DICER1 Syndrome: What Do We Know of the Pathogenetic Mechanisms?

DICER1 syndrome is a hereditary cancer predisposition syndrome, characterized by a large range of benign and malignant neoplasms. Patients with DICER1 syndrome have a broad phenotype, with pleuropulmonary blastoma, Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor, cystic nephroma, cervical embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, cystic lung lesions, and thyroid follicular nodular disease being the most prevalent manifestations. The syndrome is caused by loss-of-function germline variants in the DICER1 gene, and DICER1-related tumors are characterized by second somatic hotspot variants in the RNase IIIb domain of DICER1. DICER1 encodes an endoribonuclease, which is important for RNA interference. This review describes the molecular mechanism of DICER1 function and the pathogenetic mechanisms of tumorigenesis. The purpose of this review is to describe the pathogenesis, genotype-phenotype correlation and tissue specificity of DICER1 syndrome. We conclude that there is a lack of knowledge about the exact molecular mechanisms of DICER1 function and more research is needed to determine the exact role of this altered protein in relation to pathogenesis.