Publications by authors named "Nicholas Borja"

Introduction: Nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome (NBCCS) is a rare autosomal dominant disorder classically associated with multiple basal cell carcinomas, odontogenic keratocysts and skeletal anomalies. However, its significant phenotypic heterogeneity often delays the diagnosis. Here, we undertake the first comprehensive characterisation of NBCCS and congenital urinary tract anomalies.

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Sex chromosome aneuploidies (SCA) such as Turner, Klinefelter, Jacobs, and Trisomy X syndromes are prevalent genetic disorders with well-established phenotypes. Challenges persist, however, in determining the need for further genetic evaluation in cases of affected individuals exhibiting atypical symptoms. The present study retrospectively examined 54 pediatric patients with an SCA diagnosis at a single institution between January 2015 and December 2023.

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encodes a kinesin motor protein associated with isolated congenital fibrosis of the extraocular muscles (CFEOM), which occurs when the autoinhibitory interaction between its motor and third coiled-coil domains is disrupted. In this study, we describe a female child who is heterozygous for a novel de novo missense variant in p.Leu664Pro, located in the second coiled-coil domain that was absent in her unaffected parents and in healthy population cohorts.

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Article Synopsis
  • * The Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN) aims to improve diagnosis rates and research participation among these groups, but a review of 2235 participants shows underrepresentation of Hispanic and Black non-Hispanic individuals compared to the broader U.S. population.
  • * Diagnosis rates varied by ethnicity, with higher rates for Asian non-Hispanic (39.5%) and Hispanic (35.3%) groups, while White non-Hispanic participants had the lowest at 26.8%; however, differences in diagnostic yields were not significant when controlling for factors like age and disease phenotype. *
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Bryant-Li-Bhoj syndrome (BLBS), which became OMIM-classified in 2022 (OMIM: 619720, 619721), is caused by germline variants in the two genes that encode histone H3.3 (H3-3A/H3F3A and H3-3B/H3F3B) [1-4]. This syndrome is characterized by developmental delay/intellectual disability, craniofacial anomalies, hyper/hypotonia, and abnormal neuroimaging [1, 5].

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Article Synopsis
  • ATP1A1 gene is linked to neurological diseases and encodes a sodium-potassium ATPase.
  • Researchers identified a specific variant, NM_000701.8: c.2707G>A;p.(Gly903Arg), in two children with developmental delays and autism, which was not present in healthy controls.
  • Experimental testing showed that this variant reduces cell viability, indicating a loss of function and confirming its pathogenic role in expanding the known effects of ATP1A1 mutations.
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Unlabelled: The occurrence of multiple primary cancers (MPC) is thought to reflect increased cancer susceptibility in patients due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Here we conducted a retrospective review of 2,894 consecutive patients evaluated at a single institution and identified 31 (1.14%) individuals with a history of three or more primary cancers, then analyzed the genetic and environmental influences associated with their propensity for developing malignancies.

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Coffin-Siris syndrome (CSS) is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder that is associated with multiple congenital anomalies and caused by de novo monoallelic germline pathogenic variants in BAF-complex genes. Despite their function as tumor suppressors, the cancer risk in patients with CSS remains unclear. We analyzed cancer sequencing data sets, conducted a comprehensive literature review of patients with CSS diagnosed with malignancies, and examined a cohort of 376 CSS registry patients to estimate cancer frequency.

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Recurrent de novo missense variants in H4 histone genes have recently been associated with a novel neurodevelopmental syndrome that is characterized by intellectual disability and developmental delay as well as more variable findings that include short stature, microcephaly, and facial dysmorphisms. A 4-year-old male with autism, developmental delay, microcephaly, and a happy demeanor underwent evaluation through the Undiagnosed Disease Network. He was clinically suspected to have Angelman syndrome; however, molecular testing was negative.

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Heterozygous, loss-of-function germline variants in have been associated with an increased lifetime risk of breast, pancreas, prostate, stomach, ovarian, colorectal, and melanoma cancers. We conducted a retrospective review of thirty-one unrelated patients found to be heterozygous for a germline pathogenic variant in and identified a significant proportion of patients in this cohort with cancers not currently associated with the ATM hereditary cancer syndrome, including carcinomas of the gallbladder, uterus, duodenum, kidney, and lung as well as a vascular sarcoma. A comprehensive review of the literature found 25 relevant studies where 171 individuals with a germline deleterious variant have been diagnosed with the same or similar cancers.

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Phenotypic features of KBG syndrome include craniofacial anomalies, short stature, cognitive disability and behavioral findings. The syndrome is caused by heterozygous pathogenic single nucleotide variants and indels in ANKRD11, or a heterozygous deletion of 16q24.3 that includes ANKRD11.

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Neurodegenerative disorders and leukodystrophies are progressive neurologic conditions that can occur following the disruption of intricately coordinated patterns of gene expression. Exome sequencing has been adopted as an effective diagnostic tool for determining the underlying genetic etiology of Mendelian neurologic disorders, however genome sequencing offer advantages in its ability to identify and characterize copy number, structural, and sequence variants in noncoding regions. Genome sequencing from peripheral leukocytes was performed on two patients with progressive neurologic disease of unknown etiology following negative genetic investigations including exome sequencing.

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Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) harbors an exceedingly poor prognosis, and is generally considered a therapy-recalcitrant disease due to poor response to conventional chemotherapy coupled with non-actionable genetic drivers (e.g. KRAS mutations).

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Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an uncommon but aggressive subtype of breast cancer. Obesity has been associated with an increased risk of breast cancer and worse prognosis. Some studies suggest that obese patients are less likely to achieve pathologic complete response (pCR) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) and experience worse overall survival.

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