ESMO Expert Consensus Statements on the management of breast cancer during pregnancy (PrBC)

The management of breast cancer during pregnancy (PrBC) is a relatively rare indication and an area where no or little evidence is available since randomized controlled trials cannot be conducted. In general, advances related to breast cancer (BC) treatment outside pregnancy cannot always be translated to PrBC, because both the interests of the mother and of the unborn should be considered. Evidence remains limited and/or conflicting in some specific areas where the optimal approach remains controversial. In 2022, the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) held a virtual consensus-building process on this topic to gain insights from a multidisciplinary group of experts and develop statements on controversial topics that cannot be adequately addressed in the current evidence-based ESMO Clinical Practice Guideline. The aim of this consensus-building process was to discuss controversial issues relating to the management of patients with PrBC. The virtual meeting included a multidisciplinary panel of 24 leading experts from 13 countries and was chaired by S. Loibl and F. Amant. All experts were allocated to one of four different working groups. Each working group covered a specific subject area with two chairs appointed: Planning, preparation and execution of the consensus process was conducted according to the ESMO standard operating procedures.

Hypergonadotropic hypogonadism in a patient with inv ins (2;4)

We report on a 30-year-old man with azoospermia, primary hypogonadism and minor dysmorphic features who carried a balanced insertional chromosome translocation inv ins (2p24;4q28.3q31.22)de novo. Molecular cytogenetic analyses of the chromosome breakpoints revealed the localization of the breakpoint in 4q28.3 between BACs RP11-143E9 and RP11-285A15, an interval that harbours the PCDH10 gene. In 4q31.22, a breakpoint-spanning clone (RP11-6L6) was identified which contains the genes LSM6 and SLC10A7. On chromosome 2, BACs RP11-531P14 and RP11-360O18 flank the breakpoint in 2p24, a region void of known genes. In conclusion, the chromosome aberration of this patient suggests a gene locus for primary hypogonadism in 2p24, 4q28.3 or 4q31.2, and three possible candidate genes (LSM6, SLC10A7 and PCDH10) were identified by breakpoint analyses.

Mutational spectrum of COH1 and clinical heterogeneity in Cohen syndrome

Cohen syndrome (CS) is an autosomal recessive disorder with variability in the clinical manifestations, characterised by mental retardation, postnatal microcephaly, facial dysmorphism, pigmentary retinopathy, myopia, and intermittent neutropenia. Mutations in the gene COH1 have been found in an ethnically diverse series of patients. Brief clinical descriptions of 24 patients with CS are provided. The patients were from 16 families of different ethnic backgrounds and between 2.5 and 60 years of age at assessment. DNA samples from all patients were analysed for mutations in COH1 by direct sequencing. Splice site mutations were characterised using reverse transcriptase PCR analysis from total RNA samples. In this series, we detected 25 different COH1 mutations; 19 of these were novel, including 9 nonsense mutations, 8 frameshift mutations, 4 verified splice site mutations, 3 larger in frame deletions, and 1 missense mutation. We observed marked variability of developmental and growth parameters. The typical facial gestalt was seen in 23/24 patients. Early onset progressive myopia was present in all the patients older than 5 years. Widespread pigmentary retinopathy was found in 12/14 patients assessed over 5 years of age. We present evidence for extended allelic heterogeneity of CS, with the vast majority of mutations leading to premature termination codons in COH1. Our data confirm the broad clinical spectrum of CS with some patients lacking even the characteristic facial gestalt and pigmentary retinopathy at school age.

Extension of the mutation spectrum in Friedreich's ataxia: detection of an exon deletion and novel missense mutations

Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA), the most common autosomal recessively inherited ataxia, is due to a homozygous GAA triplet repeat expansion in the first intron of the FRDA gene in about 96% of patients. Approximately 4% of FRDA patients are compound heterozygotes with a GAA repeat expansion in one allele and a point mutation in the coding region of the second allele. To reinvestigate the mutation spectrum, we searched for mutations including exon deletions in six patients heterozygous for the GAA repeat expansion and found two unknown missense mutations, p.Asn146Lys and p.Leu186Arg, in trans to the expanded FRDA allele. Interestingly, we detected a heterozygous 2776 bp deletion including exon 5a in one of our patients. This deletion removes 50 of the 210 residues of the frataxin. Furthermore, since no FRDA case with two-point mutations is known, we screened eight patients with FRDA phenotype but GAA alleles within the normal range but did not reveal a mutation within the FRDA gene. In addition, DNA polymorphisms have been found in four out of 100 control individuals in this study.

[Schnyder's crystalline corneal dystrophy. Further narrowing of the linkage interval at chromosome 1p34.1-p36?]

BACKGROUND

Schnyder's crystalline corneal dystrophy (SCCD) is a rare autosomal dominant disease and can occur in association with hyperlipoproteinemia. The disease has been mapped to chromosome 1p34.1-p36.

CASE REPORT

We report on a 66-year-old woman and her son with Schnyder's crystalline corneal dystrophy. The mother had type IV hyperlipoproteinemia and hypercholesterolemia while her son had hypercholesterolemia with elevated LDL-cholesterol. Analysis of microsatellite markers within the candidate interval of 1p34.1-p36 showed that the affected son and his unaffected brother had inherited different alleles only for the proximal marker D1S228 from their affected mother.

CONCLUSIONS

The haplotype analysis suggests that either recombination has occurred, which would allow the candidate interval to be narrowed down, or alternatively, the SCCD in the reported family is not linked to chromosome 1, which would be a first indication of genetic heterogeneity in this disease. To reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, hyperlipidemia should always be excluded in patients with Schnyder's crystalline corneal dystrophy.

Lhermitte-Duclos disease in 3 children: a clinical long-term observation

We report three boys in whom a diagnosis of Lhermitte-Duclos disease (LDD) was assumed from characteristic neuroimaging findings. LDD was confirmed by an open biopsy in patient 1, while a biopsy in patient 2 was inconclusive. Histologic confirmation in patient 3 was deliberately not attempted. However, a follow-up observation of stable clinical and neuroimaging findings over 2, 5 and 11 years, respectively, support the diagnosis of LDD. Despite extensive expansion of the lesion with brainstem involvement, clinical signs in two boys were minimal, while one patient has cognitive impairment and a complex oculomotor disturbance. So far we found no evidence for an association with Cowden disease (CD). No germline PTEN mutations were detected in these children, but the amount of available biopsy tissue in patients 1 and 2 was insufficient for a complete genetic analysis of tumor tissue. In conclusion, LDD can usually be diagnosed by MRI. In view of the favourable natural history, a conservative "wait and see" strategy is justified, particularly if radical tumor resection is not possible. LDD is often not associated with CD and germline PTEN mutations seem not to be present in isolated LDD.

Mutation analyses in 17 patients with deficiency in acid beta-galactosidase: three novel point mutations and high correlation of mutation W273L with Morquio disease type B

An inherited deficiency in beta-galactosidase can result in GM1 gangliosidosis, with several phenotypes of generalized or chronic psychomotor deterioration, as well as in Morquio disease type B, a characteristic mucopolysaccharidosis free of neurological symptoms. We performed mutation analyses in 17 juvenile and adult patients from various European regions with a deficiency in beta-galactosidase and skeletal abnormalities. Fifteen of these had the Morquio B phenotype and have remained neurologically healthy until now while the two others exhibited psychomotor retardation of juvenile onset. A two-base substitution (851-852TG-->CT; W273L) was present in 14 of the 15 Morquio B cases. Even if one excludes alleles from patients with possible common descent, there was a much higher frequency (79%) among those with Morquio B phenotype for the W273L mutation than previously reported in the literature (37%). That the Morquio phenotype is also expressed in heterozygotes for W273L and alleles typically found in GM1 gangliosidosis makes it possible to predict the phenotype and reliably detect heterozygotes. A single French patient had a novel missense point mutation (Q408P) together with a known mutation (T500A) while the mentally retarded patients were both heterozygous for two mutations known in chronic GM1 gangliosidosis together with two novel missense point mutations (Y270D and H281Y) in the vicinity of W273L. Our results confirm the high impact of Trp 273 for the function of beta-galactosidase and the expression of the Morquio B phenotype. In addition, a second domain around the amino acids 400-500 may also be of significance.

Oppenheim's myatonia congenita

In 1900 the famous German neurologist Hermann Oppenheim published a two-page article on "Myatonia congenita" which led to a long-lasting and confusing discussion in neurology and neuropediatrics, and which was extensively quoted throughout the 20th century. As this article is only available in German, an English translation is presented here. Further publications of Oppenheim on the same subject are mentioned and some comments are made on the impact of his seminal article. It had the merit of drawing the attention to the existence of congenital muscle diseases in children but its impact would be better understood by the influence Oppenheim had on his time, as he was one of the leading neurologists at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.

Genotypic and phenotypic spectrum in tricho-rhino-phalangeal syndrome types I and III

Tricho-rhino-phalangeal syndrome (TRPS) is characterized by craniofacial and skeletal abnormalities. Three subtypes have been described: TRPS I, caused by mutations in the TRPS1 gene on chromosome 8; TRPS II, a microdeletion syndrome affecting the TRPS1 and EXT1 genes; and TRPS III, a form with severe brachydactyly, due to short metacarpals, and severe short stature, but without exostoses. To investigate whether TRPS III is caused by TRPS1 mutations and to establish a genotype-phenotype correlation in TRPS, we performed extensive mutation analysis and evaluated the height and degree of brachydactyly in patients with TRPS I or TRPS III. We found 35 different mutations in 44 of 51 unrelated patients. The detection rate (86%) indicates that TRPS1 is the major locus for TRPS I and TRPS III. We did not find any mutation in the parents of sporadic patients or in apparently healthy relatives of familial patients, indicating complete penetrance of TRPS1 mutations. Evaluation of skeletal abnormalities of patients with TRPS1 mutations revealed a wide clinical spectrum. The phenotype was variable in unrelated, age- and sex-matched patients with identical mutations, as well as in families. Four of the five missense mutations alter the GATA DNA-binding zinc finger, and six of the seven unrelated patients with these mutations may be classified as having TRPS III. Our data indicate that TRPS III is at the severe end of the TRPS spectrum and that it is most often caused by a specific class of mutations in the TRPS1 gene.

Hereditary spastic paraplegia caused by mutations in the SPG4 gene

Autosomal dominant hereditary spastic paraplegia (AD-HSP) is a genetically heterogeneous neurodegenerative disorder characterised by progressive spasticity of the lower limbs. The SPG4 locus at 2p21-p22 accounts for 40-50% of all AD-HSP families. The SPG4 gene was recently identified. It is ubiquitously expressed in adult and foetal tissues and encodes spastin, an ATPase of the AAA family. We have now identified four novel SPG4 mutations in German AD-HSP families, including one large family for which anticipation had been proposed. Mutations include one frame-shift and one missense mutation, both affecting the Walker motif B. Two further mutations affect two donor splice sites in introns 12 and 16, respectively. RT-PCR analysis of both donor splice site mutations revealed exon skipping and reduced stability of aberrantly spliced SPG4 mRNA. All mutations are predicted to cause loss of functional protein. In conclusion, we confirm in German families that SPG4 mutations cause AD-HSP. Our data suggest that SPG4 mutations exert their dominant effect not by gain of function but by haploinsufficiency. If a threshold level of spastin were critical for axonal preservation, such threshold dosage effects might explain the variable expressivity and incomplete penetrance of SPG4-linked AD-HSP.

Functional characterization of the molecular defects causing nephrogenic diabetes insipidus in eight families

X-Linked nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI) is a rare inherited disorder characterized by the excretion of abnormal large volumes of diluted urine mainly caused by mutations in the V2 vasopressin receptor (AVPR2) gene. By screening NDI patients for mutations within the AVPR2 gene we have identified three novel (I46K, F105V, I130F) and four recurrent (D85N, R106C, R113W, Q225X) mutations. In addition, a recurrent missense mutation (A147T) within the aquaporin-2 gene was identified in a female patient with autosomal recessive NDI associated with sensorineural deafness. Selected clinical data of the NDI patients were compared with the results from the in vitro studies. Functional analysis of I46K and I130F revealed reduced maximum agonist-induced cAMP responses as a result of an improper cell surface targeting. In contrast, the F105V mutation is delivered to the cell surface and displayed an unchanged maximum cAMP response, but impaired ligand binding abilities of F105V were reflected in a shifted concentration-response curve toward higher vasopressin concentrations. As the extracellularly located F105 is highly conserved among the vasopressin/oxytocin receptor family, functional analysis of this residue implicates an important role in high affinity agonist binding.

Severe clinical expression in X-linked Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy

X-linked Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD) is a relatively rare benign neuromuscular disorder which can vary remarkably in onset, course and severity. In the present study, a TCTAC deletion spanning the nucleotides 631-635 of the emerin gene caused an unusually severe disease phenotype including loss of ambulation and severe muscle wasting in two affected brothers. The same mutation has been reported previously in an unrelated family showing a significantly milder phenotype. The interfamilial heterogeneity in distribution and in severity of the features in the two families point to environmental or genetic modification as the cause of clinical variability in Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy.

Mutation analysis of a putative sialyltransferase gene, the SFRS2 splicing factor gene and the c-myb ET-locus in two families with hereditary neuralgic amyotrophy (HNA)

HNA is an autosomal dominant recurrent focal neuropathy involving the brachial plexus. The etiology of HNA is unknown but the genetic defect most likely affects a non-neuronal tissue. We previously described linkage to chromosome 17q24-q25 in two HNA-families. Here we report the mutation analysis of two candidate genes: a cDNA encoding a putative sialyltransferase and the SFRS2 splicing factor including the c-myb ET-locus which is encoded on the opposite strand of the SFRS2 gene. The complete protein coding regions of both genes were studied by direct DNA sequencing. We did not find a disease associated mutation indicating that these genes are most likely not involved in the pathogenesis of HNA. However, we identified and characterized a rare AvaII polymorphism in the SFRS2 gene and detected a sequencing error, leading to an amino acid change (Val11Leu) in the published sequence of the putative sialyltransferase.

Detection of a concomitant distal deletion in an inverted duplication of chromosome 3. Is there an overall mechanism for the origin of such duplications/deficiencies?

We describe the first inverted duplication of the p21.3p26 region of chromosome 3 in a child with phenotypic features of the trisomy 3p syndrome. This uncommon type of aberration was verified by multicolour fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) using yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) clones from chromosome 3 (CEPH library). With a newly constructed YAC clone from the 3p26 region an unexpected subtelomeric deletion was diagnosed in the aberrant chromosome 3. Using the primed in situ labelling (PRINS) method, telomeres were found to be present on the recombinant chromosome 3. The repeated appearance of concomitant distal deletions in inverted duplications suggests that an overall mechanism exists for the origin of such duplications/deficiencies.

Mutations in Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy and their effects on emerin protein expression

Seventeen families with Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD) have been studied both by DNA sequencing and by emerin protein expression. Fourteen had mutations in the X-linked emerin gene, while three showed evidence of autosomal inheritance. Twelve of the 14 emerin mutations caused early termination of translation. An in-frame deletion of six amino acids from the C-terminal transmembrane helix caused almost complete absence of emerin from muscle with no localization to the nuclear membrane, although mRNA levels were normal. This shows that mutant emerin proteins are unstable if they are unable to integrate into a membrane. A 22 bp deletion in the promoter region was expected to result in reduced emerin production, but normal amounts of emerin of normal size were found in leucocytes and lymphoblastoid cell lines. This shows that DNA analysis is necessary to exclude emerin mutations in suspected X-linked EDMD. Emerin levels in female carriers often deviated from the expected 50% and this was due, in at least two families, to skewed emerin mRNA expression from the normal and mutated alleles. In one family with a novel deletion of the last three exons of the emerin gene, a carrier had a cardiomyopathy and very low emerin levels (<5% of normal) due to skewed X-inactivation. In the three autosomal cases of EDMD, emerin was normal on western blots of blood cells, which suggests that autosomal EDMD is not caused by indirect reduction of emerin levels.