Molecular analysis directs the prognosis, management and treatment of patients with xeroderma pigmentosum

Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is a well-studied disorder of (in most cases) nucleotide excision repair. The establishment in 2010 of a multidisciplinary XP clinic in the UK has enabled us to make a detailed analysis of genotype-phenotype relationships in XP patients and in several instances to make confident prognostic predictions. Splicing mutations in XPA and XPD and a specific amino acid change in XPD are associated with mild phenotypes, and individuals assigned to the XP-F group appear to have reduced pigmentation changes and a lower susceptibility to skin cancer than XPs in other groups. In an XP-C patient with advanced metastatic cancer arising from an angiosarcoma, molecular analysis of the tumour DNA suggested that immunotherapy, not normally recommended for angiosarcomas, might in this case be successful, and indeed the patient showed a dramatic recovery following immunotherapy treatment. These studies show that molecular analyses can improve the management, prognoses and therapy for individuals with XP.