Frequencies of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations among 1,342 unselected patients with invasive ovarian cancer

BackgroundThe heritable fraction of ovarian cancer exceeds that of any other common adult cancer. Most inherited cases of ovarian cancer are due to a germline mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2. It is important to have an accurate estimate of the proportion of ovarian cancer patients who carry a mutation and the specific factors which predict the presence of a mutation.MethodsWe tested a population-based series of 1342 unselected patients diagnosed with invasive ovarian cancer between 1995–1999 and 2002–2004 in Ontario, Canada, for germline mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2. The two genes were tested in their entirety, using a range of techniques, including multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA).ResultsAmong the 1342 women, 176 women carried a mutation (107 in BRCA1, 67 in BRCA2, and two in both genes) for a combined mutation frequency of 13.3%. Seven deletions were identified using MLPA (3.9% of all detected mutations). The prevalence of mutations was particularly high among women diagnosed in their forties (24.0%), in women with serous ovarian cancer (18.0%) and women of Italian (43.5%), Jewish (30.0%) or Indo-Pakistani origin (29.4%). A mutation was seen in 33.9% of women with a first-degree relative with breast or ovarian cancer and in 7.9% of women with no first-degree relative with breast or ovarian cancer. No mutation was seen in women with mucinous carcinoma.ConclusionsBRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations are common in women with invasive ovarian cancer. All women diagnosed with invasive non-mucinous ovarian cancer should be considered to be candidates for genetic testing.

Research Highlights
► 13% of patients with ovarian cancer carry a mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2.
► 4% of mutations were detected by MLPA.
► All women with ovarian cancer are candidates for BRCA testing.