Abstract
We determined the prevalence and characteristics of BRCA1/2 germline mutations in a large cohort of Chinese women with breast cancer. A total of 5931 unselected Chinese women with breast cancer were enrolled in this study and underwent testing for BRCA1/2 mutations. Of these, 543 patients were familial breast cancer, 1033 were early-onset disease (≤40 years) without family history of breast cancer, and 4355 were sporadic breast cancer. In total, 232 patients (3.9 %) carried a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation (110 in BRCA1and 122 in BRCA2) in this cohort of 5931 patients. BRCA1/2 mutation rate was 16.9 % (92/543) in familial breast cancers, 5.2 % (54/1033) in early-onset breast cancers (≤40 years), and 2.0 % in sporadic breast cancers (>40 years), respectively. The BRCA1/2 mutation rate was 27.0 % in 111 familial breast cancers diagnosed at and before the age of 40. 41.4 % of mutations in this cohort were specific for Chinese population. Recurrent mutations accounted for 44.8 % of the entire mutations in 2382 cases that BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes were fully sequenced in this study. Both BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers were significantly more likely to be early-onset and bilateral breast cancers, high-grade cancer, and to have a family history of breast cancer compared with non-carriers. BRCA1 mutation carriers were more likely to be triple-negative cancer than BRCA2 mutation carriers and non-carriers. Our data provide guidelines for Chinese women with breast cancer who should undergo BRCA1/2 genetic testing; additionally, recurrent mutations account for nearly half of the mutations and some of them are specific for Chinese women.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Fan L, Strasser-Weippl K, Li JJ et al (2014) Breast cancer in China. Lancet Oncol 15(7):e279–e289. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(13)70567-9
Kaufman B, Shapira-Frommer R, Schmutzler RK et al (2015) Olaparib monotherapy in patients with advanced cancer and a germline BRCA1/2 mutation. J Clin Oncol 33(3):244–250. doi:10.1200/JCO.2014.56.2728
Gelmon KA, Tischkowitz M, Mackay H et al (2011) Olaparib in patients with recurrent high-grade serous or poorly differentiated ovarian carcinoma or triple-negative breast cancer: a phase 2, multicentre, open-label, non-randomised study. Lancet Oncol 12(9):852–861. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(11)70214-5
Chen W, Pan K, Ouyang T et al (2009) BRCA1 germline mutations and tumor characteristics in Chinese women with familial or early-onset breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat 117(1):55–60. doi:10.1007/s10549-008-0066-6
Zhang J, Pei R, Pang Z et al (2012) Prevalence and characterization of BRCA1 and BRCA2 germline mutations in Chinese women with familial breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat 132(2):421–428. doi:10.1007/s10549-011-1596-x
Li WF, Hu Z, Rao NY et al (2008) The prevalence of BRCA1 and BRCA2 germline mutations in high-risk breast cancer patients of Chinese Han nationality: two recurrent mutations were identified. Breast Cancer Res Treat 110(1):99–109. doi:10.1007/s10549-007-9708-3
Kwong A, Wong LP, Wong HN et al (2009) A BRCA2 founder mutation and seven novel deleterious BRCA mutations in southern Chinese women with breast and ovarian cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat 117(3):683–686. doi:10.1007/s10549-009-0385-2
Cao W, Wang X, Gao Y et al (2013) BRCA1 germ-line mutations and tumor characteristics in eastern Chinese women with familial breast cancer. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 296(2):273–278. doi:10.1002/ar.22628
Ou J, Wu T, Sijmons R et al (2013) Prevalence of BRCA1 and BRCA2 germline mutations in breast cancer women of multiple ethnic region in northwest China. J Breast Cancer 16(1):50–54. doi:10.4048/jbc.2013.16.1.50
Zhang L, Chen L, Bacares R et al (2011) BRCA1 R71 K missense mutation contributes to cancer predisposition by increasing alternative transcript levels. Breast Cancer Res Treat 130(3):1051–1056. doi:10.1007/s10549-011-1732-7
Phelan CM, Dapic V, Tice B et al (2005) Classification of BRCA1 missense variants of unknown clinical significance. J Med Genet 42(2):138–146. doi:10.1136/jmg.2004.024711
Claes K, Poppe B, Machackova E et al (2003) Differentiating pathogenic mutations from polymorphic alterations in the splice sites of BRCA1 and BRCA2. Genes Chromosomes Cancer 37(3):314–320. doi:10.1002/gcc.10221
Sekine M, Nagata H, Tsuji S et al (2001) Mutational analysis of BRCA1 and BRCA2 and clinicopathologic analysis of ovarian cancer in 82 ovarian cancer families: two common founder mutations of BRCA1 in Japanese population. Clin Cancer Res 7(10):3144–3150
Li N, Zhang X, Cai Y et al (2006) BRCA1 germline mutations in Chinese patients with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. Int J Gynecol Cancer 16(Suppl 1):172–178. doi:10.1111/j.1525-1438.2006.00311.x
Suter NM, Ray RM, Hu YW et al (2004) BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in women from Shanghai China. Cancer Epidemiol Biomark Prev 13(2):181–189
Choi DH, Lee MH, Bale AE et al (2004) Incidence of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in young Korean breast cancer patients. J Clin Oncol 22(9):1638–1645. doi:10.1200/JCO.2004.04.179
Han SH, Lee KR, Lee DG et al (2006) Mutation analysis of BRCA1 and BRCA2 from 793 Korean patients with sporadic breast cancer. Clin Genet 70(6):496–501. doi:10.1111/j.1399-0004.2006.00717.x
Kurian AW (2010) BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations across race and ethnicity: distribution and clinical implications. Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol 22(1):72–78. doi:10.1097/GCO.0b013e328332dca3
De Leon Matsuda ML, Liede A, Kwan E et al (2002) BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations among breast cancer patients from the Philippines. Int J Cancer 98(4):596–603. doi:10.1002/ijc.10194
Liede A, Narod SA (2002) Hereditary breast and ovarian cancer in Asia: genetic epidemiology of BRCA1 and BRCA2. Hum Mutat 20(6):413–424. doi:10.1002/humu.10154
Kang E, Seong MW, Park SK et al (2015) The prevalence and spectrum of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in Korean population: recent update of the Korean Hereditary Breast Cancer (KOHBRA) study. Breast Cancer Res Treat 151(1):157–168. doi:10.1007/s10549-015-3377-4
Sugano K, Nakamura S, Ando J et al (2008) Cross-sectional analysis of germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in Japanese patients suspected to have hereditary breast/ovarian cancer. Cancer Sci 99(10):1967–1976. doi:10.1111/j.1349-7006.2008.00944.x
Kurian AW, Gong GD, Chun NM et al (2008) Performance of BRCA1/2 mutation prediction models in Asian Americans. J Clin Oncol 26(29):4752–4758. doi:10.1200/JCO.2008.16.8310
Weitzel JN, Clague J, Martir-Negron A et al (2013) Prevalence and type of BRCA mutations in Hispanics undergoing genetic cancer risk assessment in the southwestern United States: a report from the Clinical Cancer Genetics Community Research Network. J Clin Oncol 31(2):210–216. doi:10.1200/JCO.2011.41.0027
Kast K, Rhiem K, Wappenschmidt B et al (2016) Prevalence of BRCA1/2 germline mutations in 21 401 families with breast and ovarian cancer. J Med Genet 53(7):465–471. doi:10.1136/jmedgenet-2015-103672
Nanda R, Schumm LP, Cummings S et al (2005) Genetic testing in an ethnically diverse cohort of high-risk women: a comparative analysis of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in American families of European and African ancestry. JAMA 294(15):1925–1933. doi:10.1001/jama.294.15.1925
Hall MJ, Reid JE, Burbidge LA et al (2009) BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in women of different ethnicities undergoing testing for hereditary breast-ovarian cancer. Cancer 115(10):2222–2233. doi:10.1002/cncr.24200
Wang C, Zhang J, Wang Y et al (2015) Prevalence of BRCA1 mutations and responses to neoadjuvant chemotherapy among BRCA1 carriers and non-carriers with triple-negative breast cancer. Ann Oncol 26(3):523–528. doi:10.1093/annonc/mdu559
Robson M, Gilewski T, Haas B et al (1998) BRCA-associated breast cancer in young women. J Clin Oncol 16(5):1642–1649
Malone KE, Daling JR, Neal C et al (2000) Frequency of BRCA1/BRCA2 mutations in a population-based sample of young breast carcinoma cases. Cancer 88(6):1393–1402
Haffty BG, Silber A, Matloff E et al (2006) Racial differences in the incidence of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in a cohort of early onset breast cancer patients: African American compared to white women. J Med Genet 43(2):133–137. doi:10.1136/jmg.2005.034744
Loman N, Johannsson O, Kristoffersson U et al (2001) Family history of breast and ovarian cancers and BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in a population-based series of early-onset breast cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 93(16):1215–1223. doi:10.1093/jnci/93.16.1215
Yassaee VR, Zeinali S, Harirchi I et al (2002) Novel mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in Iranian women with early-onset breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res 4(4):R6
Peto J, Collins N, Barfoot R et al (1999) Prevalence of BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations in patients with early-onset breast cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 91(11):943–949. doi:10.1093/jnci/91.11.943
Hamann U, Liu X, Bungardt N et al (2003) Similar contributions of BRCA1 and BRCA2 germline mutations to early-onset breast cancer in Germany. Eur J Hum Genet 11(6):464–467. doi:10.1038/sj.ejhg.5200988
Martinez-Ferrandis JI, Vega A, Chirivella I et al (2003) Mutational analysis of BRCA1 and BRCA2 in Mediterranean Spanish women with early-onset breast cancer: identification of three novel pathogenic mutations. Hum Mutat 22(5):417–418. doi:10.1002/humu.9188
Frank TS, Deffenbaugh AM, Reid JE et al (2002) Clinical characteristics of individuals with germline mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2: analysis of 10,000 individuals. J Clin Oncol 20(6):1480–1490. doi:10.1200/JCO.20.6.1480
Lakhani SR, Jacquemier J, Sloane JP et al (1998) Multifactorial analysis of differences between sporadic breast cancers and cancers involving BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations. J Natl Cancer Inst 90(15):1138–1145. doi:10.1093/jnci/90.15.1138
Phillips KA (2000) Immunophenotypic and pathologic differences between BRCA1 and BRCA2 hereditary breast cancers. J Clin Oncol 18(21 Suppl):107S–112S
Narod SA, Foulkes WD (2004) BRCA1 and BRCA2: 1994 and beyond. Nat Rev Cancer 4(9):665–676. doi:10.1038/nrc1431
Agnarsson BA, Jonasson JG, Bjornsdottir IB et al (1998) Inherited BRCA2 mutation associated with high grade breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat 47(2):121–127
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the National Key Technology Research and Development Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (No. 2014BAI09B08); the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81372832), the 973 project 2013CB911004.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflicts of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Juan Zhang, Jie Sun, Jiuan Chen, and Lu Yao have contributed equally to this study.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, J., Sun, J., Chen, J. et al. Comprehensive analysis of BRCA1 and BRCA2 germline mutations in a large cohort of 5931 Chinese women with breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat 158, 455–462 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-016-3902-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-016-3902-0