Publications by authors named "Tischkowitz M"

Importance: Heterogeneity in development of estrogen receptor (ER)-specific first primary breast cancer exists due to deleterious germline variants in moderate- to high-penetrance breast cancer susceptibility genes, but it is unknown if these associations occur in ER-specific CBC.

Objective: To determine the association of deleterious germline variants in breast cancer susceptibility genes with ER-specific CBC development and whether ER status of the first primary breast cancer modifies these associations.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This case-control study included CBC cases and matched unilateral breast cancer controls from The Women's Environment, Cancer, and Radiation Epidemiology (WECARE) Study, a population-based case-control study.

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Purpose: ATM germline pathogenic variants (GPVs) are associated with a moderately increased risk of female breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, and prostate cancer. Resources for managing ATM heterozygotes in clinical practice are limited.

Methods: An international workgroup developed a clinical practice resource to guide management of ATM heterozygotes using peer-reviewed publications and expert opinion.

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Article Synopsis
  • Carriers of BRCA1/2 pathogenic variants were studied to determine their risk of developing cancers during childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood (CAYA).
  • Analysis of data from over 47,000 individuals revealed that while young women with BRCA1/2 mutations had a significantly increased risk of breast cancer in their 20s, no increased risk was found for other types of CAYA cancers.
  • The study concluded that there's little evidence to support routine genetic testing for children of BRCA1/2 carriers or for young cancer patients, as the overall cancer risk appears low aside from breast cancer in young women.
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  • NICE recommends additional breast screening and interventions for women in England at above-population risk for breast cancer.
  • A review of GP referrals showed up to 20% of women lacked sufficient information for risk assessment, with over 25% assessed as near-population risk.
  • Many women may miss out on preventative measures due to current systemic issues, highlighting the need for better data collection and risk assessment processes to address health inequalities.
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Purpose: Second primary cancer (SPC) risks after breast cancer (BC) in pathogenic variant (PV) carriers are uncertain. We estimated relative and absolute risks using a novel linkage of genetic testing data to population-scale National Disease Registration Service and Hospital Episode Statistics electronic health records.

Methods: We followed 25,811 females and 480 males diagnosed with BC and tested for germline PVs in NHS Clinical Genetics centers in England between 1995 and 2019 until SPC diagnosis, death, migration, contralateral breast/ovarian surgery plus 1 year, or the 31st of December 2020.

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Background: For female patients with Lynch syndrome (LS), endometrial cancer (EC) is often their first cancer diagnosis. A testing pathway of somatic tumour testing triage followed by germline mismatch repair (MMR) gene testing is an effective way of identifying the estimated 3% of EC caused by LS.

Methods: A retrospective national population-based observational study was conducted using comprehensive national data collections of functional, somatic and germline MMR tests available via the English National Cancer Registration Dataset.

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Purpose: Small cell carcinoma of the ovary, hypercalcemic type (SCCOHT) is an extremely rare, highly aggressive cancer (mean age of onset, 24 years). Nearly all cases are associated with somatic or germline pathogenic variants (GPVs) in SMARCA4. Early bilateral oophorectomy is recommended for unaffected females with a SMARCA4 GPV.

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  • Multifactorial cancer risk prediction tools like CanRisk are being increasingly used in healthcare, but effectively communicating this risk information is challenging for healthcare professionals.
  • A 13-month co-design process involved patients, the public, and healthcare professionals to develop a new CanRisk report after receiving feedback on the original.
  • The revised report presents key information for individuals and healthcare professionals, including summaries, explanatory text, and visual aids, enhancing communication around cancer risk management.
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  • The ClinGen Hereditary Breast, Ovarian, and Pancreatic Cancer Variant Curation Expert Panel (HBOP VCEP) created specific guidelines for interpreting variants in the ATM gene, modifying the American College of Medical Genetics and Association for Molecular Pathology (ACMG/AMP) guidelines.
  • A pilot study testing 33 variants showed strong agreement between the VCEP classifications and existing ClinVar data, though some conflicting interpretations were clarified.
  • Overall, the modified rules led to 85% of the variants being classified more definitively, significantly enhancing the reliability of genetic interpretations related to the ATM gene.
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Background: The clinical validity of the multifactorial BOADICEA model for epithelial tubo-ovarian cancer (EOC) risk prediction has not been assessed in a large sample size or over a longer term.

Methods: We evaluated the model discrimination and calibration in the UK Biobank cohort comprising 199,429 women (733 incident EOCs) of European ancestry without previous cancer history. We predicted 10-year EOC risk incorporating data on questionnaire-based risk factors (QRFs), family history, a 36-SNP polygenic risk score and pathogenic variants (PV) in six EOC susceptibility genes (BRCA1, BRCA2, RAD51C, RAD51D, BRIP1 and PALB2).

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Background: The South West Thames Centre for Genomics implemented a wider diagnostic Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) gene panel for eligible cancer patients undergoing diagnostic testing whilst restricting data analysis and reporting for BRCA1/BRCA2/PALB2/CHEK2 1100delC only as per contemporaneous guidelines. This study investigated the cost-utility of reanalyzing existing diagnostic grade extended panel data for truncating germline pathogenic variants (GPVs) in known moderate risk cancer susceptibility genes (CSGs) and performing follow-up genetic testing for first-degree relatives if patients have an identified CSG allele.

Methods: Reanalysis of existing NGS data was undertaken in 889 samples from cancer patients contemporaneously eligible through the NHS England National Genomic Test Directory (NGTD) codes R207 (ovarian) or R208 (breast) who had tested negative for BRCA1/BRCA2/PALB2 and CHEK2 1100delC founder variant.

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Whole genome sequencing (WGS) provides comprehensive, individualised cancer genomic information. However, routine tumour biopsies are formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE), damaging DNA, historically limiting their use in WGS. Here we analyse FFPE cancer WGS datasets from England's 100,000 Genomes Project, comparing 578 FFPE samples with 11,014 fresh frozen (FF) samples across multiple tumour types.

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Background: Sarcomas are diverse neoplasms with highly variable histological appearances in which diagnosis is often challenging and management options for metastatic/unresectable disease limited. Many sarcomas have distinctive molecular alterations, but the range of alterations is large, variable in type and rapidly increasing, meaning that testing by limited panels is unable to capture the broad spectrum of clinically pertinent genomic drivers required. Paired whole genome sequencing (WGS) in contrast allows comprehensive assessment of small variants, copy number and structural variants along with mutational signature analysis and germline testing.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Key findings show high odds ratios and frequencies of PVs for BRCA1, BRCA2, and PALB2, particularly in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, while PV frequencies for some syndromic BCSGs like TP53 and STK11 are notably low.
  • * This analysis provides valuable insights for understanding the genetic risks associated with breast cancer in the general population, which can aid in better testing and prevention strategies.
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The ClinGen Hereditary Breast, Ovarian and Pancreatic Cancer (HBOP) Variant Curation Expert Panel (VCEP) is composed of internationally recognized experts in clinical genetics, molecular biology and variant interpretation. This VCEP made specifications for ACMG/AMP guidelines for the ataxia telangiectasia mutated () gene according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved ClinGen protocol. These gene-specific rules for were modified from the American College of Medical Genetics and Association for Molecular Pathology (ACMG/AMP) guidelines and were tested against 33 variants of various types and classifications in a pilot curation phase.

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Objectives: To report the long-term outcomes from a longitudinal psychosocial study that forms part of the 'Identification of Men with a genetic predisposition to ProstAte Cancer: Targeted Screening in men at higher genetic risk and controls' (IMPACT) study. The IMPACT study is a multi-national study of targeted prostate cancer (PrCa) screening in individuals with a known germline pathogenic variant (GPV) in either the BReast CAncer gene 1 (BRCA1) or the BReast CAncer gene 2 (BRCA2).

Subjects And Methods: Participants enrolled in the IMPACT study were invited to complete a psychosocial questionnaire prior to each annual screening visit for a minimum of 5 years.

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Background: The CanRisk tool, which operationalises the Breast and Ovarian Analysis of Disease Incidence and Carrier Estimation Algorithm (BOADICEA) is used by Clinical Geneticists, Genetic Counsellors, Breast Oncologists, Surgeons and Family History Nurses for breast cancer risk assessments both nationally and internationally. There are currently no guidelines with respect to the day-to-day clinical application of CanRisk and differing inputs to the model can result in different recommendations for practice.

Methods: To address this gap, the UK Cancer Genetics Group in collaboration with the Association of Breast Surgery and the CanGene-CanVar programme held a workshop on 16 of May 2023, with the aim of establishing best practice guidelines.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study checked how well the BOADICEA model predicts breast cancer risk for people who carry certain gene changes (called pathogenic variants).
  • They looked at information from a group of over 1,600 participants and found that the model worked really well, especially when considering family history and other risk factors.
  • The results can help doctors and patients make better choices about cancer management, and the model can be accessed for free on the CanRisk website.
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Background: Second primary cancers (SPCs) after breast cancer (BC) present an increasing public health burden, with little existing research on socio-demographic, tumour, and treatment effects. We addressed this in the largest BC survivor cohort to date, using a novel linkage of National Disease Registration Service datasets.

Methods: The cohort included 581,403 female and 3562 male BC survivors diagnosed between 1995 and 2019.

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Background: Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) can alleviate menopausal symptoms but has been associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. MHT prescription should be preceded by individualised risk/benefit evaluation; however, data outlining the impact of family history alongside different MHT therapeutic approaches are lacking.

Aim: To quantify the risks associated with MHT use in women with varying breast cancer family histories of developing and dying from breast cancer.

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PARTNER is a prospective, phase II-III, randomized controlled clinical trial that recruited patients with triple-negative breast cancer, who were germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 wild type. Here we report the results of the trial. Patients (n = 559) were randomized on a 1:1 basis to receive neoadjuvant carboplatin-paclitaxel with or without 150 mg olaparib twice daily, on days 3 to 14, of each of four cycles (gap schedule olaparib, research arm) followed by three cycles of anthracycline-based chemotherapy before surgery.

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