ABSTRACT: Desmoid tumors (also called deep or aggressive fibromatoses) are potentially life-threatening fibromatous lesions. Hereditary desmoid tumors arise in individuals affected by either familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) or hereditary desmoid disease (HDD) carrying germline mutations in APC. Most non-FAP (sporadic) desmoids carry somatic mutations in the beta-catenin gene. Previous studies identified losses on 5q and 6q, and gains on 8q and 20q as recurrent genetic changes in desmoids. However, virtually all genetic changes were derived from sporadic tumors. To investigate the somatic alterations in FAP-associated desmoids and to compare them with changes occurring in sporadic tumors, we analyzed 17 FAP-associated and 38 sporadic desmoids for copy number abnormalities (CNAs) by means of array comparative genomic hybridization and multiple ligation-dependent probe amplification. Overall, the desmoids displayed only a limited number of genetic changes, occurring in 44% of cases. Common gains at 8q (7%) and 20q (5%) were almost exclusively found in sporadic tumors. Frequent common losses were observed within a 700 kb region at 5q22.2, comprising the APC gene (11%), in a 2 Mb region at 6p21.2-p21.1 (15%), and in a relatively large region at 6q15-q23.3 (20%). The FAP-associated desmoids displayed a significantly higher frequency of CNAs (59%) than the sporadic tumors (37%). As predicted by the APC germline mutations among these patients, a relatively high percentage (29%) of the FAP-associated desmoids showed loss of the APC region at 5q22.2, which was infrequently (3%) seen among sporadic tumors. Our data suggest that loss of region 6q15-q16.2 is an important event in FAP-associated as well as sporadic desmoids, most likely of relevance for desmoid tumor progression. Fifty-three fresh frozen tumor samples were collected at four institutes: Center for Human Genetics, University of Leuven, Belgium (21 samples); INSERM U674, Fondation Jean Dausset-CEPH, Paris, France (15 samples); Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada (13 samples); and the Italian Registry of Hereditary Colorectal Cancer (Dr. L. Bertario, 4 samples). In addition, DNA of two fresh frozen tumors, HDD-H of patient III:2 and HDD-I of patient III:6, of our hereditary desmoids disease (HDD) family10 was available (Table 1). In this family, multifocal desmoid tumors were inherited as an autosomal dominant trait, and HDD segregated with a 3' APC mutation at codon 1924. For the latter reason, they were classified as FAP tumors in this study. Three FAP tumors were derived from a family with 2 relatives in the study (D15-1 and D15-2 of a male patient and D16 of his sister). Colonic polyposis had been observed in 12 FAP patients, not in the 2 HDD-FAP patients and not in patient D15. The germline APC mutation was known in 14 of 17 FAP-associated tumors. In 28 of 38 non-FAP-associated desmoid tumors, the beta-catenin gene (CTNNB1) mutation in exon 3 was known and in 1 of 38 tumors an APC mutation was present (data not shown). The remaining tumors were characterized as FAP or non-FAP based on clinical data and positivity of tumor cells upon immunostaining for beta-catenin. DNA was extracted from the tumor samples according to standard methods.
