Abstract BACKGROUND Several genetic syndromes have been linked to the development of central nervous system (CNS) tumors; however, the prevalence and clinical significance of germline pathogenic variants in this population remain unclear. METHODS 2,367 patients with a glioma, glioneuronal, or neuronal tumor (WHO grade 1-4) ages 0.2-93.8 years underwent tumor and matched normal sequencing with MSK-IMPACT. Germline variants and copy-number variants affecting 90 well-established cancer predisposing genes were analyzed; the presence of biallelic inactivation was determined using FACETS. RESULTS Eleven percent harbored germline pathogenic mutations in high-, moderate-, and low-penetrance genes. High- and moderate-penetrance genes included CHEK2 (n=32, 1.3%), BRCA2 (n=10; 0.4%), TP53 (n=9; 0.4%), NF1 (n=6; 0.2%), and mismatch repair (MMR) genes (n=20, 0.9%). Low-penetrance genes included monoallelic MUTYH (n=42; 1.8%) and the APC I1307K variant (n=28, 1.2%). Biallelic inactivation was found in all tumors from patients with germline TP53 and NF1 mutations, with lower rates in tumors from patients with a germline MMR alteration (53%). Biallelic inactivation was rare among patients with a germline mutation in homologous recombination pathway (HRD) genes (27%), and in the aforementioned low-penetrance APC (15.3%) and MUTYH (10.2%) variants. All patients with biallelic inactivation of an MMR gene were hypermutated. Biallelic inactivation of MMR genes and TP53 were observed in IDH-mutant astrocytoma and IDH-WT gliomas, while biallelic inactivation of NF1 and somatic IDH1/2 mutation were mutually exclusive. When examining the age at diagnosis among patients with germline alterations, tumors with biallelic inactivation were diagnosed at a younger age compared to tumors with monoallelic alterations (37.7 vs 51.6 years, p=0.002). CONCLUSION Clinical germline sequencing identifies a germline mutation in a high proportion of patients with CNS tumors. Biallelic inactivation was most commonly identified in tumors from patients with germline TP53 or NF1 mutations and were less common in patients with a germline MMR alteration.
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