Increased risk of cancer other than melanoma in CDKN2A founder mutation (p16-Leiden)-positive melanoma families.

Purpose: We report the largest study to date analyzing the risk of cancers other than melanoma in melanoma families positive for the same CDKN2A mutation.

Experimental Design: We studied family members of 22 families positive for the p16-Leiden founder mutation who had attended a surveillance clinic or were their close relatives. Within this cohort, observed and expected rates of cancer were computed by mutation status consisting of 221 (proven plus obligate) carriers, 639 (proven plus obligate) noncarriers, and 668 first-degree relatives whose carrier risk was estimated from the relationship to known carriers and the age and melanoma status of that person and their relatives.

Genetic testing in familial melanoma: uptake and implications.

Objective: We report on the uptake and psychological impact of p16-Leiden genetic testing to contribute to a greater understanding of counseling melanoma families.

Methods: Within a defined research setting, genetic counseling and testing were offered to members of p16-Leiden-positive melanoma pedigrees, at risk of carrying a gene defect associated with an increased risk of melanoma and pancreatic cancer.

Results: One hundred and eighty-four individuals sought counseling, of which 141 (77%) opted for genetic testing.

Genome-wide linkage scan for atypical nevi in p16-Leiden melanoma families.

In most Dutch melanoma families, a founder deletion in the melanoma susceptibility gene CDKN2A (which encodes p16) is present. This founder deletion (p16-Leiden) accounts for a significant proportion of the increased melanoma risk. However, it does not account for the Atypical Nevus (AN) phenotype that segregates in both p16-Leiden carriers and non-carriers.

From sporadic atypical nevi to familial melanoma: risk analysis for melanoma in sporadic atypical nevus patients.

Background: Atypical nevi (AN), present in either a familial or a sporadic setting, are strong indicators of increased melanoma risk.

Objective: To estimate the extent of this risk and the extent of reclassification of sporadic to familial cases during follow-up.

Methods: We studied 167 sporadic patients with AN (>or=5).

A mutation hotspot at the p14ARF splice site.

Germline mutations of CDKN2A that affect the p16INK4a transcript have been identified in numerous melanoma pedigrees worldwide. In the UK, over 50% of pedigrees with three or more cases of melanoma have been found to carry mutations of CDKN2A. Mutations that affect p14ARF exon 1beta exclusively are very rare.