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Akbar F, Siddiqui Z, Waheed MT, Ehsan L, Ali SI, Wiquar H, Valimohammed AT, Khan S, Vohra L, Zeeshan S, Rashid Y, Moosajee M, Jabbar AA, Zahir MN, Zahid N, Soomro R, Ullah NN, Ahmad I, Haider G, Ansari U, Rizvi A, Mehboobali A, Sattar A, Kirmani S. Spectrum of germline pathogenic variants using a targeted next generation sequencing panel and genotype-phenotype correlations in patients with suspected hereditary breast cancer at an academic medical centre in Pakistan. Hered Cancer Clin Pract 2022; 20:24. [PMID: 35710434 PMCID: PMC9204946 DOI: 10.1186/s13053-022-00232-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2021] [Accepted: 05/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women, affecting over 1.5 million women every year, which accounts for the highest number of cancer-related deaths in women globally. Hereditary breast cancer (HBC), an important subset of breast cancer, accounts for 5–10% of total cases. However, in Low Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), the population-specific risk of HBC in different ethnicities and the correlation with certain clinical characteristics remain unexplored. Methods Retrospective chart review of patients who visited the HBC clinic and proceeded with multi-gene panel testing from May 2017 to April 2020. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze clinical characteristics of patients. Fisher’s exact, Pearson’s chi-squared tests and Logistic regression analysis were used for categorical variables and Wilcoxon rank-sum test were used for quantitative variables. For comparison between two independent groups, Mann-Whitney test was performed. Results were considered significant at a p value of < 0.05. Results Out of 273 patients, 22% tested positive, 37% had a VUS and 41% had a negative genetic test result. Fifty-five percent of the positive patients had pathogenic variants in either BRCA1 or BRCA2, while the remaining positive results were attributed to other genes. Patients with a positive result had a younger age at diagnosis compared to those having a VUS and a negative result; median age 37.5 years, IQR (Interquartile range) (31.5–48). Additionally, patients with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) were almost 3 times more likely to have a positive result (OR = 2.79, CI = 1.42–5.48 p = 0.003). Of all patients with positive results, 25% of patients had a negative family history of breast and/or related cancers. Conclusions In our HBC clinic, we observed that our rate of positive results is comparable, yet at the higher end of the range which is reported in other populations. The importance of expanded, multi-gene panel testing is highlighted by the fact that almost half of the patients had pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in genes other than BRCA1/2, and that our test positivity rate would have only been 12.8% if only BRCA1/2 testing was done. As the database expands and protocol-driven referrals are made across the country, our insight about the genetic architecture of HBC in our population will continue to increase. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13053-022-00232-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fizza Akbar
- Division of Women and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
| | | | | | - Lubaina Ehsan
- Medical College, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.,School of Medicine, Western Michigan University Stryker, Kalamazoo, MI, USA
| | - Syed Ibaad Ali
- School of Medicine, Western Michigan University Stryker, Kalamazoo, MI, USA
| | - Hajra Wiquar
- Division of Women and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
| | | | - Shaista Khan
- Department of Surgery, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
| | - Lubna Vohra
- Department of Surgery, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
| | - Sana Zeeshan
- Department of Surgery, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
| | - Yasmin Rashid
- Department of Oncology, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
| | - Munira Moosajee
- Department of Oncology, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
| | | | | | - Naila Zahid
- Liaquat National Hospital and Medical College, Karachi, Pakistan
| | - Rufina Soomro
- Liaquat National Hospital and Medical College, Karachi, Pakistan
| | | | - Imran Ahmad
- Cancer Foundation Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan
| | | | - Uzair Ansari
- Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
| | - Arjumand Rizvi
- Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
| | - Arif Mehboobali
- Division of Women and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
| | - Abida Sattar
- Department of Surgery, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
| | - Salman Kirmani
- Division of Women and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
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