Search

The incidence of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is very high among the Turkmen population of Iran. Family studies suggest a genetic component to the disease. Turkmen are ethnically homogenous and are well suited for genetic studies. A previous study from China suggested that BRCA2 might play a role in the etiology of ESCC. We screened for mutations in the coding region of the BRCA2 gene in the germline DNA of 197 Turkmen patients with ESCC. A nonsense variant, K3326X, was identified in 9 of 197 cases (4.6%) vs 2 of 254 controls (0.8%) (OR=6.0, 95% CI=1.3–28; P=0.01). This mutation leads to the loss of the C-terminal domain of the BRCA2 protein, a part of the region of interaction with the FANCD2 protein. We observed nine other BRCA2 variants in single cases only, including two deletions, and seven missense mutations. Six of these were judged to be pathogenic. In total, a suspicious deleterious BRCA2 variant was identified in 15 of 197 ESCC cases (7.6%).Oncogene (2008) 27, 1290–1296; doi:10.1038/sj.onc.1210739; published online 27 August 2007 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Tyr978X BRCA1 mutation is a founder mutation detected in high-risk Iraqi-Iranian Jewish families as well as in the general non-Ashkenazi population. The same mutation was also reported in non-Jewish high-risk women from Canada. Its occurrence in non-Jewish individuals from Iran has never been tested., Objective: Assess the occurrence rate of Tyr978X BRCA1 germline mutation in the general population of Iranian non- Jewish individuals and compare the BRCA1-linked haplotype of Jewish and non-Jewish mutation carriers., Methods: PCR amplification of the relevant fragment of the BRCA1 gene, followed by restriction enzyme digestion that differentiates wild type from mutant allele. For haplotyping, 7 BRCA1-linked markers were used. The tested population included 442 apparently healthy Iranian non-Jewish individuals, and 17 mutation carriers from Israel and Canada., Results: The Tyr978X BRCA1 mutation was not detected in any Iranian non-Jewish individual. The intragenic haplotype of all Jewish Israeli mutation carriers was identical, but differed from that of Canadian non-Jews in two intragenic markers., Conclusions: The Tyr978X BRCA1 mutation which is a founder mutation in Jews, may be a hot spot in non-Jewish high risk women, and probably does not represent a rare sequence variant in Iranian non-Jews.