Epigenetic silencing and deletion of the BRCA1 gene in sporadic breast cancer

Introduction  

BRCA1 or BRCA2 germline mutations increase the risk of developing breast cancer. Tumour cells from germline mutation carriers have frequently lost the wild-type allele. This is predicted to result in genomic instability where cell survival depends upon dysfunctional checkpoint mechanisms. Tumorigenic potential could then be acquired through further genomic alterations. Surprisingly, somatic BRCA mutations are not found in sporadic breast tumours. BRCA1 methylation has been shown to occur in sporadic breast tumours and to be associated with reduced gene expression. We examined the frequency of BRCA1 methylation in 143 primary sporadic breast tumours along with BRCA1 copy number alterations and tumour phenotype.     

Methylation is less abundant in BRCA1-associated compared with sporadic breast cancer

BackgroundPromoter methylation is a common epigenetic mechanism to silence tumor suppressor genes during breast cancer development. We investigated whether BRCA1-associated breast tumors show cancer-predictive methylation patterns similar to those found in sporadic tumors.Patients and methodsQuantitative multiplex methylation-specific PCR of 11 genes involved in breast carcinogenesis (RARB, RASSF1, TWIST1, CCND2, ESR1, SCGB3A1, BRCA1, BRCA2, CDKN2A, APC, CDH1) was carried out on 32 BRCA1-associated and 46 sporadic breast carcinomas and on normal breast tissue from seven BRCA1 mutation carriers and 13 non-carriers.ResultsThe extent of cumulative methylation increased with age (P < 0.001). The median cumulative methylation index (CMI) of all studied genes was significantly higher in tumors (89) than in normal tissue (13, P < 0.001). The median CMI was significantly lower in BRCA1-associated (59) than in sporadic breast tumors (122, P = 0.001), in estrogen receptor (ER)-negative tumors (73) than in ER-positive tumors (122, P = 0.005) and in lymph node-negative (77) compared with lymph node-positive tumors (137, P = 0.007). In subgroup analysis, the effect of a BRCA1 germline mutation on methylation proved to be independent of ER status, lymph node status and age.ConclusionsThese data indicate that BRCA1-associated breast cancers show less promoter methylation compared with sporadic breast carcinomas indicating a difference in disease etiology.     

BRCA1 dysfunction in sporadic basal-like breast cancer

Basal-like breast cancers form a distinct subtype of breast cancer characterized by the expression of markers expressed in normal basal/myoepithelial cells. Breast cancers arising in carriers of germline BRCA1 mutations are predominately of basal-like type, suggesting that BRCA1 dysfunction may play a role in the pathogenesis of sporadic basal-like cancers. We analysed 37 sporadic breast cancers expressing the basal marker cytokeratin 5/6, and age- and grade-matched controls, for downregulation of BRCA1. Although BRCA1 promoter methylation was no more common in basal-like cancers (basal 14% vs controls 11%, P=0.72), BRCA1 messenger RNA expression was twofold lower in basal-like breast cancers compared to matched controls (P=0.008). ID4, a negative regulator of BRCA1, was expressed at 9.1-fold higher levels in basal-like breast cancer (P<0.0001), suggesting a potential mechanism of BRCA1 downregulation. BRCA1 downregulation correlated with the presence of multiple basal markers, revealing heterogeneity in the basal-like phenotype. Finally, we found that 63% of metaplastic breast cancers, a rare type of basal-like cancers, had BRCA1 methylation, in comparison to 12% of controls (P<0.0001). The high prevalence of BRCA1 dysfunction identified in this study could be exploited in the development of novel approaches to targeted treatment of basal-like breast cancer.     

A role for BRCA1 in sporadic breast cancer

To test the hypothesis that altered expression of BRCA1 protein may play an important role in sporadic breast cancer development, 50 randomly selected primary breast cancers (frozen sections, 5 years' median follow-up) were immunolabelled with two monoclonal BRCA1 antibodies (MS110 and MS13). MS110 labelling was exclusively nuclear showing no relation to outcome or tumour pathology. Western blotting demonstrated crossreactivity, suggesting antibody nonspecificity. MS13 labelling was predominantly cytoplasmic. Intense labelling predicted decreased overall survival (P=0.012), disease-free survival (P=0.029), oestrogen receptor negativity (P=0.0004) and c-erbB-2 overexpression (P=0.006). Western blotting detected a 110 kDa molecule consistent with BRCA1 delta11b splice variant. BRCA1 protein is postulated to function as a tumour suppressor. We demonstrate cytoplasmic localisation in sporadic breast cancer suggesting excess delta11b splice variant production, reduced production of full-length BRCA1 and thus postulate reduced tumour suppressor activity. BRCA1 protein appears to have a significant role in both sporadic and hereditary breast cancers.     

散发性乳腺癌患者BRCA1基因突变分析

目的 :探讨BRCA1基因突变在散发性乳腺癌发生和发展中的作用及在乳腺癌临床诊断和治疗中的应用前景。方法 :应用PCR SSCP和直接测序法检测 3 0例散发性乳腺癌和 15例正常乳腺组织中BR CA1基因外显子 2、11和 2 0的突变情况。结果 :15例正常乳腺组织在 3个外显子上都未显示电泳异常 ,3 0例乳腺癌中有 6例在外显子 2上显示电泳条带异常 ,其中 4例经测序证实有突变 ,1例在外显子 2上 ,3例在内含子拼接区。BRCA1基因突变率在初诊年龄、临床分期和肿瘤体积上差异无统计学意义 ,但与肿瘤转移密切相关。结论 :BRCA1基因突变与散发性乳腺癌的发生和发展密切相关 ,该基因突变筛查可作为一种预后指标。     

UHRF1 is associated with tumor recurrence in non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer

Ubiquitin-like with PHD and ring finger domains 1 (UHRF1) is a novel anti-apoptotic gene, and overexpression of UHRF1 is involved in tumorigenicity. Here, immunohistochemistry was used to detect UHRF1 expression in non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), and these data were examined for correlation with clinicopathological parameters and prognosis. The UHRF1 expression rate was 49.2% in a total of 118 bladder cancer tissues, which was significantly higher than in normal tissues, and UHRF1 expression has a significantly positive correlation with tumor grade (P = 0.027) and recurrence (P = 0.013). Survival analysis showed that UHRF1 high expression patients’ mean survival time (42.59 months) was significantly shorter than that (71.36 months) of UHRF1 low expression patients (P = 0.0002). Multivariate analysis showed that UHRF1 overexpression was an independent prognostic factor for tumor recurrence (P < 0.0001). So UHRF1 may be a molecular marker to predict the recurrence of NMIBC.     

华东地区乳腺癌散发病例BRCA1、BRCA2基因突变

目的：探讨华东地区乳腺癌散发病例BRCA1及BRCA2基因突变情况。方法：应用PCR-SSCP-Sequencing方法,对复旦大学附属肿瘤医院79例随机乳腺癌患者的癌组织及癌旁正常乳腺组织的标本进行BRCA1和BRCA2部分基因的突变检测,共6个外显子（BRCA1中的第2、11、22外显子,BRCA2中的第9,14,22外显子）23对引物。结果：发现在BRCA1和cDNA 2430碱基处存在一个T→C的单个碱基的变化,应用RFLP方法在人群中证实为一单核苷酸多态。此SNP的分布在病例及对照中等位基因频率存在差异,但并未达到显著性水平。结论：提示华东地区人群的乳腺癌群体中的BRCA1及BRCA2的突变十分罕见。     

沉默UHRF1对乳腺癌细胞增殖和转移的影响

目的 探讨UHRF1对乳腺癌MDA-MB-231细胞增殖以及侵袭的影响及其相关机制。方法 采用四甲基偶氮唑盐微量酶反应比色法(MTT)检测沉默UHRF1基因后对乳腺癌MDA-MB-231细胞活力的影响;应用克隆形成实验检测沉默UHRF1后对乳腺癌MDA-MB-231细胞存活的影响;吖啶橙-溴乙锭(AO/EB)检测沉默UHRF1后对乳腺癌MDA-MB-231细胞凋亡的影响;Caspase-3活性试剂盒检测沉默UHRF1后乳腺癌细胞Casapse-3活性的变化;Western blot法检测细胞中凋亡相关蛋白Bcl-2、Bax、Bad、p-Bad、XIAP、p53、p21^Cip1/Waf1和p16^INK4a的表达;应用Transwell实验研究沉默UHRF1对MDA-MB-231细胞侵袭能力的影响;Wound Healing实验研究沉默UHRF1后对其迁移能力的影响。结果 沉默UHRF1使乳腺癌MDA-MB-231细胞活力降低;克隆形成实验结果显示沉默UHRF1后MDA-MB-231细胞存活能力降低,AO/EB染色显示沉默UHRF1促进MDA-MB-231细胞凋亡。同时Caspase-3活性实验结果显示沉默UHRF1后乳腺癌MDA-MB-231细胞Caspase-3的活性增加;Western blot结果显示,沉默UHRF1后,能够使凋亡蛋白Bad、XIAP和Bax的表达上调,同时抗凋亡蛋白p-Bad,Bcl-2的表达下调,也使p53,p21Cip1/Waf1,p16^INK4a蛋白表达升高;Transwell以及Wound Healing实验证明沉默UHRF1能够抑制乳腺癌MDA-MB-231细胞侵袭和迁移。结论 沉默UHRF1能够抑制乳腺癌MDA-MB-231细胞活力和存活,并抑制乳腺癌MDA-MB-231的侵袭和迁移。沉默UHRF1通过调控p53,p21Cip1/Waf1,p16^INK4a信号发挥作用。     

Constitutional methylation of the BRCA1 promoter is specifically associated with BRCA1 mutation-associated pathology in early-onset breast cancer

Women carrying germline mutations in BRCA1 are at a substantially elevated risk of breast cancer and their tumors typically have distinctive morphologic features. We hypothesized that constitutional methylation of the BRCA1 promoter region could give rise to such breast cancers in women. We selected 255 women diagnosed with breast cancer before the age of 40 years for whom BRCA1 germline mutations had not been identified. Of them, 52 had five or more of nine BRCA1 mutation-associated morphologic features (group 1), 39 had four (group 2), and 164 had three or less (group 3). The prevalence of detectable BRCA1 promoter methylation in peripheral blood DNA decreased from 31% to 10% to 5% across groups 1-3, respectively (P = 0.000002), and was significantly greater than the 4% frequency in unaffected controls (P = 0.004). Peripheral blood methylation was associated with a 3.5-fold (95% CI, 1.4-10.5) increased risk of having early onset breast cancer. Methylation was consistently mosaic in the peripheral blood where the estimated allelic frequency of BRCA1 promoter methylation ranged from 0.1% to 17%. Group 1 women, but not group 3 women, with detectable methylation of peripheral blood DNA had high levels of BRCA1 promoter methylation of their tumor DNA, indicating that constitutional BRCA1 methylation strongly predisposes toward the development of BRCA1 methylated tumors that then have features resembling BRCA1 mutated tumors. Screening peripheral blood for BRCA1 promoter methylation might thus predict early-onset breast cancers. This raises the possibility of chemoprevention or other intervention to diminish the risk of developing breast cancer in these women.     

MYC overexpression and poor prognosis in sporadic breast cancer with BRCA1 deficiency

Breast cancer is a complex disease; the molecular mechanisms involved in sporadic breast carcinogenesis remain to be elucidated. The present study aimed to explore the deficiency of breast cancer susceptibility gene 1 (BRCA1), including protein loss expression, promoter hypermethylation and gene copy deletion, its correlationship with other tumor markers expression (TP53, MYC, etc.), and clinical significance in sporadic breast cancer. BRCA1 protein expression was negative in 226 of 374 (60.4 %) cases of this study. Cases negative for BRCA1 protein were more often with pathological tumor–node–metastasis stage III, positive for lymph node metastasis and MYC overexpression than BRCA1-positive tumors. BRCA1 hypermethylation was detected in 16.4 % (31 of 189) breast cancers, which correlated with BRCA1 negative, ER negative, MYC overexpression, and triple-negative phenotype. In addition, the percentage of cells with BRCA1 gene copy deletion was significantly increased in BRCA1-methylated tumors. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis showed that patients with BRCA1-negative expression showed a worse overall survival (OS) than those with BRCA1-positive expression, and patients with BRCA1-methylated tumors had a significantly worse disease-free survival than did patients with unmethylated tumors. Furthermore, BRCA1 hypermethylation showed an inverse association with OS in LN-positive or p53-negative subgroup patients. Importantly, uni- and multivariate Cox regression analyses revealed that BRCA1 was an independent prognostic indicator of OS in sporadic breast cancer. Thus, we found MYC overexpression and poor prognosis in sporadic breast cancer with BRCA1 deficiency. The targeting of BRCA1 deficiency in combination with MYC–pathways inhibitors may provide a promising strategy for sporadic breast cancer care, the triple-negative subtype in particular.     

BRCA1 promoter methylation is associated with increased mortality among women with breast cancer

Promoter-CpG island hypermethylation has been proposed as an alternative mechanism to inactivate BRCA1 in the breast where somatic mutations of BRCA1 are rare. To better understand breast cancer etiology and progression, we explored the association between BRCA1 promoter methylation status and prognostic factors as well as survival among women with breast cancer. Promoter methylation of BRCA1 was assessed in 851 archived tumor tissues collected from a population-based study of women diagnosed with invasive or in situ breast cancer in 1996–1997, and who were followed for vital status through the end of 2002. About 59% of the tumors were methylated at the promoter of BRCA1. The BRCA1 promoter methylation was more frequent in invasive cancers (P = 0.02) and among premenopausal cases (P = 0.05). BRCA1 promoter methylation was associated with increased risk of breast cancer-specific mortality (age-adjusted HR 1.71; 95% CI: 1.05–2.78) and all-cause mortality (age-adjusted HR 1.49; 95% CI: 1.02–2.18). Neither dietary methyl intakes in the year prior to the baseline interview nor the functional polymorphisms in one-carbon metabolism were associated with BRCA1 methylation status. Our study is the first epidemiological investigation on the prognostic value of BRCA1 promoter methylation in a large population-based cohort of breast cancer patients. Our results indicate that BRCA1 promoter methylation is an important factor to consider in predicting breast cancer survival. This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (CA109753 to JC; DK55865 to SZ) and in part by grants from Department of Defense (BC031746), National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Environmental Health and Sciences (UO1CA/ES66572, UO1CA66572, P30CA013696, P30ES09089 and P30ES10126); and by the University of North Carolina Clinical Nutrition Research Unit (DK56350) and Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility (ES10126). Xu, X. is a recipient of the Predoctoral Traineeship Award (W81XWH-06-1-0298) of Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program.     

BRCA1 promoter methylation in peripheral blood cells is associated with increased risk of breast cancer with BRCA1 promoter methylation

BRCA1 promoter methylation reportedly plays an important part in the pathogenesis of human breast cancer. In the present study, we investigated whether or not BRCA1 promoter methylation in peripheral blood cells (PBCs) can serve as a risk factor for developing breast cancer. The association of BRCA1 promoter methylation in PBCs with breast cancer risk was examined in a case–control study (200 breast cancer patients and 200 controls). BRCA1 promoter methylation in PBCs and breast tumors was determined with a methylation-specific quantitative PCR assay. BRCA1 promoter methylation in PBCs was seen in 43 (21.5%) of the breast cancer patients and in 27 (13.5%) of the controls. The odds ratio for breast cancer adjusted for other epidemiological risk factors was 1.73 (1.01–2.96) and was statistically significant (P = 0.045). When breast tumors were classified into those with and without BRCA1 promoter methylation, the odds ratio was 0.84 (0.43–1.64) (P = 0.61) for BRCA1 promoter methylation-negative and 17.78 (6.71–47.13) (P < 0.001) for BRCA1 promoter methylation-positive breast tumors. BRCA1 promoter methylation in PBCs is significantly associated with risk of breast cancer with BRCA1 promoter methylation. This seems to indicate that BRCA1 promoter methylation in PBCs may constitute a novel risk factor for breast cancer with BRCA1 promoter methylation.     

散发性乳腺癌BRCA1和BRCA2基因突变分析

目的探讨散发性乳腺癌患者BRCA1及BRCA2基因突变与健康人的差异。方法应用聚合酶链反应-单链构象多态性（PCR-SSCP）分析方法,对83例散发性乳腺癌患者（乳腺癌组）与86例健康人（健康对照组）的血液标本,针对BRCA1和BRCA2基因,选择4个突变发生率较高的外显子[BRCA1中的第5、11（11A、11B）、18外显子,BRCA2中的第11外显子]共5对引物进行突变检测,并应用限制性片段长度多态性（RFLP）方法对具有单核苷酸多态的碱基位点作单核苷酸多态性定性分析。成组设计的定性资料比较采用χ^2检验。结果部分散发性乳腺癌患者和健康人BRCA1基因第5外显子的cDNA 273和287（C→G和A→T）,第11外显子的2430、2532、2630、2685、3191、3232和3667、3876（T→C、T→C、T→G、T→C→G、A→G、A→G和C→A）以及第18外显子的5206和5214（T→A和C→T）碱基位点处存在单个碱基的变化,散发性乳腺癌患者的BRCA1基因突变率高于健康人（14．5％比2．3％,P〈0．05）;应用RFLP方法证实cDNA 2430、2630（T→C、T→G）碱基位点的变化为单核苷酸多态（SNP）;散发性乳腺癌患者与健康人2430（T→C）碱基位点等位基因频数分布不相同,但差异无统计学意义（P〉0．05）。结论散发性乳腺癌患者BRCA1基因突变较常见,而BRCA2的突变十分罕见。     

Somatic mutations in the BRCA1 gene in Chinese women with sporadic breast cancer

Recent studies suggested that breast cancer patients who carry a BRCA1 germline mutation benefit from poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors; therefore, it would be of great interest to detect BRCA1 somatic mutations in sporadic breast cancers. In this study, we detected BRCA1 somatic mutations in tumor cDNA from 144 Chinese women with sporadic breast cancer by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-direct sequencing assay. In total, eight BRCA1 alterations (three nonsense mutations and five missense mutations) were identified in this cohort of 144 sporadic breast cancers. We further confirmed that 5 out of 144(3.5%) sporadic breast cancer cases carried a BRCA1 somatic mutation, including two novel nonsense mutations (c.191_212del22 and c.2963C>G) resulting in a truncated protein and three missense mutations (c.114G>T, c.925A>C, and c.824G>A). The two cases with BRCA1 somatic truncating mutations also contained a TP53 somatic mutation in the tumors. Our study suggested that a small subset of sporadic breast cancers do harbor BRCA1 somatic mutations; these patients who carry a BRCA1 somatic mutation may be potential candidates for treatment with PARP inhibitors.     

Microcephalin is a new novel prognostic indicator in breast cancer associated with BRCA1 inactivation

The authors have investigated the expression of the microcephalin (MCPH1) protein to evaluate its prognostic importance in breast cancer. Microcephalin is a damage response protein involved in the regulation of BRCA1 and BRCA2. BRCA1 mutations are often associated with basal-like breast cancer, which are also often negative for oestrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and HER2. MCPH1 immunohistochemistry was performed on 319 breast cancers prepared as tissue microarray and correlated with pathology, survival, ER, PR, HER2, EGFR, CK5/6, CK14 and BRCA1 expression. After performing continuous data analysis, mean microcephalin expression decreased with increasing grade (P < 0.006). Mean microcephalin expression was lower in ER/PR negative (P < 0.001) and triple negative cancers (P < 0.004). Conversely, an association with HER2-positive cancers was also identified (P < 0.034). Reduced microcephalin also correlated with reduced nuclear BRCA1 staining (P < 0.001). No association was identified with basal markers. After dichotomising the data into low and high microcephalin expression, reduced expression was identified in 29% (93/319) of breast cancers. An association with low expression was identified in invasive ductal carcinomas with breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) (P = 0.052). Multivariate analysis of ductal carcinomas showed that microcephalin, together with lymph node involvement and tumour size were independent predictors of BCSS (P = 0.037). Microcephalin expression is reduced in 29% of breast cancers, particularly in higher grade tumours and BRCA1-negative cases. Microcephalin is an independent predictor of BCSS in invasive ductal breast cancer patients and may prove to be a useful biomarker for the identification of aggressive breast cancers.     

Caveolin-1 expression is associated with a basal-like phenotype in sporadic and hereditary breast cancer

Summary The role of caveolin 1 (CAV1), a structural component of caveolae in breast cancer is controversial, although most studies suggest that it functions as a tumor-suppressor gene. In addition, some studies have identified CAV1 as a marker of myoepithelial cells. Since myoepithelial markers are frequently expressed in breast carcinomas with a basal-like phenotype, which are frequently occurring tumors in women with BRCA1 germline mutations, we evaluated whether CAV1 was associated with a basal-like phenotype in 509 sporadic and 47 hereditary BRCA1-/BRCA2-associated carcinomas. Immunohistochemistry was performed on tissue microarrays and cases were classified as having a basal-like-phenotype if they were estrogen-receptor- and HER2-negative but cytokeratin 5/6- and/or epidermal growth factor receptor-positive. In sporadic carcinomas, CAV1 expression was found in 21 out of 496 valuable cases (4.2%). A basal-like-phenotype was found in 53 out of 498 (10.6%) cases. A strong association was found between CAV1 expression and a basal-like-phenotype, since 52% of tumors that expressed CAV1 had this phenotype, compared with only 9% of CAV1-negative carcinomas (p<0.001). CAV1 was expressed in six (12.8%) familial cases, five of which had a basal-like-phenotype (p = 0.009). Moreover, these six CAV1-positive cases were BRCA1 tumors. The difference in the frequency of CAV1 expression between BRCA1- and BRCA2-associated tumors was statistically significant (p = 0.024). In conclusion, this study reports for the first time CAV1 expression in BRCA1 and BRCA2 hereditary breast cancer and identifies CAV1 as a marker associated with a basal-like-phenotype in both hereditary and sporadic breast cancer.