Impact of germline DNA repair gene variants on prognosis and treatment of men with advanced prostate cancer.

The clinical importance of germline variants in DNA repair genes (DRGs) is becoming increasingly recognized, but their impact on advanced prostate cancer prognosis remains unclear. A cohort of 221 newly diagnosed metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients were screened for pathogenic germline variants in 114 DRGs. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS) on first-line androgen signaling inhibitor (ARSI) treatment for mCRPC. Secondary endpoints were time to mCRPC progression on initial androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and overall survival (OS). Twenty-seven patients (12.2%) carried a germline DRG variant. DRG carrier status was independently associated with shorter PFS on first-line ARSI [HR 1.72 (1.06-2.81), P = 0.029]. At initiation of ADT, DRG carrier status was independently associated with shorter progression time to mCRPC [HR 1.56, (1.02-2.39), P = 0.04] and shorter OS [HR 1.99, (1.12-3.52), P = 0.02]. Investigating the contributions of individual germline DRG variants on PFS and OS revealed CHEK2 variants to have little effect. Furthermore, prior taxane treatment was associated with worse PFS on first-line ARSI for DRG carriers excluding CHEK2 (P = 0.0001), but not for noncarriers. In conclusion, germline DRG carrier status holds independent prognostic value for predicting advanced prostate cancer patient outcomes and may potentially inform on optimal treatment sequencing already at the hormone-sensitive stage.

A prospective prostate cancer screening programme for men with pathogenic variants in mismatch repair genes (IMPACT): initial results from an international prospective study.

BACKGROUND: Lynch syndrome is a rare familial cancer syndrome caused by pathogenic variants in the mismatch repair genes MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, or PMS2, that cause predisposition to various cancers, predominantly colorectal and endometrial cancer. Data are emerging that pathogenic variants in mismatch repair genes increase the risk of early-onset aggressive prostate cancer. The IMPACT study is prospectively assessing prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening in men with germline mismatch repair pathogenic variants. Here, we report the usefulness of PSA screening, prostate cancer incidence, and tumour characteristics after the first screening round in men with and without these germline pathogenic variants. METHODS: The IMPACT study is an international, prospective study. Men aged 40-69 years without a previous prostate cancer diagnosis and with a known germline pathogenic variant in the MLH1, MSH2, or MSH6 gene, and age-matched male controls who tested negative for a familial pathogenic variant in these genes were recruited from 34 genetic and urology clinics in eight countries, and underwent a baseline PSA screening. Men who had a PSA level higher than 3·0 ng/mL were offered a transrectal, ultrasound-guided, prostate biopsy and a histopathological analysis was done. All participants are undergoing a minimum of 5 years' annual screening. The primary endpoint was to determine the incidence, stage, and pathology of screening-detected prostate cancer in carriers of pathogenic variants compared with non-carrier controls. We used Fisher's exact test to compare the number of cases, cancer incidence, and positive predictive values of the PSA cutoff and biopsy between carriers and non-carriers and the differences between disease types (ie, cancer vs no cancer, clinically significant cancer vs no cancer). We assessed screening outcomes and tumour characteristics by pathogenic variant status. Here we present results from the first round of PSA screening in the IMPACT study. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00261456, and is now closed to accrual. FINDINGS: Between Sept 28, 2012, and March 1, 2020, 828 men were recruited (644 carriers of mismatch repair pathogenic variants [204 carriers of MLH1, 305 carriers of MSH2, and 135 carriers of MSH6] and 184 non-carrier controls [65 non-carriers of MLH1, 76 non-carriers of MSH2, and 43 non-carriers of MSH6]), and in order to boost the sample size for the non-carrier control groups, we randomly selected 134 non-carriers from the BRCA1 and BRCA2 cohort of the IMPACT study, who were included in all three non-carrier cohorts. Men were predominantly of European ancestry (899 [93%] of 953 with available data), with a mean age of 52·8 years (SD 8·3). Within the first screening round, 56 (6%) men had a PSA concentration of more than 3·0 ng/mL and 35 (4%) biopsies were done. The overall incidence of prostate cancer was 1·9% (18 of 962; 95% CI 1·1-2·9). The incidence among MSH2 carriers was 4·3% (13 of 305; 95% CI 2·3-7·2), MSH2 non-carrier controls was 0·5% (one of 210; 0·0-2·6), MSH6 carriers was 3·0% (four of 135; 0·8-7·4), and none were detected among the MLH1 carriers, MLH1 non-carrier controls, and MSH6 non-carrier controls. Prostate cancer incidence, using a PSA threshold of higher than 3·0 ng/mL, was higher in MSH2 carriers than in MSH2 non-carrier controls (4·3% vs 0·5%; p=0·011) and MSH6 carriers than MSH6 non-carrier controls (3·0% vs 0%; p=0·034). The overall positive predictive value of biopsy using a PSA threshold of 3·0 ng/mL was 51·4% (95% CI 34·0-68·6), and the overall positive predictive value of a PSA threshold of 3·0 ng/mL was 32·1% (20·3-46·0). INTERPRETATION: After the first screening round, carriers of MSH2 and MSH6 pathogenic variants had a higher incidence of prostate cancer compared with age-matched non-carrier controls. These findings support the use of targeted PSA screening in these men to identify those with clinically significant prostate cancer. Further annual screening rounds will need to confirm these findings. FUNDING: Cancer Research UK, The Ronald and Rita McAulay Foundation, the National Institute for Health Research support to Biomedical Research Centres (The Institute of Cancer Research and Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust; Oxford; Manchester and the Cambridge Clinical Research Centre), Mr and Mrs Jack Baker, the Cancer Council of Tasmania, Cancer Australia, Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, Cancer Council of Victoria, Cancer Council of South Australia, the Victorian Cancer Agency, Cancer Australia, Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC), the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), the Institut Català de la Salut, Autonomous Government of Catalonia, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute, Swedish Cancer Society, General Hospital in Malmö Foundation for Combating Cancer.

Rare Germline Variants in ATM Predispose to Prostate Cancer: A PRACTICAL Consortium Study.

BACKGROUND: Germline ATM mutations are suggested to contribute to predisposition to prostate cancer (PrCa). Previous studies have had inadequate power to estimate variant effect sizes. OBJECTIVE: To precisely estimate the contribution of germline ATM mutations to PrCa risk. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: We analysed next-generation sequencing data from 13 PRACTICAL study groups comprising 5560 cases and 3353 controls of European ancestry. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Variant Call Format files were harmonised, annotated for rare ATM variants, and classified as tier 1 (likely pathogenic) or tier 2 (potentially deleterious). Associations with overall PrCa risk and clinical subtypes were estimated. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: PrCa risk was higher in carriers of a tier 1 germline ATM variant, with an overall odds ratio (OR) of 4.4 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.0-9.5). There was also evidence that PrCa cases with younger age at diagnosis (<65 yr) had elevated tier 1 variant frequencies (pdifference = 0.04). Tier 2 variants were also associated with PrCa risk, with an OR of 1.4 (95% CI: 1.1-1.7). CONCLUSIONS: Carriers of pathogenic ATM variants have an elevated risk of developing PrCa and are at an increased risk for earlier-onset disease presentation. These results provide information for counselling of men and their families. PATIENT SUMMARY: In this study, we estimated that men who inherit a likely pathogenic mutation in the ATM gene had an approximately a fourfold risk of developing prostate cancer. In addition, they are likely to develop the disease earlier.

The reversal of epigenetic silencing of the EBV genome is regulated by viral bZIP protein.

EBV (Epstein-Barr virus) alternates between latency and lytic replication. During latency, the viral genome is largely silenced by host-driven methylation of CpG motifs and in the switch to the lytic cycle this epigenetic silencing is overturned. A key event is the activation of the viral protein Zta with three ZREs (Zta-response elements) from the BRLF1 promoter (referred to as Rp). Two of these ZREs contain CpG motifs and are methylated in the latent genome. Biochemical analyses and molecular modelling of Zta bound to methylated RpZRE3 indicate the precise contacts made between a serine and a cysteine residue of Zta with methyl cytosines. A single point mutant of Zta, C189S, is defective in binding to the methylated ZREs both in vitro and in vivo. This was used to probe the functional relevance of the interaction. ZtaC189S was not able to activate Rp in a B-cell line, demonstrating the relevance of the interaction with methylated ZREs. This demonstrates that Zta plays a role in overturning the epigenetic control of viral latency.

Methylated DNA recognition during the reversal of epigenetic silencing is regulated by cysteine and serine residues in the Epstein-Barr virus lytic switch protein.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) causes infectious mononucleosis and is associated with various malignancies, including Burkitt's lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Like all herpesviruses, the EBV life cycle alternates between latency and lytic replication. During latency, the viral genome is largely silenced by host-driven methylation of CpG motifs and, in the switch to the lytic cycle, this epigenetic silencing is overturned. A key event is the activation of the viral BRLF1 gene by the immediate-early protein Zta. Zta is a bZIP transcription factor that preferentially binds to specific response elements (ZREs) in the BRLF1 promoter (Rp) when these elements are methylated. Zta's ability to trigger lytic cycle activation is severely compromised when a cysteine residue in its bZIP domain is mutated to serine (C189S), but the molecular basis for this effect is unknown. Here we show that the C189S mutant is defective for activating Rp in a Burkitt's lymphoma cell line. The mutant is compromised both in vitro and in vivo for binding two methylated ZREs in Rp (ZRE2 and ZRE3), although the effect is striking only for ZRE3. Molecular modeling of Zta bound to methylated ZRE3, together with biochemical data, indicate that C189 directly contacts one of the two methyl cytosines within a specific CpG motif. The motif's second methyl cytosine (on the complementary DNA strand) is predicted to contact S186, a residue known to regulate methyl-ZRE recognition. Our results suggest that C189 regulates the enhanced interaction of Zta with methylated DNA in overturning the epigenetic control of viral latency. As C189 is conserved in many bZIP proteins, the selectivity of Zta for methylated DNA may be a paradigm for a more general phenomenon.