TY - JOUR
T1 - Risk of colorectal and endometrial cancers in EPCAM deletion-positive Lynch syndrome
T2 - a cohort study
AU - Kempers, Marlies J E
AU - Kuiper, Roland P
AU - Ockeloen, Charlotte W
AU - Chappuis, Pierre O
AU - Hutter, Pierre
AU - Rahner, Nils
AU - Schackert, Hans K
AU - Steinke, Verena
AU - Holinski-Feder, Elke
AU - Morak, Monika
AU - Kloor, Matthias
AU - Büttner, Reinhard
AU - Verwiel, Eugene T P
AU - van Krieken, J Han
AU - Nagtegaal, Iris D
AU - Goossens, Monique
AU - van der Post, Rachel S
AU - Niessen, Renée C
AU - Sijmons, Rolf H
AU - Kluijt, Irma
AU - Hogervorst, Frans B L
AU - Leter, Edward M
AU - Gille, Johan J P
AU - Aalfs, Cora M
AU - Redeker, Egbert J W
AU - Hes, Frederik J
AU - Tops, Carli M J
AU - van Nesselrooij, Bernadette P M
AU - van Gijn, Marielle E
AU - Gómez García, Encarna B
AU - Eccles, Diana M
AU - Bunyan, David J
AU - Syngal, Sapna
AU - Stoffel, Elena M
AU - Culver, Julie O
AU - Palomares, Melanie R
AU - Graham, Tracy
AU - Velsher, Lea
AU - Papp, Janos
AU - Oláh, Edith
AU - Chan, Tsun L
AU - Leung, Suet Y
AU - van Kessel, Ad Geurts
AU - Kiemeney, Lambertus A L M
AU - Hoogerbrugge, Nicoline
AU - Ligtenberg, Marjolijn J L
N1 - Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
PY - 2011/1
Y1 - 2011/1
N2 - BACKGROUND: Lynch syndrome is caused by germline mutations in MSH2, MLH1, MSH6, and PMS2 mismatch-repair genes and leads to a high risk of colorectal and endometrial cancer. We previously showed that constitutional 3' end deletions of EPCAM can cause Lynch syndrome through epigenetic silencing of MSH2 in EPCAM-expressing tissues, resulting in tissue-specific MSH2 deficiency. We aim to establish the risk of cancer associated with such EPCAM deletions.METHODS: We obtained clinical data for 194 carriers of a 3' end EPCAM deletion from 41 families known to us at the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, Netherlands and compared cancer risk with data from a previously described cohort of 473 carriers from 91 families with mutations in MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, or a combined EPCAM-MSH2 deletion.FINDINGS: 93 of the 194 EPCAM deletion carriers were diagnosed with colorectal cancer; three of the 92 women with EPCAM deletions were diagnosed with endometrial cancer. Carriers of an EPCAM deletion had a 75% (95% CI 65-85) cumulative risk of colorectal cancer before the age of 70 years (mean age at diagnosis 43 years [SD 12]), which did not differ significantly from that of carriers of combined EPCAM-MSH2 deletion (69% [95% CI 47-91], p=0·8609) or mutations in MSH2 (77% [64-90], p=0·5892) or MLH1 (79% [68-90], p=0·5492), but was higher than noted for carriers of MSH6 mutation (50% [38-62], p<0·0001). By contrast, women with EPCAM deletions had a 12% [0-27] cumulative risk of endometrial cancer, which was lower than was that noted for carriers of a combined EPCAM-MSH2 deletion (55% [20-90], p<0·0001) or of a mutation in MSH2 (51% [33-69], p=0·0006) or MSH6 (34% [20-48], p=0·0309), but did not differ significantly from that noted for MLH1 (33% [15-51], p=0·1193) mutation carriers. This risk seems to be restricted to deletions that extend close to the MSH2 gene promoter. Of 194 carriers of an EPCAM deletion, three had duodenal cancer and four had pancreatic cancer.INTERPRETATION: EPCAM deletion carriers have a high risk of colorectal cancer; only those with deletions extending close to the MSH2 promoter have an increased risk of endometrial cancer. These results underscore the effect of mosaic MSH2 deficiency, leading to variable cancer risks, and could form the basis of an optimised protocol for the recognition and targeted prevention of cancer in EPCAM deletion carriers.
AB - BACKGROUND: Lynch syndrome is caused by germline mutations in MSH2, MLH1, MSH6, and PMS2 mismatch-repair genes and leads to a high risk of colorectal and endometrial cancer. We previously showed that constitutional 3' end deletions of EPCAM can cause Lynch syndrome through epigenetic silencing of MSH2 in EPCAM-expressing tissues, resulting in tissue-specific MSH2 deficiency. We aim to establish the risk of cancer associated with such EPCAM deletions.METHODS: We obtained clinical data for 194 carriers of a 3' end EPCAM deletion from 41 families known to us at the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, Netherlands and compared cancer risk with data from a previously described cohort of 473 carriers from 91 families with mutations in MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, or a combined EPCAM-MSH2 deletion.FINDINGS: 93 of the 194 EPCAM deletion carriers were diagnosed with colorectal cancer; three of the 92 women with EPCAM deletions were diagnosed with endometrial cancer. Carriers of an EPCAM deletion had a 75% (95% CI 65-85) cumulative risk of colorectal cancer before the age of 70 years (mean age at diagnosis 43 years [SD 12]), which did not differ significantly from that of carriers of combined EPCAM-MSH2 deletion (69% [95% CI 47-91], p=0·8609) or mutations in MSH2 (77% [64-90], p=0·5892) or MLH1 (79% [68-90], p=0·5492), but was higher than noted for carriers of MSH6 mutation (50% [38-62], p<0·0001). By contrast, women with EPCAM deletions had a 12% [0-27] cumulative risk of endometrial cancer, which was lower than was that noted for carriers of a combined EPCAM-MSH2 deletion (55% [20-90], p<0·0001) or of a mutation in MSH2 (51% [33-69], p=0·0006) or MSH6 (34% [20-48], p=0·0309), but did not differ significantly from that noted for MLH1 (33% [15-51], p=0·1193) mutation carriers. This risk seems to be restricted to deletions that extend close to the MSH2 gene promoter. Of 194 carriers of an EPCAM deletion, three had duodenal cancer and four had pancreatic cancer.INTERPRETATION: EPCAM deletion carriers have a high risk of colorectal cancer; only those with deletions extending close to the MSH2 promoter have an increased risk of endometrial cancer. These results underscore the effect of mosaic MSH2 deficiency, leading to variable cancer risks, and could form the basis of an optimised protocol for the recognition and targeted prevention of cancer in EPCAM deletion carriers.
KW - Adolescent
KW - Adult
KW - Aged
KW - Antigens, Neoplasm/genetics
KW - Cell Adhesion Molecules/genetics
KW - Cohort Studies
KW - Colorectal Neoplasms/etiology
KW - Endometrial Neoplasms/etiology
KW - Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule
KW - Female
KW - Gene Deletion
KW - Humans
KW - Male
KW - Middle Aged
KW - MutS Homolog 2 Protein/genetics
KW - Promoter Regions, Genetic
KW - Risk
KW - Sequence Deletion
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=78650692633&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/S1470-2045(10)70265-5
DO - 10.1016/S1470-2045(10)70265-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 21145788
SN - 1474-5488
VL - 12
SP - 49
EP - 55
JO - The Lancet Oncology
JF - The Lancet Oncology
IS - 1
ER -