Exome sequencing identifies RASSF1 and KLK3 germline variants in an Iranian multiple-case breast cancer family

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most frequent malignancy among women in both developed and developing countries. Although several genes have been identified to harbor germline variants contributing to breast cancer risk, much of the heritability for breast cancer is yet undefined. In the present study, we have performed exome sequencing to detect susceptibility genes in an Iranian family with five first-degree family members affected with breast cancer. We identified novel candidate variants with predicted pathogenicity in RASSF1, KLK3 and FAM81B. The RASSF1 and KLK3 variants, but not the FAM81B variant, partially co-segregated with disease in the investigated pedigree and were not found in additional screenings outside the specific family. RASSF1 p.S135F is a missense substitution abolishing the ATM phosphorylation site, and KLK3 variant p.M1? is a deletion at the initiation codon that is predicted to abolish translation to the functional kallikrein protease, PSA. Our study suggests germline variation in RASSF1 and KLK3 as potential candidate contributors to familial breast cancer predisposition and illustrates the difficulties to determine the causal genetic risk factor among novel variants restricted to a single family.