Expanded yield of multiplex panel testing in fully accrued prospective trial.

Abstract

1525 Background: Genetic testing is a powerful tool for stratifying cancer risk. Multiplex gene panel (MGP) testing allows simultaneous analysis of multiple high- and moderate- penetrance genes. However, the diagnostic yield and clinical utility of panels remain to be further delineated. Methods: A report of a fully accrued trial (N = 2000) of patients undergoing cancer-risk assessment. Patients were enrolled in a multicenter prospective cohort study where diagnostic yield and off-target mutation detection was evaluated of a 25 gene MGP comprised of APC, ATM, BARD1, BMPR1A, BRCA1, BRCA2, BRIP1, CDH1, CDK4, CDKN2A, CHEK2, EPCAM, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, MUTYH, NBN, PALB2, PMS2, PTEN, RAD51C, RAD51D, SMAD4, STK11, TP53. Patients were enrolled if they met standard testing guidelines or were predicted to have a ≥2.5% mutation probability by validated models. Differential diagnoses (DDx) were generated after expert clinical genetics assessment, formulating up to 8 inherited cancer syndromes ranked by estimated likelihood. Results: 1998/2000 patients had reported MGP test results. Women constituted 81% of the sample, and 40% were Hispanic; 241 tested positive for at least 1 pathogenic mutation (12.1%) and 689 (34.5%) patients carried at least 1 variant of uncertain significance. The most frequently identified mutations were in BRCA1 (17%, n = 41), BRCA2 (15%, n = 36), APC (8%, n = 19), CHEK2 (7%, n = 17), ATM (7%, n = 16). 39 patients (16%) had at least 1 pathogenic mutation in a mismatch repair (MMR) gene ( MLH1, n = 10; MSH2, n = 10; MSH6, n = 8; PMS2, n = 11). 43 individuals (18%) had MUTYH mutations – 41 were monoallelic. Among 19 patients who had mutations in APC – 16 were APC I1307K. Only 65% (n = 159) of PV results were included in the DDx, with 35% (n = 86) of mutations not clinically suspected. Conclusions: In a diverse cohort, multiplex panel use increased genetic testing yield substantially: 35% carried pathogenic mutations in unsuspected genes, suggesting a significant contribution of expanded multiplex testing to clinical cancer risk assessment. The identification of off-target mutations broadens our understanding of cancer risk and genotype-phenotype correlations. Follow-up is ongoing to assess the clinical utility of multiplex gene panel testing. Clinical trial information: NCT02324062.