MiRNA profile in hereditary and sporadic breast cancer
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: we analyze expression of miRNAs in a cohort of male and female patients with familial breast cancer (BRCA1/2-related and BRCAX) and in a subset of sporadic breast cancer
Project description:In this study, using microarray technology we did a transcriptome profiling of miRNAs on a group of 52 cases of familial (BRCA1- or BRCA2-mutated, or BRCAX, i.e. familial cases with no mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes) and sporadic breast cancers. Class comparison of different clinical characteristics of the samples identified miR-342 as the miRNA with the most significant association with estrogen receptor (ER) status (categorised as positive and negative) of the samples analysed. As ER is one of the bio-pathological features currently used in routine clinical practice to aid treatment decision in breast cancer, identification of this miRNA has been promising for finding new mechanisms involved in this tumour type as we had next demonstrated in a cellular model of breast cancer.
Project description:Only about 25% of familial breast cancer is explained by mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2, fewer by moderate penetrance genes like P53, PTEN, CHEK2, ATM and PALB2 and an unknown fraction by common variants of genes with low penetrance. Evidence suggests that additional dominant breast cancer genes exist and these are referred to as BRCAX. Clinical presentation of families with highly increased incidence of breast cancer that are non-BRCA1/BRCA2, suggests dominant inheritance of such high penetrance breast cancer genes. Because cancer genes often confer a specific clinical presentation (e.g. age of onset, sex-ratio, tissue spectrum) it seems useful to initiate their discovery by such clinical criteria. An earlier linkage study of BRCAX / non-BRCA1/2 breast cancer families aimed to enrich for a common genetic defect by setting stringent inclusion criteria, failed to identify new breast cancer susceptibility loci. Motivated by results of BRCA1 and BRCA2 breast tumors that have characteristic genomic signatures (array-CGH 'phenotypes'), we present the largest dataset to date showing the genomic profiles of 58 BRCAX primary breast tumors by array-CGH and show by unsupervised hierarchical clustering that they form a heterogeneous group with 4 distinct subtypes that are different from (n = 48) sporadic controls. This provides a possible explanation for the lack of high LOD scores in linkage studies. The presence of more than one BRCAX sub-type suggests the existence of more than one BRCAX gene. We propose approaches that can be employed to stratify BRCAX families based on array-CGH data. 58 primary breast carcinomas from non-BRCA1/2 hereditary breast cancer families (HBC) compared to 48 sporadic tumors
Project description:In this study, using microarray technology we did a transcriptome profiling of miRNAs on a group of 52 cases of familial (BRCA1- or BRCA2-mutated, or BRCAX, i.e. familial cases with no mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes) and sporadic breast cancers. Class comparison of different clinical characteristics of the samples identified miR-342 as the miRNA with the most significant association with estrogen receptor (ER) status (categorised as positive and negative) of the samples analysed. As ER is one of the bio-pathological features currently used in routine clinical practice to aid treatment decision in breast cancer, identification of this miRNA has been promising for finding new mechanisms involved in this tumour type as we had next demonstrated in a cellular model of breast cancer. In the study presented here, microRNAs expression profiling on a well defined cohort of 52 breast cancer cases, followed up for more than 5 years, was used for a class comparison analysis with some relevant clinical characteristics of this tumour type like estrogen, progesterone or epidermal growth factor 2 receptor status.
Project description:Only about 25% of familial breast cancer is explained by mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2, fewer by moderate penetrance genes like P53, PTEN, CHEK2, ATM and PALB2 and an unknown fraction by common variants of genes with low penetrance. Evidence suggests that additional dominant breast cancer genes exist and these are referred to as BRCAX. Clinical presentation of families with highly increased incidence of breast cancer that are non-BRCA1/BRCA2, suggests dominant inheritance of such high penetrance breast cancer genes. Because cancer genes often confer a specific clinical presentation (e.g. age of onset, sex-ratio, tissue spectrum) it seems useful to initiate their discovery by such clinical criteria. An earlier linkage study of BRCAX / non-BRCA1/2 breast cancer families aimed to enrich for a common genetic defect by setting stringent inclusion criteria, failed to identify new breast cancer susceptibility loci. Motivated by results of BRCA1 and BRCA2 breast tumors that have characteristic genomic signatures (array-CGH 'phenotypes'), we present the largest dataset to date showing the genomic profiles of 58 BRCAX primary breast tumors by array-CGH and show by unsupervised hierarchical clustering that they form a heterogeneous group with 4 distinct subtypes that are different from (n = 48) sporadic controls. This provides a possible explanation for the lack of high LOD scores in linkage studies. The presence of more than one BRCAX sub-type suggests the existence of more than one BRCAX gene. We propose approaches that can be employed to stratify BRCAX families based on array-CGH data.
Project description:It is now well understood that epigenetic alterations occur frequently in sporadic breast carcinogenesis, but little is known about the epigenetic alterations associated with familial breast tumors. We performed genome-wide DNA methylation profiling on familial breast cancers (n=33) to identify patterns of methylation specific to the different mutation groups (BRCA1, BRCA2 and BRCAx) or intrinsic subtypes of breast cancer (basal, luminal A, luminal B, HER2 and normal-like). We used methylated DNA immunoprecipitation (meDIP) on Affymetrix human promoter chips to interrogate methylation profiles across 25,500 distinct transcripts.
Project description:The objective of the study was to characterize hereditary breast tumors based on their miRNA expression profiles. To this end, we performed global miRNA expression analysis of more than 800 human miRNA genes in a large series of 80 FFPE breast tissue samples. The series included 66 hereditary breast primary tumors from 13 BRCA1 mutation carriers, 10 BRCA2 mutation carriers and 43 non-BRCA12 tumors denominated hereafter as BRCAX tumors. In addition we have analyzed 10 sporadic breast carcinomas and 4 normal breast tissues obtained after breast reduction surgery from healthy donors with no family history of breast cancer. To avoid contamination with normal breast tissue, tumoral area on FFPE blocks was marked by a pathologist and macrodissected for subsequent total RNA extraction.
Project description:We have analyzed, using DNA microarrays, putative differences in gene-expression level between hereditary BRCA1 mutation-linked and sporadic breast cancer. Our results show that a previously reported marked difference between BRCA1-mutation linked and sporadic breast cancer was probably due to uneven stratification of samples with different ER status and basal-like versus luminal-like subtype. We observed that apparent difference between BRCA1-linked and other types of breast cancer found in univariate analysis was diminished when data were corrected for ER status and molecular subtype in multivariate analyses. In fact, the difference in gene expression pattern of BRCA1-mutated and sporadic cancer is very discrete. These conclusions were supported by the results of Q-PCR validation. We also found that BRCA1 gene inactivation due to promoter hypermethylation had similar effect on general gene expression profile as mutation-induced protein truncation. This suggests that in the molecular studies of hereditary breast cancer, BRCA1 gene methylation should be recognized and considered together with gene mutation. We analyzed 35 breast cancer specimens. Surgical samples obtained during mastectomy were flash-frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80°C. Only samples from patients without neoadjuvant chemotherapy were used in this study as chemotherapy may seriously affect gene expression profile. All tissue samples were collected at the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin. Seventeen tumor samples were collected from patients with hereditary breast cancer: 12 were derived from tumors affecting women with hereditary BRCA1 mutation, the only one from a woman with BRCA2 mutation, while another eight cases had familial history of breast/ovarian cancer, but were negative for the BRCA1/2 mutations (so called BRCAx cases). Proportion of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutated tumors was typical for the Polish population. Ten samples were derived from patients with apparently sporadic disease (no familial history of cancer) while 4 patients had a history of familial cancer aggregation (FCA) but without prevalence of breast/ovarian cancers. Thus, these samples were merged with sporadic samples in most of the analyses. All BRCA1 mutation-linked tumors in our study were negative for estrogen receptor (by immunohistochemistry, standard procedures for ER, PGR and HER2 staining were applied), while the only BRCA2-mutated tumor was ER-positive. There were 26 ductal and 5 medullary carcinomas within the study group, which is consistent with the distribution of histopathological types in BRCA1 mutation carriers. Patients were diagnosed at stage T1-2, N0-1 and M0. Caution: this submission contains the data from 6 microarrays done on the normal/pathologically unchanged breast tissue from breast cancer patiets. The data from normal tissues was not analyzed in the paper BRCA1-related gene signature in breast cancer is strongly influenced by ER status and molecular type by Lisowska et al., 2011, Front Biosci (Elite Ed). 2011 Jan 1;3:125-36
Project description:The objective of the study was to characterize hereditary breast tumors based on their miRNA expression profiles. To this end, we performed global miRNA expression analysis of more than 800 human miRNA genes in a large series of 80 FFPE breast tissue samples. The series included 66 hereditary breast primary tumors from 13 BRCA1 mutation carriers, 10 BRCA2 mutation carriers and 43 non-BRCA12 tumors denominated hereafter as BRCAX tumors. In addition we have analyzed 10 sporadic breast carcinomas and 4 normal breast tissues obtained after breast reduction surgery from healthy donors with no family history of breast cancer. To avoid contamination with normal breast tissue, tumoral area on FFPE blocks was marked by a pathologist and macrodissected for subsequent total RNA extraction. Microarray expression profiling was performed using miRCURY LNATM microRNA Array v.11 (Exiqon A/S, Denmark), in a single color experiments in a pairwise comparison experimantal design.
Project description:Use of DNA damaging agents and RNA pooling to assess expression profiles associated with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation status in familial breast cancer patients Background: A large number of rare sequence variants of unknown clinical significance have been identified in the breast cancer susceptibility genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2. Determining the functional effect of these variants as well as their role in breast cancer susceptibility can be challenging using current classification methods. Methodology/Principal Findings: To identify predictors of pathogenic mutation status in familial breast cancer patients, we explored the use of gene expression arrays to assess the effect of two DNA damaging agents (irradiation and mitomycin C) on cellular response in relation to BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation status. A range of regimes were used to treat 27 lymphoblastoid cell-lines (LCLs) derived from affected women in high-risk breast cancer families (nine BRCA1, nine BRCA2, and nine non-BRCA1/2 or BRCAX individuals) and nine LCLs from healthy individuals. Using an RNA pooling strategy, we found that treating LCLs with 1.2 μM mitomycin C and measuring the gene expression profiles 1 hour post-treatment had the greatest potential to discriminate BRCA1, BRCA2 and BRCAX mutation status. A classifier was built using the expression profile of nine QRT-PCR validated genes that were associated with BRCA1, BRCA2 and BRCAX status in RNA pools. These nine genes could distinguish BRCA1 from BRCA2 carriers with 83% accuracy in individual samples, but three-way analysis for BRCA1, BRCA2 and BRCAX had a maximum of 59% prediction accuracy. Conclusions/Significance: Our results suggest that, compared to BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers, non-BRCA1/2 (BRCAX) individuals are genetically heterogeneous. This study also demonstrates the effectiveness of RNA pools to compare the expression profiles of cell-lines from BRCA1, BRCA2 and BRCAX cases after treatment with irradiation and mitomycin C as a method to prioritize treatment regimes for detailed downstream expression analysis.
Project description:About 25% of familial breast cancer (BC) is attributed to germline mutations of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes while the rest of patients are included in the BRCAX group. BC also affects men with a worldwide incidence of 1%. The epigenetic alterations, including those DNA methylation, have been rarely studied in the male breast cancer (MBC) on a genome-wide level. The aim of the current work was to study the global DNA methylation profiles of BC patients to look for differences between familial female breast cancer (FBC) and MBC and according to BRCA1, BRCA2 and BRCAX mutation status. The genomic DNA from FFPE tissues of 17 female and 7 male patients with BC was subjected to methylated DNA immunoprecipitation (MeDIP) and hybridized on human promoter microarrays. The comparison between FBC and MBC showed 2846 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) corresponding to 2486 distinct annotated genes. The gene ontology enrichment analysis revealdrelevant molecular function terms such as the GTPase superfamily genes (in particular the GTPase Rho GAP/GEF and GTPase RAB) and cellular component terms associated to cytoskeletal architecture such as “cytoskeletal part”, “keratin filament”, “intermediate filament". By considering only FBC, several cancer-associated pathways were the most enriched KEGG pathways of differentially methylated genes between BRCA2 and BRCAX or BRCA1+BRCAX groups. The comparison between BRCA1 group vs BRCA2+BRCAX group displayed the enriched molecular function term “cytoskeletal protein binding”. Finally, the functional annotation of differentially methylated genes between BRCAX and BRCA1+BRCA2 groups indicated that the most enriched molecular function terms were related to GTPase activity. In summary, this is the first study that compares the global DNA methylation profile of familial FBC and MBC and the results may provide useful insights into the epigenomic subtyping of breast cancer and shed light on a possible new molecular mechanisms underlying BC carcinogenesis.