Germline Pathogenic Variants in Patients with Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma and Extra-pancreatic Malignancies: A Nationwide Database Analysis

  • Valentyna Kryklyva
  • , Michael J Pflüger
  • , Hicham Ouchene
  • , Hanneke Volleberg-Gorissen
  • , Arjen R Mensenkamp
  • , Marianne A Jonker
  • , Carlijn van de Water
  • , Iris D Nagtegaal
  • , Marjolijn J L Ligtenberg
  • , Lodewijk A A Brosens*
  • *Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a lethal disease. Approximately 10% of affected individuals have an inherited component. Deleterious germline variants increase the lifetime risk for PDAC and are often associated with an elevated risk for extra-pancreatic malignancies. In this study, we aimed to determine the prevalence and impact of germline pathogenic variants (gPVs) in patients with PDAC and extra-pancreatic malignancies. Using tissue samples and longitudinal data from a nationwide pathology database, we identified patients with PDAC and a set of 7 extra-pancreatic malignancies to investigate the presence of gPVs in 25 cancer susceptibility genes with targeted next-generation sequencing. Of 473 patients with PDAC and at least 1 extra-pancreatic malignancy, 75 (16%) had gPVs. These were predominantly in ATM (n = 22), CDKN2A (n = 14), BRCA2 (n = 10), or CHEK2 (n = 10) genes. The combination of PDAC and ovarian carcinoma carried the highest prevalence of gPVs (4 of 10; 40%), followed by PDAC and melanoma (15 of 53; 28%), and PDAC and gastric cancer (2 of 9; 22%). Patients with PDAC and certain extra-pancreatic malignancies carry a higher burden of gPVs than unselected PDAC cohorts. This is a group that very likely benefits from genetic testing because germline status can have important diagnostic and therapeutic implications for affected individuals and their family members.

Original languageEnglish
Article number100709
JournalModern Pathology
Volume38
Issue number5
Early online date8 Jan 2025
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2025

Keywords

  • PDAC
  • germline pathogenic variants
  • hereditary pancreatic cancer
  • next-generation sequencing
  • wild-type KRAS

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