Heritable cancer predisposition testing in pediatric cancer patients excluding retinoblastoma in a middle-income country

Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2022 Nov;69(11):e29982. doi: 10.1002/pbc.29982. Epub 2022 Sep 12.

Abstract

Resource-limited settings often have financial barriers to genetic testing for heritable cancer. This retrospective study investigated the pattern of heritable cancer predisposition testing in a middle-income country over the period 2014-2021, excluding retinoblastoma. After establishing a specific fund in 2019, rate of tests increased from 1.1% to 10.9% of new diagnoses. Most common testing was for constitutional mismatch repair deficiency (CMMRD), rhabdoid predisposition syndrome, TP53 (tumor protein 53) mutation, and hereditary cancer panel. Of 33 patients, 13 (39%) tested positive, 12 (36%) negative, and eight (24%) had variants of unknown significance. Positivity rate was 43% for a clinical phenotype and 44% for a tumor type indication.

Keywords: cancer predisposition; genetic testing; heritable cancer; pediatric oncology.

MeSH terms

  • Brain Neoplasms* / pathology
  • Colorectal Neoplasms* / genetics
  • DNA Mismatch Repair
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease
  • Genetic Testing
  • Humans
  • Neoplastic Syndromes, Hereditary* / diagnosis
  • Neoplastic Syndromes, Hereditary* / genetics
  • Retinal Neoplasms* / diagnosis
  • Retinal Neoplasms* / genetics
  • Retinoblastoma* / diagnosis
  • Retinoblastoma* / genetics
  • Retrospective Studies