Rare germline variants in pancreatic cancer and multiple primary cancers: an autopsy study

There is a lack of information on rare germline variants of pancreatic cancer-predisposing genes. Risk genes for multiple primary cancers may overlap with those for pancreatic cancer.

A retrospective study of autopsy cases with a negative family history in the Japanese single nucleotide polymorphism for geriatric research database examined rare germline variants in the protein-coding regions of 61 genes. Targeted sequencing of these genes was performed and classified for pathogenicity using the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics guidelines. Polyphen-2, SIFT and LoFtool algorithms were used to predict damage to protein function.

Of the 189 subjects used (90 cancer and 99 non-cancer controls), 72 patients had pancreatic cancer (23 had multiple primary cancers) and 18 had no pancreatic cancer in multiple primary cancers. APC, BRCA2, BUB1B, ENG and MSH6 were associated with cancer predisposition, and pathogenic/likely pathogenic (P/LP) variants occurred in 6% [pancreatic cancer (4/72); all-cancer (5/90)] and 54% (49/90) carried only variants of uncertain significance (VUS) among cancer patients. Of these VUS, in pancreatic cancer patients, four DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes ( MLH1, MSH2, MSH6 and PMS2 ), and POLQ in men were significantly associated (odds ratio = 3.83; P  = 0.025; P  = 0.027, respectively). The most abundant predictor of functionally damaging variants was POLQ .

The frequency of P/LP variants in patients with sporadic pancreatic cancer suggests the need for genetic evaluation of individuals with no family history. VUS of MMR genes ( MLH1, MSH2, MSH6 and PMS2 ) and POLQ may be useful in predicting genetic trends in the potential risk of pancreatic cancer, especially in individuals lacking P/LP.