Blood functional assay for rapid clinical interpretation of germline TP53 variants.

BACKGROUND: The interpretation of germline TP53 variants is critical to ensure appropriate medical management of patients with cancer and follow-up of variant carriers. This interpretation remains complex and is becoming a growing challenge considering the exponential increase in TP53 tests. We developed a functional assay directly performed on patients' blood. METHODS: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were cultured, activated, exposed to doxorubicin and the p53-mediated transcriptional response was quantified using reverse transcription-multiplex ligation probe amplification and RT-QMPSF assays, including 10 p53 targets selected from transcriptome analysis, and two amplicons to measure p53 mRNA levels. We applied this blood functional assay to 77 patients addressed for TP53 analysis. RESULTS: In 51 wild-type TP53 individuals, the mean p53 functionality score was 12.7 (range 7.5-22.8). Among eight individuals harbouring likely pathogenic or pathogenic variants, the scores were reduced (mean 4.8, range 3.1-7.1), and p53 mRNA levels were reduced in patients harbouring truncating variants. We tested 14 rare unclassified variants (p.(Pro72His), p.(Gly105Asp), p.(Arg110His), p.(Phe134Leu), p.(Arg158Cys), p.(Pro191Arg), p.(Pro278Arg), p.(Arg283Cys), p.(Leu348Ser), p.(Asp352Tyr), p.(Gly108_Phe109delinsVal), p.(Asn131del), p.(Leu265del), c.-117G>T) and 12 yielded functionally abnormal scores. Remarkably, the assay revealed that the c.*1175A>C polymorphic variant within TP53 poly-adenylation site can impact p53 function with the same magnitude as a null variant, when present on both alleles, and may act as a modifying factor in pathogenic variant carriers. CONCLUSION: This blood p53 assay should therefore be a useful tool for the rapid clinical classification of germline TP53 variants and detection of non-coding functional variants.

Further delineation of the NTHL1 associated syndrome: A report from the French Oncogenetic Consortium.

Biallelic pathogenic variants in the NTHL1 (Nth like DNA glycosylase 1) gene cause a recently identified autosomal recessive hereditary cancer syndrome predisposing to adenomatous polyposis and colorectal cancer. Half of biallelic carriers also display multiple colonic or extra-colonic primary tumors, mainly breast, endometrium, urothelium, and brain tumors. Published data designate NTHL1 as an important contributor to hereditary cancers but also underline the scarcity of available informations. Thanks to the French oncogenetic consortium (Groupe Génétique et Cancer), we collected NTHL1 variants from 7765 patients attending for hereditary colorectal cancer or polyposis (n = 3936) or other hereditary cancers (n = 3829). Here, we describe 10 patients with pathogenic biallelic NTHL1 germline variants, that is, the second largest NTHL1 series. All carriers were from the "colorectal cancer or polyposis" series. All nine biallelic carriers who underwent colonoscopy presented adenomatous polyps. For digestive cancers, average age at diagnosis was 56.2 and we reported colorectal, duodenal, caecal, and pancreatic cancers. Extra-digestive malignancies included sarcoma, basal cell carcinoma, breast cancer, urothelial carcinoma, and melanoma. Although tumor risks remain to be precisely defined, these novel data support NTHL1 inclusion in diagnostic panel testing. Colonic surveillance should be conducted based on MUTYH recommendations while extra-colonic surveillance has to be defined.

Contribution of de novo and mosaic TP53 mutations to Li-Fraumeni syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Development of tumours such as adrenocortical carcinomas (ACC), choroid plexus tumours (CPT) or female breast cancers before age 31 or multiple primary cancers belonging to the Li-Fraumeni (LFS) spectrum is, independently of the familial history, highly suggestive of a germline TP53 mutation. The aim of this study was to determine the contribution of de novo and mosaic mutations to LFS. METHODS AND RESULTS: Among 328 unrelated patients harbouring a germline TP53 mutation identified by Sanger sequencing and/or QMPSF, we could show that the mutations had occurred de novo in 40 cases, without detectable parental age effect. Sanger sequencing revealed two mosaic mutations in a child with ACC and in an unaffected father of a child with medulloblastoma. Re-analysis of blood DNA by next-generation sequencing, performed at a depth above 500X, from 108 patients suggestive of LFS without detectable TP53 mutations, allowed us to identify 6 additional cases of mosaic TP53 mutations, in 2/49 children with ACC, 2/21 children with CPT, in 1/31 women with breast cancer before age 31 and in a patient who developed an osteosarcoma at age 12, a breast carcinoma and a breast sarcoma at age 35. CONCLUSIONS: This study performed on a large series of TP53 mutation carriers allows estimating the contribution to LFS of de novo mutations to at least 14% (48/336) and suggests that approximately one-fifth of these de novo mutations occur during embryonic development. Considering the medical impact of TP53 mutation identification, medical laboratories in charge of TP53 testing should ensure the detection of mosaic mutations.

Detection of copy-number variations from NGS data using read depth information: a diagnostic performance evaluation.

The detection of copy-number variations (CNVs) from NGS data is underexploited as chip-based or targeted techniques are still commonly used. We assessed the performances of a workflow centered on CANOES, a bioinformatics tool based on read depth information. We applied our workflow to gene panel (GP) and whole-exome sequencing (WES) data, and compared CNV calls to quantitative multiplex PCR of short fluorescent fragments (QMSPF) or array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) results. From GP data of 3776 samples, we reached an overall positive predictive value (PPV) of 87.8%. This dataset included a complete comprehensive QMPSF comparison of four genes (60 exons) on which we obtained 100% sensitivity and specificity. From WES data, we first compared 137 samples with aCGH and filtered comparable events (exonic CNVs encompassing enough aCGH probes) and obtained an 87.25% sensitivity. The overall PPV was 86.4% following the targeted confirmation of candidate CNVs from 1056 additional WES. In addition, our CANOES-centered workflow on WES data allowed the detection of CNVs with a resolution of single exons, allowing the detection of CNVs that were missed by aCGH. Overall, switching to an NGS-only approach should be cost-effective as it allows a reduction in overall costs together with likely stable diagnostic yields. Our bioinformatics pipeline is available at: https://gitlab.bioinfo-diag.fr/nc4gpm/canoes-centered-workflow .