Polygenic risk scores and breast and epithelial ovarian cancer risks for carriers of BRCA1 and BRCA2 pathogenic variants

Purpose: We assessed the associations between population-based polygenic risk scores (PRS) for breast (BC) or epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) with cancer risks for BRCA1 and BRCA2 pathogenic variant carriers. Methods: Retrospective cohort data on 18,935 BRCA1 and 12,339 BRCA2 female pathogenic varia...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Authors: Brunet, Joan, Izquierdo i Font, Àngel Xavier, Lázaro García, Conxi, Pujana Genestar, M. Ángel, GEMO Study Collaborators, EMBRACE Collaborators, KConFab Investigators, HEBON Investigators, GENEPSO Investigators
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2020
Country:España
Institution:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repository:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:2445/173511
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/173511
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Càncer de mama
Càncer d'ovari
Breast cancer
Ovarian cancer
Description
Summary:Purpose: We assessed the associations between population-based polygenic risk scores (PRS) for breast (BC) or epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) with cancer risks for BRCA1 and BRCA2 pathogenic variant carriers. Methods: Retrospective cohort data on 18,935 BRCA1 and 12,339 BRCA2 female pathogenic variant carriers of European ancestry were available. Three versions of a 313 single-nucleotide poly- morphism (SNP) BC PRS were evaluated based on whether they predict overall, estrogen receptor (ER)–negative, or ER-positive BC, and two PRS for overall or high-grade serous EOC. Associations were validated in a prospective cohort. Results: The ER-negative PRS showed the strongest association with BC risk for BRCA1 carriers (hazard ratio [HR] per standard deviation = 1.29 [95% CI 1.25–1.33], P = 3×10−72). For BRCA2, the strongest association was with overall BC PRS (HR = 1.31 [95% CI 1.27–1.36], P = 7×10−50). HR estimates decreased significantly with age and there was evidence for differences in associations by predicted variant effects on protein expression. The HR estimates were smaller than general population estimates. The high-grade serous PRS yielded the strongest associations with EOC risk for BRCA1 (HR = 1.32 [95% CI 1.25–1.40], P = 3×10−22) and BRCA2 (HR = 1.44 [95% CI 1.30–1.60], P = 4×10−12) carriers. The associations in the prospective cohort were similar. Conclusion: Population-based PRS are strongly associated with BC and EOC risks for BRCA1/2 carriers and predict substantial absolute risk differences for women at PRS distribution extremes.