Abstract 4600: Germline homologous recombination deficiency pathway defects in a multi-ethnic East Asian, Southeast Asian and South Asian cancer patient cohort
Authors: Samol Jens , Chia Wei Lim , Goh Liuh Ling , Myint Matthew , Tan Min-Han , Tay Ru Jin , Chen Hao , Choudhury Yukti , Lee Ann SG 
Published: September 2020

Introduction There is limited diversity in current hereditary multi-gene testing data-sets, leading to greater challenges in accurate variant classification. To address this, a collaboration between 3 Singapore-based healthcare organizations (Tan Tock Seng Hospital, National Cancer Centre Singapore and Lucence Diagnostics) pooled results from patients of East Asian, Southeast Asian and South Asian ancestry, representing over 60% of the world's population. We hypothesized that a multi-ethnic collaboration would provide deeper understanding of cancer predisposition genes, particularly in terms of novel variants.

Methods A total of 704 cancer patients of multi-ethnic Asian (SE Asian, East Asian and South Asian) ethnicity with either a history of breast, ovarian, pancreatic or prostate cancer, were tested with multi-gene panels. All patients were tested by multi-gene testing, including but not limited to BRCA1/2, PALB2 and ATM. In addition to genetic testing, the family histories of the patients were collected. All variants were classified by ACMG criteria. Chi-square testing was used for statistical analysis.

Results Three sites (TTSH, NCCS, and Lucence) pooled patients selected for breast (n=458), ovarian (n=176), pancreatic (n=61) and prostate cancer (n=25). The mean and median ages were 44.9 years and 43 years, respectively. Of the 704 patients, 209 had a history of cancer in their first degree relatives, 432 did not and 63 patients did not know of any cancers in their first degree relatives. 122 of 704 patients (17.33%) had pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants in any tested risk-related gene, of which 86 were in BRCA1/2, 11 in PALB2 and 4 in ATM. Some variants were detected in more than one patient. 212 of 704 patients (30.1%) had VUSs detected in any tested risk-related gene, with 32.1% in BRCA1/2. There was a positive association between multiple-cancer status and pathogenic variants (9/22 vs 113/682, p = 0.007). Most notably, among the unique pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants in BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2 and ATM, 10.64% (5/47), 12.9% (4/31), 30% (3/10) and 25% (1/4) respectively were novel variants, not previously reported in ClinVar (Dec 2019).

Conclusion To our knowledge, this is the largest regional multi-ethnic cohort of patients with breast, ovarian, pancreatic and prostate cancer undergoing comprehensive genetic testing. Only one third of patients reported a first-degree family history suggesting that testing ought to be performed if clinical suspicion is high. Notably, 14.1% of BRCA1/BRCA2/PALB2/ATM pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants detected in our cohort were novel variants, not hitherto published in ClinVar. In conclusion, this collaboration demonstrates that testing of Asian patients can enrich global understanding of cancer predisposition gene mutations. This will improve cancer prevention, surveillance, and treatment selection for cancer patients, such as the use of PARP inhibitors for genetic defects of DNA repair.

Citation Format: Jens Samol, Wei Lim Chia, Liuh Ling Goh, Matthew Myint, Min-Han Tan, Ru Jin Tay, Hao Chen, Yukti Choudhury, Ann SG Lee. Germline homologous recombination deficiency pathway defects in a multi-ethnic East Asian, Southeast Asian and South Asian cancer patient cohort [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 4600.