Molecular genetics analysis of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer patients in India.
BACKGROUND
Hereditary cancers account for 5-10% of cancers. In this study BRCA1, BRCA2 and CHEK2*(1100delC) were analyzed for mutations in 91 HBOC/HBC/HOC families and early onset breast and early onset ovarian cancer cases.


METHODS
PCR-DHPLC was used for mutation screening followed by DNA sequencing for identification and confirmation of mutations. Kaplan-Meier survival probabilities were computed for five-year survival data on Breast and Ovarian cancer cases separately, and differences were tested using the Log-rank test.


RESULTS
Fifteen (16%) pathogenic mutations (12 in BRCA1 and 3 in BRCA2), of which six were novel BRCA1 mutations were identified. None of the cases showed CHEK2*1100delC mutation. Many reported polymorphisms in the exonic and intronic regions of BRCA1 and BRCA2 were also seen. The mutation status and the polymorphisms were analyzed for association with the clinico-pathological features like age, stage, grade, histology, disease status, survival (overall and disease free) and with prognostic molecular markers (ER, PR, c-erbB2 and p53).


CONCLUSIONS
The stage of the disease at diagnosis was the only statistically significant (p < 0.0035) prognostic parameter. The mutation frequency and the polymorphisms were similar to reports on other ethnic populations. The lack of association between the clinico-pathological variables, mutation status and the disease status is likely to be due to the small numbers.
Soumittra
Nagasamy
N
Department of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Institute (WIA), Chennai, India.|Currently: Department of Genetics, Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, India.
Meenakumari
Balaiah
B
Department of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Institute (WIA), Chennai, India.
Parija
Tithi
T
Department of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Institute (WIA), Chennai, India.
Sridevi
Veluswami
V
Department of Surgical Oncology, Cancer Institute (WIA), Chennai, India.
Nancy
Karunakaran N
KN
Department of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Institute (WIA), Chennai, India.
Swaminathan
Rajaraman
R
Department of Epidemiology and Tumour Registry, Cancer Institute (WIA), Chennai, India.
Rajalekshmy
Kamalalayam R
KR
Department of Hematology and Immunology, Cancer Institute (WIA), Chennai, India.
Majhi
Urmila
U
Department of Pathology, Cancer Institute (WIA), Chennai, India.
Rajkumar
Thangarajan
T
Department of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Institute (WIA), Chennai, India.