here we report a pilot study about the application of NGS in the LS diagnosis in patients considered to have sporadic colorectal cancer. The inclusion criteria for the NGS testing were MSI positivity, BRAF V600E and MHL1 methylation negativity. We have used 5 gene amplicon based massive parallel sequencing on MiSeq platform. In one patient, we have identified a new pathogenic mutation in the exon 4 of the MSH6 gene that was previously not described in ClinVar, Human Gene Mutation Database, Ensembl and InSight databases. This mutation was confirmed by the Sanger method. We have shown that the implementation of new criteria for colorectal patients screening are important in clinical praxis and the NGS gene panel testing is suitable for routine laboratory settings.

Bernstein-Molho R, Laitman Y, Schayek H, et al.
The rate of the recurrent MSH6 mutations in Ashkenazi Jewish breast cancer patients.
Cancer Causes Control. 2019; 30(1):97-101 [PubMed] Related Publications
BACKGROUND: Whether breast cancer (BC) should be considered within the spectrum of tumors in Lynch syndrome (LS) is unsettled. Recently, MSH6 and PMS2 germline mutations have reportedly been associated with an increased BC risk and with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) phenotype. We assessed the rates of the recurring Ashkenazi Jewish (AJ) mutations in the MSH6 gene (c.3984_3987dupGTCA and c.3959_3962delCAAG) in AJ cases with seemingly sporadic BC or HBOC phenotype, who were negative for the founder AJ BRCA1/2 mutations.
METHODS: All AJ individuals, affected with BC ≤ 70 years and/or ovarian cancer at any age who were counseled, genotyped and tested negative for the BRCA1/2 founder mutations between January 2010 and February 2018 at the Oncogenetics unit, Sheba Medical Center, were genotyped for the AJ mutations in MSH6.
RESULTS: Of 1016 genotyped participants (815 BC cases, 132 ovarian cancer cases, and 69 with more than one cancer), five carriers (0.49%) of the recurring AJ mutations in MSH6 were identified. All had BC, and two had personal history of additional cancers (pancreatic, endometrial, colorectal). The rate of MSH6 mutations was 0.93% (4/429) when considering only cases with a personal or first-degree relative with LS-related cancer, and 0.17% (1/587) of cases with second-degree relative or no family history of LS-related cancers (p = 0.087).
CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest the spectrum of genotyped mutations in AJ BC patients with a personal or family history of LS-related cancers should be expanded. These data should be validated in other populations with a similar phenotype.

Baig SM, Fatima A, Tariq M, et al.
Hereditary brain tumor with a homozygous germline mutation in PMS2: pedigree analysis and prenatal screening in a family with constitutional mismatch repair deficiency (CMMRD) syndrome.
Fam Cancer. 2019; 18(2):261-265 [PubMed] Related Publications
Precise genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis are often hindered by incomplete penetrance of risk variance and complex patterns of inheritance. Here, we performed a clinical and genetic study of a five-generation Pakistani family with a history of multiple cases of childhood brain tumors. Six affected individuals died of brain tumors at very early ages and three were confirmed as having a homozygous mutation in exon 6 of the PMS2 gene (c.543delT). Fifteen members of the family were identified as heterozygous carriers of this mutation with a lack of cancer incidence. Both clinical manifestations and genetic test results of brain tumor patients in the family support the diagnosis of constitutional mismatch repair deficiency (CMMRD) syndrome, a condition in which individuals carry homozygous germline mutations in mismatch repair machinery genes with an early onset of malignancies such as glioma. This information was used to guide prenatal diagnosis with genetic testing on chorionic villus samples for the family. This is the first report of prenatal genetic diagnosis of hereditary brain tumor.

van Marcke C, Collard A, Vikkula M, Duhoux FP
Prevalence of pathogenic variants and variants of unknown significance in patients at high risk of breast cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis of gene-panel data.
Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2018; 132:138-144 [PubMed] Related Publications
BACKGROUND: Gene-panels are used to assess predisposition to breast cancer by simultaneous testing of multiple susceptibility genes. This approach increases the identification of variants of unknown significance (VUS) that cannot be used in clinical decision-making. We performed a systematic review of published studies to calculate the prevalence of VUS and pathogenic variants (PV) in routinely tested breast cancer susceptibility genes in patients at high risk of breast cancer.
METHODS: We comprehensively searched the literature using Medline through May 23, 2017 for studies conducting gene-panel testing on germline DNA of women with familial breast cancer and reporting on both PVs and VUSs. A meta-analysis of the collected data was carried out to obtain pooled VUS and PV prevalence estimates per gene using a generalized linear mixed model with logit link for binomial distribution.
RESULTS: Of 602 publications, 4 were eligible and included 1870 patients. The panels encompassed 4-27 considered genes. Overall, the estimated probability per gene of a PV and VUS was 55% (95% confidence interval (CI) 26%-81%) and 91% (95% CI 78%-97%), respectively (p =  0.0066). The estimated probability per patient of a PV and VUS was 8% (95% CI 1%-34%) and 23% (95% CI 7%-52%), respectively (p =  0.0052). The ratio of VUS to PV was highest in the mismatch repair genes MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2 (18.7), CDH1 (13.4) and ATM (9.5). Amongst the 1468 patients tested for BRCA1 and BRCA2, only these two genes had a VUS to PV ratio of less than one (0.2 and 0.6, respectively).
CONCLUSION: With the current panels, the probability of detecting a VUS is significantly higher than the probability of detecting a PV. Better classification of VUSs is therefore critical and requires gene-specific VUS-assessment in every future study of gene-panel testing in patients at high risk of breast cancer.

Bonache S, Esteban I, Moles-Fernández A, et al.
Multigene panel testing beyond BRCA1/2 in breast/ovarian cancer Spanish families and clinical actionability of findings.
J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 2018; 144(12):2495-2513 [PubMed] Related Publications
PURPOSE: Few and small studies have been reported about multigene testing usage by massively parallel sequencing in European cancer families. There is an open debate about what genes should be tested, and the actionability of some included genes is under research.
METHODS: We investigated a panel of 34 known high/moderate-risk cancer genes, including 16 related to breast or ovarian cancer (BC/OC) genes, and 63 candidate genes to BC/OC in 192 clinically suspicious of hereditary breast/ovarian cancer (HBOC) Spanish families without pathogenic variants in BRCA1 or BRCA2 (BRCA1/2).
RESULTS: We identified 16 patients who carried a high- or moderate-risk pathogenic variant in eight genes: 4 PALB2, 3 ATM, 2 RAD51D, 2 TP53, 2 APC, 1 BRIP1, 1 PTEN and 1 PMS2. These findings led to increased surveillance or prevention options in 12 patients and predictive testing in their family members. We detected 383 unique variants of uncertain significance in known cancer genes, of which 35 were prioritized in silico. Eighteen loss-of-function variants were detected in candidate BC/OC genes in 17 patients (1 BARD1, 1 ERCC3, 1 ERCC5, 2 FANCE, 1 FANCI, 2 FANCL, 1 FANCM, 1 MCPH1, 1 PPM1D, 2 RBBP8, 3 RECQL4 and 1 with SLX4 and XRCC2), three of which also carry pathogenic variants in known cancer genes.
CONCLUSIONS: Eight percent of the BRCA1/2 negative patients carry pathogenic variants in other actionable genes. The multigene panel usage improves the diagnostic yield in HBOC testing and it is an effective tool to identify potentially new candidate genes.

Gould GM, Grauman PV, Theilmann MR, et al.
Detecting clinically actionable variants in the 3' exons of PMS2 via a reflex workflow based on equivalent hybrid capture of the gene and its pseudogene.
BMC Med Genet. 2018; 19(1):176 [PubMed] Free Access to Full Article Related Publications
BACKGROUND: Hereditary cancer screening (HCS) for germline variants in the 3' exons of PMS2, a mismatch repair gene implicated in Lynch syndrome, is technically challenging due to homology with its pseudogene PMS2CL. Sequences of PMS2 and PMS2CL are so similar that next-generation sequencing (NGS) of short fragments-common practice in multigene HCS panels-may identify the presence of a variant but fail to disambiguate whether its origin is the gene or the pseudogene. Molecular approaches utilizing longer DNA fragments, such as long-range PCR (LR-PCR), can definitively localize variants in PMS2, yet applying such testing to all samples can have logistical and economic drawbacks.
METHODS: To address these drawbacks, we propose and characterize a reflex workflow for variant discovery in the 3' exons of PMS2. We cataloged the natural variation in PMS2 and PMS2CL in 707 samples and designed hybrid-capture probes to enrich the gene and pseudogene with equal efficiency. For PMS2 exon 11, NGS reads were aligned, filtered using gene-specific variants, and subject to standard diploid variant calling. For PMS2 exons 12-15, the NGS reads were permissively aligned to PMS2, and variant calling was performed with the expectation of observing four alleles (i.e., tetraploid calling). In this reflex workflow, short-read NGS identifies potentially reportable variants that are then subject to disambiguation via LR-PCR-based testing.
RESULTS: Applying short-read NGS screening to 299 HCS samples and cell lines demonstrated >99% analytical sensitivity and >99% analytical specificity for single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) and short insertions and deletions (indels), as well as >96% analytical sensitivity and >99% analytical specificity for copy-number variants. Importantly, 92% of samples had resolved genotypes from short-read NGS alone, with the remaining 8% requiring LR-PCR reflex.
CONCLUSION: Our reflex workflow mitigates the challenges of screening in PMS2 and serves as a guide for clinical laboratories performing multigene HCS. To facilitate future exploration and testing of PMS2 variants, we share the raw and processed LR-PCR data from commercially available cell lines, as well as variant frequencies from a diverse patient cohort.

Spaans VM, Scheunhage DA, Barzaghi B, et al.
Independent validation of the prognostic significance of invasion patterns in endocervical adenocarcinoma: Pattern A predicts excellent survival.
Gynecol Oncol. 2018; 151(2):196-201 [PubMed] Related Publications
OBJECTIVE: Recently, the pattern of invasion in usual-type human papillomavirus-associated endocervical adenocarcinoma (AC) was put forward as a novel variable to select patients with favourable prognosis. Based on destructiveness of stromal invasion, three patterns were proposed: A - no destructive stromal invasion, B - focal destructive stromal invasion, and C - diffuse destructive stromal invasion. We aimed to independently validate the clinical significance of this classification-system in 82 AC patients, and explored associations between invasion pattern and somatic mutations.
METHODS: All patients surgically treated for FIGO stage IB-IIA usual type AC (1990-2011, n = 82) were retrospectively reviewed and classified into pattern A, B or C. Additional immunohistochemical analyses were performed for p53, MSH6, and PMS2. Moreover, previously obtained data on somatic hotspot mutations in 13 relevant genes was integrated.
RESULTS: Of 82 AC, 22% showed pattern A, 37% pattern B, and 41% pattern C. Significant differences were observed between invasion patterns and tumour size, depth of invasion (DOI), lymph-vascular invasion (LVI), and lymph-node metastasis. Significantly fewer mutations were present in tumours with pattern A morphology (p = 0.036). All pattern A patients survived (p = 0.002) without recurrent disease (p = 0.005). In multivariate regression analysis including tumour size, DOI, LVI, and lymph node metastasis, invasion pattern was a strong independent predictor for recurrence-free and disease-specific survival (HR 3.75, 95%CI 1.16-12.11, and HR 5.08, 95%CI 1.23-20.98, respectively).
CONCLUSIONS: We have independently validated the clinical significance of invasion patterns for usual type endocervical AC. Pattern A predicts excellent survival, and a clinical trial should prove safety of a more conservative treatment for these patients.

Martin-Morales L, Rofes P, Diaz-Rubio E, et al.
Novel genetic mutations detected by multigene panel are associated with hereditary colorectal cancer predisposition.
PLoS One. 2018; 13(9):e0203885 [PubMed] Free Access to Full Article Related Publications
Half of the high-risk colorectal cancer families that fulfill the clinical criteria for Lynch syndrome lack germline mutations in the mismatch repair (MMR) genes and remain unexplained. Genetic testing for hereditary cancers is rapidly evolving due to the introduction of multigene panels, which may identify more mutations than the old screening methods. The aim of this study is the use of a Next Generation Sequencing panel in order to find the genes involved in the cancer predisposition of these families. For this study, 98 patients from these unexplained families were tested with a multigene panel targeting 94 genes involved in cancer predisposition. The mutations found were validated by Sanger sequencing and the segregation was studied when possible. We identified 19 likely pathogenic variants in 18 patients. Out of these, 8 were found in MMR genes (5 in MLH1, 1 in MSH6 and 2 in PMS2). In addition, 11 mutations were detected in other genes, including high penetrance genes (APC, SMAD4 and TP53) and moderate penetrance genes (BRIP1, CHEK2, MUTYH, HNF1A and XPC). Mutations c.1194G>A in SMAD4, c.714_720dup in PMS2, c.2050T>G in MLH1 and c.1635_1636del in MSH6 were novel. In conclusion, the detection of new pathogenic mutations in high and moderate penetrance genes could contribute to the explanation of the heritability of colorectal cancer, changing the individual clinical management. Multigene panel testing is a more effective method to identify germline variants in cancer patients compared to single-gene approaches and should be therefore included in clinical laboratories.

Liu X, Liu X, Wang X, et al.
A novel case of endometrial dedifferentiated adenocarcinoma associated with MLH1 promotor hypermethylation and microsatellite instability.
Pathol Res Pract. 2018; 214(11):1904-1908 [PubMed] Related Publications
Endometrial dedifferentiated carcinoma is a rare, malignant tumor whose molecular alterations have not been clarified yet. We report a novel case of a 61-year old woman who presented with irregular vaginal bleeding after menopause and a 3 cm uterus mass. Histology revealed endometrial dedifferentiated adenocarcinoma, a rare subtype comprised of undifferentiated adenocarcinoma. The patient still survived 1 year after surgery without chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Immunohistochemistry revealed loss of MLH1/PMS2 expression and retained MSH2/MSH6 expression. Consistently, microsatellite instability was detected indicative of high microsatellite instability (MSI-H). No BRAF V600E, KRAS and POLE mutations were identified. Remarkably, the promoter regions of mutL homolog 1(MLH1) were methylated. Furthermore, several tumor cells were PD-L1 positive in this case with a concentration at the infiltrating tumor edge indicating MSI-H in endometrial dedifferentiated adenocarcinoma is a potential predictive factor for response to immunotherapy targeting the PD-1 or its ligand PD-L1.

Bowles KR, Mancini-DiNardo D, Coffee B, et al.
Hereditary cancer testing challenges: assembling the analytical pieces to solve the patient clinical puzzle.
Future Oncol. 2019; 15(1):65-79 [PubMed] Related Publications
Expanded genetic test utilization to guide cancer management has driven the development of larger gene panels and greater diversity in the patient population pursuing testing, resulting in increased identification of atypical or technically challenging genetic findings. To ensure appropriate patient care, it is critical that genetic tests adequately identify and characterize these findings. We describe genetic testing challenges frequently encountered by our laboratory and the methodologies we employ to improve test accuracy for the identification and characterization of atypical genetic findings. While these findings may be individually rare, 15,745 (9%) individuals tested by our laboratory for hereditary cancer risk had an atypical genetic finding, highlighting the importance of employing highly accurate and comprehensive methods in clinical genetic testing.

Ibrahim T, Saer-Ghorra C, Trak-Smayra V, et al.
Molecular characteristics of colorectal cancer in a Middle Eastern population in a single institution.
Ann Saudi Med. 2018 Jul-Aug; 38(4):251-259 [PubMed] Free Access to Full Article Related Publications
BACKGROUND: The few studies of the molecular biology of colorectal cancer (CRC) in Middle Eastern populations have included only small samples of patients.
OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the frequency and prognostic effect of RAS, BRAF, PIK3CA, PTEN, and EGFR somatic mutations as well as mismatch repair (MMR) deficiency in Lebanese Middle Eastern patients.
DESIGN: Retrospective single-center descriptive study.
SETTING: Lebanese Middle Eastern patients in a tertiary medical cen.ter.
METHODS: We included all patients diagnosed with CRC between January 2010 and December 2015, in whom RAS mutational status and the expression of MLH1 and MSH2 proteins were available.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Genetic mutations detected by direct sequencing while MMR protein expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry.
SAMPLE SIZE: 645 patients.
RESULTS: RAS, BRAF, EGFR, PI3KCA, and PTEN mutation rates were 38.5%,12.9%, 0%, 11.1% and 0% respectively. The MMR deficiency rate was 20.6%. No factor was associated with RAS mutation whereas MMR-deficient tumors were less likely to be metastatic at diagnosis. Among patients with wild-type RAS females fared better than males (median overall survival [OS]=1734 vs 1079 days respectively, P=.015) even after adjustment for confounding factors by Cox regression analy.sis. This finding was not reproduced in the RAS-mutated group. The median OS of patients with MMR-deficient tumors was not reached, while the median OS was 2475 days in patients who had maintained expression of both MLH1 and MSH2.
CONCLUSION: The RAS mutation rate was similar to Western and East Asian countries, but not for the BRAF mutation and MMR deficiency. We also found a prognostic effect for sex in the RAS wild-type group, a finding worthy of further exploration.
LIMITATIONS: Retrospective, single center and small sample size. Expression of MSH6 and PMS2 not analyzed.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST: None.

Krol I, Castro-Giner F, Maurer M, et al.
Detection of circulating tumour cell clusters in human glioblastoma.
Br J Cancer. 2018; 119(4):487-491 [PubMed] Related Publications
Human glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly aggressive, invasive and hypervascularised malignant brain cancer. Individual circulating tumour cells (CTCs) are sporadically found in GBM patients, yet it is unclear whether multicellular CTC clusters are generated in this disease and whether they can bypass the physical hurdle of the blood-brain barrier.  Here, we assessed CTC presence and composition at multiple time points in 13 patients with progressing GBM during an open-label phase 1/2a study with the microtubule inhibitor BAL101553. We observe CTC clusters ranging from 2 to 23 cells and present at multiple sampling time points in a GBM patient with pleomorphism and extensive necrosis, throughout disease progression. Exome sequencing of GBM CTC clusters highlights variants in 58 cancer-associated genes including ATM, PMS2, POLE, APC, XPO1, TFRC, JAK2, ERBB4 and ALK. Together, our findings represent the first evidence of the presence of CTC clusters in GBM.

Goverde A, Wagner A, Bruno MJ, et al.
Routine Molecular Analysis for Lynch Syndrome Among Adenomas or Colorectal Cancer Within a National Screening Program.
Gastroenterology. 2018; 155(5):1410-1415 [PubMed] Related Publications
BACKGROUND & AIMS: It is important to identify individuals with Lynch syndrome because surveillance programs can reduce their morbidity and mortality from colorectal cancer (CRC). We assessed the diagnostic yield of immunohistochemistry to detect Lynch syndrome in patients with advanced and multiple adenomas within our national CRC screening program.
METHODS: We performed a prospective study of all participants (n = 1101; 55% male; median age, 66 years; interquartile range, 61-70 years) referred to the Erasmus MC in The Netherlands after a positive result from a fecal immunohistochemical test, from December 2013 to December 2016. Colon tissues were collected from patients with advanced adenomas, ≥4 nonadvanced adenomas, or CRC, and analyzed by immunohistochemistry to identify patients with loss of mismatch repair (MMR) proteins (MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, or PMS2): a marker of Lynch syndrome. Specimens from patients with loss of MLH1 were analyzed for MLH1 promoter hypermethylation. Patients with an MMR-deficient tumor or adenoma without MLH1 promoter hypermethylation were referred for genetic analysis.
RESULTS: At colonoscopy, 456 patients (41%) (65% male; mean age, 67 years; interquartile range, 63-71 years) were found to have CRC and/or an adenoma eligible for analysis by immunohistochemistry. Of 56 CRCs, 7 (13%) had lost an MMR protein and 5 had hypermethylation of the MLH1 promoter. Analyses of tumor DNA revealed that 2 patients without MLH1 promoter hypermethylation had developed sporadic tumors. In total, 400 patients with adenomas were analyzed. Of the examined adenomas, 208 (52%) had a villous component and/or high-grade dysplasia: 186 (47%) had a villous component and 41 (10%) had high-grade dysplasia. Only 1 adenoma had lost an MMR protein. This adenoma was found to have 2 somatic mutations in MSH6.
CONCLUSIONS: In a CRC screening program in The Netherlands for individuals aged 55 to 75 years, routine screening for Lynch syndrome by immunohistochemistry analysis of colon tissues from patients with advanced and multiple adenomas identified no individuals with this genetic disorder.

Dong L, Wu N, Wang S, et al.
Detection of novel germline mutations in six breast cancer predisposition genes by targeted next-generation sequencing.
Hum Mutat. 2018; 39(10):1442-1455 [PubMed] Related Publications
In this study, a customized amplicon-based target sequencing panel was designed to enrich the whole exon regions of six genes associated with the risk of breast cancer. Targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) was performed for 146 breast cancer patients (BC), 71 healthy women with a family history of breast cancer (high risk), and 55 healthy women without a family history of cancer (control). Sixteen possible disease-causing mutations on four genes were identified in 20 samples. The percentages of possible disease-causing mutation carriers in the BC group (8.9%) and in the high-risk group (8.5%) were higher than that in the control group (1.8%). The BRCA1 possible disease-causing mutation group had a higher prevalence in family history and triple-negative breast cancer, while the BRCA2 possible disease-causing mutation group was younger and more likely to develop axillary lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05). Among the 146 patients, 47 with a family history of breast cancer were also sequenced with another 14 moderate-risk genes. Three additional possible disease-causing mutations were found on PALB2, CHEK2, and PMS2 genes, respectively. The results demonstrate that the six-gene targeted NGS panel may provide an approach to assess the genetic risk of breast cancer and predict the clinical prognosis of breast cancer patients.

Reverón D, López C, Gutiérrez S, et al.
Frequency of Mismatch Repair Protein Deficiency in a Puerto Rican Population with Colonic Adenoma and Adenocarcinoma.
Cancer Genomics Proteomics. 2018 Jul-Aug; 15(4):265-271 [PubMed] Free Access to Full Article Related Publications
BACKGROUND/AIM: Microsatellite instability (MSI) results from genetic alterations involving the mismatch repair (MMR) genes MLH1, PSM2, MSH2, and MSH6. MSI has been implicated in both sporadic CRC and Lynch syndrome. The aim of the study was to assess the frequency of alterations in MMR protein expression in both primary colorectal cancer and precursor lesions among Puerto Rican patients.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective study of 84 Puerto Rican patients was performed to assess the frequency of MMR protein expression alterations in both primary CRC and precursor lesions using tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry.
RESULTS: The loss of expression of both MLH1 and PMS2 proteins was present in 6.3% of adenomas, 9.1% of adenomas with high-grade dysplasia and 9.4% of colon adenocarcinomas. Negative nuclear staining for both MSH2 and MSH6 proteins was found in 2.4% of colon adenocarcinomas.
CONCLUSION: When compared to prior reports, this study suggests a lower frequency of MSI among the Puerto Rican population. The higher prevalence of MLH1 mutations correlates with previous studies of protein expression among the Hispanic community including Colombian, Uruguay and Brazilian populations.

Baert-Desurmont S, Coutant S, Charbonnier F, et al.
Optimization of the diagnosis of inherited colorectal cancer using NGS and capture of exonic and intronic sequences of panel genes.
Eur J Hum Genet. 2018; 26(11):1597-1602 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/11/2019 Related Publications
We have developed and validated for the diagnosis of inherited colorectal cancer (CRC) a massive parallel sequencing strategy based on: (i) fast capture of exonic and intronic sequences from ten genes involved in Mendelian forms of CRC (MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2, APC, MUTYH, STK11, SMAD4, BMPR1A and PTEN); (ii) sequencing on MiSeq and NextSeq 500 Illumina platforms; (iii) a bioinformatic pipeline that includes BWA-Picard-GATK (Broad Institute) and CASAVA (Illumina) in parallel for mapping and variant calling, Alamut Batch (Interactive BioSoftware) for annotation, CANOES for CNV detection and finally, chimeric reads analysis for the detection of other types of structural variants (SVs). Analysis of 1644 new index cases allowed the identification of 323 patients with class 4 or 5 variants, corresponding to a 20% disease-causing variant detection rate. This rate reached 37% in patients with Lynch syndrome, suspected on the basis of tumour analyses. Thanks to this strategy, we detected overlapping phenotypes (e.g., MUTYH biallelic mutations mimicking Lynch syndrome), mosaic alterations and complex SVs such as a genomic deletion involving the last BMPR1A exons and PTEN, an Alu insertion within MSH2 exon 8 and a mosaic deletion of STK11 exons 3-10. This strategy allows, in a single step, detection of all types of CRC gene alterations including SVs and provides a high disease-causing variant detection rate, thus optimizing the diagnosis of inherited CRC.

Torre K, Ricketts J, Dadras SS
Muir-Torre Syndrome: A Case Report in a Woman Without Personal Cancer History.
Am J Dermatopathol. 2019; 41(1):55-59 [PubMed] Related Publications
We report a case of a 68-year-old white woman presenting with 5 sebaceous neoplasms, ranging from sebaceous adenoma to sebaceoma on histopathology. Despite the lack of a personal cancer history, her multiple sebaceous neoplasms and a paternal history of colon cancer prompted testing her sebaceous adenomas for microsatellite instability (MSI) by immunohistochemistry. The results showed retained nuclear expressions of MLH1 and PMS2 while MSH2 and MSH6 proteins were absent. The tumor infiltrating lymphocytes expressed both MSH2 and MSH6, providing reliable internal positive controls. Having a high probability for MSI, she was found to be heterozygous for a germline point mutation in MSH2 gene, where a pathologic variant, c.1165C > T (p.Arg389*), determined by sequencing confirmed Muir-Torre syndrome (MTS). On further genetic counseling recommendations, one of her 2 sons was found to have colon cancer in the context of his MTS. In this article, we highlight and review the implications of MSI testing by both immunohistochemistry and sequencing as they relate to confirming the diagnosis of a suspected case of MTS.

Disclaimer: This site is for educational purposes only; it can not be used in diagnosis or treatment.

Cite this page: Cotterill SJ. PMS2, Cancer Genetics Web: http://www.cancer-genetics.org/PMS2.htm Accessed:

Creative Commons License
This page in Cancer Genetics Web by Simon Cotterill is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Note: content of abstracts copyright of respective publishers - seek permission where appropriate.

 [Home]    Page last revised: 31 August, 2019     Cancer Genetics Web, Established 1999