Citations

Abstract Purpose: To determine the relationship between germline pathogenic variants (PV) in cancer predisposition genes and the risk of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Experimental Design: Germline PV frequencies in breast cancer predisposition genes (ATM, BARD1, BRCA1, BRCA2, CDH1, CHEK2, PALB2, RAD51C, and RAD51D) were compared between DCIS cases and unaffected controls and between DCIS and invasive ductal breast cancer (IDC) cases from a clinical testing cohort (n = 9,887), a population-based cohort (n = 3,876), and the UK Biobank (n = 2,421). The risk of contralateral breast cancer (CBC) for DCIS cases with PV was estimated in the population-based cohort. Results: Germline PV were observed in 6.5% and 4.6% of women with DCIS in the clinical testing and population-based cohorts, respectively. BRCA1, BRCA2, and PALB2 PV frequencies were significantly lower among women with DCIS than those with IDC (clinical cohort: 2.8% vs. 5.7%; population-based cohort: 1.7% vs. 3.7%), whereas the PV frequencies for ATM and CHEK2 were similar. ATM, BRCA1, BRCA2, CHEK2, and PALB2 PV were significantly associated with an increased risk of DCIS (OR > 2.0), but only BRCA2 PV were associated with high risk (OR > 4) in both cohorts. The cumulative incidence of CBC among carriers of PV in high-penetrance genes with DCIS was 23% over 15 years. Conclusions: The enrichment of PV in ATM, BRCA1, BRCA2, CHEK2, and PALB2 among women with DCIS suggests that multigene panel testing may be appropriate for women with DCIS. Elevated risks of CBC in carriers of PV in high-penetrance genes with DCIS confirmed the utility of testing for surgical decision-making.

Background Polygenic risk score (PRS), calculated based on genome-wide association studies (GWASs), can improve breast cancer (BC) risk assessment. To date, most BC GWASs have been performed in individuals of European (EUR) ancestry, and the generalisation of EUR-based PRS to other populations is a major challenge. In this study, we examined the performance of EUR-based BC PRS models in Ashkenazi Jewish (AJ) women. Methods We generated PRSs based on data on EUR women from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC). We tested the performance of the PRSs in a cohort of 2161 AJ women from Israel (1437 cases and 724 controls) from BCAC (BCAC cohort from Israel (BCAC-IL)). In addition, we tested the performance of these EUR-based BC PRSs, as well as the established 313-SNP EUR BC PRS, in an independent cohort of 181 AJ women from Hadassah Medical Center (HMC) in Israel. Results In the BCAC-IL cohort, the highest OR per 1 SD was 1.56 (±0.09). The OR for AJ women at the top 10% of the PRS distribution compared with the middle quintile was 2.10 (±0.24). In the HMC cohort, the OR per 1 SD of the EUR-based PRS that performed best in the BCAC-IL cohort was 1.58±0.27. The OR per 1 SD of the commonly used 313-SNP BC PRS was 1.64 (±0.28). Conclusions Extant EUR GWAS data can be used for generating PRSs that identify AJ women with markedly elevated risk of BC and therefore hold promise for improving BC risk assessment in AJ women.

Abstract Background Breast cancer (BC) patients with a germline CHEK2 c.1100delC variant have an increased risk of contralateral BC (CBC) and worse BC‐specific survival (BCSS) compared to non‐carriers. Aim To assessed the associations of CHEK2 c.1100delC, radiotherapy, and systemic treatment with CBC risk and BCSS. Methods Analyses were based on 82,701 women diagnosed with a first primary invasive BC including 963 CHEK2 c.1100delC carriers; median follow‐up was 9.1 years. Differential associations with treatment by CHEK2 c.1100delC status were tested by including interaction terms in a multivariable Cox regression model. A multi‐state model was used for further insight into the relation between CHEK2 c.1100delC status, treatment, CBC risk and death. Results There was no evidence for differential associations of therapy with CBC risk by CHEK2 c.1100delC status. The strongest association with reduced CBC risk was observed for the combination of chemotherapy and endocrine therapy [HR (95% CI): 0.66 (0.55–0.78)]. No association was observed with radiotherapy. Results from the multi‐state model showed shorter BCSS for CHEK2 c.1100delC carriers versus non‐carriers also after accounting for CBC occurrence [HR (95% CI): 1.30 (1.09–1.56)]. Conclusion Systemic therapy was associated with reduced CBC risk irrespective of CHEK2 c.1100delC status. Moreover, CHEK2 c.1100delC carriers had shorter BCSS, which appears not to be fully explained by their CBC risk.

Abstract Purpose To estimate the risk of contralateral breast cancer (CBC) among women in the general population with germline pathogenic variants (PVs) in ATM, BRCA1, BRCA2, CHEK2, and PALB2. Methods Among 15,104 prospectively followed women within the CARRIERS study treated with ipsilateral surgery for invasive breast cancer, a subset of 14,237 women were identified from population-based studies. The risk of CBC was estimated for PV carriers in each gene compared to women without PVs in a multivariate proportional hazard regression analysis accounting for the competing risk of death and adjusting for patient and tumor characteristics. The primary analyses focused on the overall cohort and on women from the general population. Secondary analyses examined associations by race/ethnicity, age at primary breast cancer diagnosis, menopausal status, and tumor estrogen receptor status. Results Germline BRCA1, BRCA2, and CHEK2 PV carriers with breast cancer were at significantly elevated risk (Hazard ratio ≥ 1.9, p< 0.05) of CBC, whereas only the PALB2 PV carriers with ER-negative breast cancer had elevated risks. In contrast, ATM PV carriers did not have significantly increased CBC risks. African American PV carriers had similarly elevated risks of CBC as non-Hispanic White PV carriers. Among premenopausal women, the 15-year cumulative incidence of CBC was >20% for BRCA1, BRCA2 and CHEK2 PV carriers with breast cancer, and for PALB2 PV carriers with ER-negative breast cancer. The 15-year cumulative incidence of CBC among postmenopausal PV carriers was < 20% for PV carriers in any of the 5 genes. Conclusions Women diagnosed with breast cancer and known to carry germline PVs in BRCA1, BRCA2, CHEK2, or PALB2 are at substantially increased risk of CBC and may benefit from enhanced surveillance and risk-reduction strategies. Citation Format: Siddhartha Yadav, Nicholas J. Boddicker, Jie Na, Eric C. Polley, Chunling Hu, Steven N. Hart, Rohan D. Gnanaolivu, Nicole Larson, Carolyn Dunn, Susan Holtegaard, Huaizhi Huang, Lauren R. Teras, Alpa V. Patel, James V. Lacey Jr., Susan Neuhausen, Leslie Bernstein, Elena Martinez, Christopher Haiman, Fei Chen, Kathryn Ruddy, Janet Olson, Esther John, Allison W. Kurian, Dale P. Sandler, Katie M. O’Brien, Jack A. Taylor, Clarice R. Weinberg, Hoda Anton-Culver, Argyrios Ziogas, Gary R. Zirpoli, David E. Goldgar, Katherine L. Nathanson, Susan Domchek, Julie R. Palmer, Jeffrey Weitzel, Peter Kraft, Fergus J. Couch. Population-based Estimates of contralateral Breast Cancer Risk among Carriers of Germline Pathogenic Variants in ATM, BRCA1, BRCA2, CHEK2, and PALB2 [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2022 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(5 Suppl):Abstract nr GS4-04.

Abstract Breast cancer (BC) patients with a germline CHEK2 c.1100delC variant have an increased risk of contralateral BC (CBC) and worse BC-specific survival (BCSS) compared to non-carriers. We aimed to assess the associations of CHEK2 c.1100delC, radiotherapy, and systemic treatment with CBC risk and BCSS. Analyses were based on 82,701 women diagnosed with invasive BC including 963 CHEK2 c.1100delC carriers; median follow-up was 9.1 years. Differential associations of treatment by CHEK2 c.1100delC status were tested by including interaction terms in a multivariable Cox regression model. A multi-state model was used for further insight into the relation between CHEK2 c.1100delC status, treatment, CBC risk and death. There was no evidence for differential associations of therapy with CBC risk by CHEK2 c.1100delC status The strongest association with reduced CBC risk was observed for the combination of chemotherapy and endocrine therapy [HR(95%CI): 0.66 (0.55–0.78)]. No association was observed with radiotherapy. Results from the multi-state model showed shorter BCSS for CHEK2 c.1100delC carriers versus non-carriers also after accounting for CBC occurrence [HR(95%CI) :1.30 (1.09–1.56)]. In conclusion, systemic therapy was associated with reduced CBC risk irrespective of CHEK2 c.1100delC status. Moreover, CHEK2 c.1100delC carriers had shorter BCSS, which appears not to be fully explained by their CBC risk. (Main MS: 3201 words)

Abstract Background The role of ovulation in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is supported by the consistent protective effects of parity and oral contraceptive use. Whether these factors protect through anovulation alone remains unclear. We explored the association between lifetime ovulatory years (LOY) and EOC. Methods LOY was calculated using 12 algorithms. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) estimated the association between LOY or LOY components and EOC among 26 204 control participants and 21 267 case patients from 25 studies. To assess whether LOY components act through ovulation suppression alone, we compared beta coefficients obtained from regression models with expected estimates assuming 1 year of ovulation suppression has the same effect regardless of source. Results LOY was associated with increased EOC risk (OR per year increase = 1.014, 95% CI = 1.009 to 1.020 to OR per year increase = 1.044, 95% CI = 1.041 to 1.048). Individual LOY components, except age at menarche, also associated with EOC. The estimated model coefficient for oral contraceptive use and pregnancies were 4.45 times and 12- to 15-fold greater than expected, respectively. LOY was associated with high-grade serous, low-grade serous, endometrioid, and clear cell histotypes (ORs per year increase = 1.054, 1.040, 1.065, and 1.098, respectively) but not mucinous tumors. Estimated coefficients of LOY components were close to expected estimates for high-grade serous but larger than expected for low-grade serous, endometrioid, and clear cell histotypes. Conclusions LOY is positively associated with nonmucinous EOC. Differences between estimated and expected model coefficients for LOY components suggest factors beyond ovulation underlie the associations between LOY components and EOC in general and for non-HGSOC.

PURPOSE To estimate the risk of contralateral breast cancer (CBC) among women with germline pathogenic variants (PVs) in ATM, BRCA1, BRCA2, CHEK2, and PALB2. METHODS The study population included 15,104 prospectively followed women within the CARRIERS study treated with ipsilateral surgery for invasive breast cancer. The risk of CBC was estimated for PV carriers in each gene compared with women without PVs in a multivariate proportional hazard regression analysis accounting for the competing risk of death and adjusting for patient and tumor characteristics. The primary analyses focused on the overall cohort and on women from the general population. Secondary analyses examined associations by race/ethnicity, age at primary breast cancer diagnosis, menopausal status, and tumor estrogen receptor (ER) status. RESULTS Germline BRCA1, BRCA2, and CHEK2 PV carriers with breast cancer were at significantly elevated risk (hazard ratio > 1.9) of CBC, whereas only the PALB2 PV carriers with ER-negative breast cancer had elevated risks (hazard ratio, 2.9). By contrast, ATM PV carriers did not have significantly increased CBC risks. African American PV carriers had similarly elevated risks of CBC as non-Hispanic White PV carriers. Among premenopausal women, the 10-year cumulative incidence of CBC was estimated to be 33% for BRCA1, 27% for BRCA2, and 13% for CHEK2 PV carriers with breast cancer and 35% for PALB2 PV carriers with ER-negative breast cancer. The 10-year cumulative incidence of CBC among postmenopausal PV carriers was 12% for BRCA1, 9% for BRCA2, and 4% for CHEK2. CONCLUSION Women diagnosed with breast cancer and known to carry germline PVs in BRCA1, BRCA2, CHEK2, or PALB2 are at substantially increased risk of CBC and may benefit from enhanced surveillance and risk reduction strategies.

AbstractBackgroundKnown risk alleles for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) account for approximately 40% of the heritability for EOC. Copy number variants (CNVs) have not been investigated as EOC risk alleles in a large population cohort.MethodsSingle nucleotide polymorphism array data from 13 071 EOC cases and 17 306 controls of White European ancestry were used to identify CNVs associated with EOC risk using a rare admixture maximum likelihood test for gene burden and a by-probe ratio test. We performed enrichment analysis of CNVs at known EOC risk loci and functional biofeatures in ovarian cancer–related cell types.ResultsWe identified statistically significant risk associations with CNVs at known EOC risk genes; BRCA1 (PEOC = 1.60E-21; OREOC = 8.24), RAD51C (Phigh-grade serous ovarian cancer [HGSOC] = 5.5E-4; odds ratio [OR]HGSOC = 5.74 del), and BRCA2 (PHGSOC = 7.0E-4; ORHGSOC = 3.31 deletion). Four suggestive associations (P < .001) were identified for rare CNVs. Risk-associated CNVs were enriched (P < .05) at known EOC risk loci identified by genome-wide association study. Noncoding CNVs were enriched in active promoters and insulators in EOC-related cell types.ConclusionsCNVs in BRCA1 have been previously reported in smaller studies, but their observed frequency in this large population-based cohort, along with the CNVs observed at BRCA2 and RAD51C gene loci in EOC cases, suggests that these CNVs are potentially pathogenic and may contribute to the spectrum of disease-causing mutations in these genes. CNVs are likely to occur in a wider set of susceptibility regions, with potential implications for clinical genetic testing and disease prevention.

Abstract Background: There is suggestive evidence that inflammation is related to ovarian cancer survival. However, more research is needed to identify inflammation-related factors that are associated with ovarian cancer survival and to determine their combined effects. Methods: This analysis used pooled data on 8,147 women with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer from the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium. The prediagnosis inflammation-related exposures of interest included alcohol use; aspirin use; other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use; body mass index; environmental tobacco smoke exposure; history of pelvic inflammatory disease, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and endometriosis; menopausal hormone therapy use; physical inactivity; smoking status; and talc use. Using Cox proportional hazards models, the relationship between each exposure and survival was assessed in 50% of the data. A weighted inflammation-related risk score (IRRS) was developed, and its association with survival was assessed using Cox proportional hazards models in the remaining 50% of the data. Results: There was a statistically significant trend of increasing risk of death per quartile of the IRRS [HR = 1.09; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.03–1.14]. Women in the upper quartile of the IRRS had a 31% higher death rate compared with the lowest quartile (95% CI, 1.11–1.54). Conclusions: A higher prediagnosis IRRS was associated with an increased mortality risk after an ovarian cancer diagnosis. Further investigation is warranted to evaluate whether postdiagnosis exposures are also associated with survival. Impact: Given that pre- and postdiagnosis exposures are often correlated and many are modifiable, our study results can ultimately motivate the development of behavioral recommendations to enhance survival among patients with ovarian cancer.