The complexity of screening PMS2 in DNA isolated from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded material

Germline variants in the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) gene PMS2 cause 1-14% of all Lynch Syndrome cancers. Correct variant analysis of PMS2 is complex due to the presence of multiple pseudogenes and the occurrence of gene conversion. The analysis complexity increases in highly fragmented DNA from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue. Here we describe a reliable approach to detect true PMS2 variants in fragmented DNA. A custom NGS panel designed for FFPE tissue was used targeting four MMR genes, POLE and POLD1. Amplicon design for PMS2 was based on the position of paralogous sequence variants (PSVs) that distinguish PMS2 from its pseudogenes. PMS2 variants in exons 1-11 can be correctly curated based on this information. For exons 12-15 this is less reliable as these undergo gene conversion. Using this method, we screened PMS2 variants in 125 MMR-deficient tumors. Of the 125 tumors tested, six were unexplained MMR-deficient tumors with solitary PMS2 protein expression loss. In these six tumors two unclassified variants (class 3) and five variants likely affecting function (class 4/5) were detected in PMS2. One microsatellite unstable tumor with positive staining for all MMR proteins was found to carry a frameshift PMS2 variant (class 5). No class 4 or class 5 PMS2 variants were detected in tumors with other patterns of MMR protein expression loss.