The frequency of founder mutations in the BRCA1, BRCA2, and APC genes in Australian Ashkenazi Jews: implications for the generality of U.S. population data.
BACKGROUND
Several studies have shown that Ashkenazi Jews in the United States and Israel have a high prevalence of the founder mutations BRCA1 185delAG, BRCA1 5382insC, BRCA2 6174delT, and APC I1307K at frequencies of 1.0--1.1%, 0.2--0.3%, 0.6--1.4%, and 6.1--7.0%, respectively. The objective of this study was to compare the prevalence of these alleles in the Australian Jewish population with that of U.S. Jews. Australian Jews have a different history of migration, with less opportunity for changes in allele frequency due to conversion or intermarriage with non-Jewish Australians. The results obtained therefore can be used to assess whether U.S. data can be generalized to other Jewish populations. SUBJECTS AND METHODS. Subject samples were ascertained through a screening program for Tay-Sachs disease as part of a community-based screening program in New South Wales and Victoria. DNA extracted from 1200 deidentified blood samples was tested using amplification refractory mutation system polymerase chain reaction.


RESULTS
The allele frequencies found were as follows: BRCA1 185delAG 1.25% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.62--1.88%), BRCA1 5382insC 0.25% (95% CI, 0--0.53%), BRCA2 6174delT 1.08% (95% CI, 0.50--1.67%), and APC I1307K 8.67% (95% CI, 7.07--10.26%). The prevalence of breast carcinoma predisposition alleles therefore is greater than 2.5% in Australian Ashkenazim.


CONCLUSIONS
There were no significant differences between the allele frequencies in Australian Ashkenazim and those identified in other studies with similar ascertainment strategies, despite the different migration patterns of Australian Jews. This suggests the broad applicability of the U.S. and Israeli data, not only to Australian Ashkenazim, but also to Ashkenazi communities throughout the world.
Bahar
A Y
AY
Hereditary Cancer Clinic, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia.
Taylor
P J
PJ
Andrews
L
L
Proos
A
A
Burnett
L
L
Tucker
K
K
Friedlander
M
M
Buckley
M F
MF
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D001315:Australia / Q000208:ethnology; D024682:BRCA2 Protein; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics*; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005260:Female; D018703:Founder Effect; D017491:Genes, APC / Q000235:genetics*; D019398:Genes, BRCA1 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007585:Jews / Q000235:genetics*; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics; D012016:Reference Values; D014481:United States / Q000208:ethnology
D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; C118024:BLID protein, human; D024682:BRCA2 Protein; C551750:BRCA2 protein, human; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins