Inherited loss-of-function mutations in the tumor suppressor BRCA2 gene are associated with a high risk of ovarian cancer in the Chinese population. The current case report discusses a novel heterozygous insertion in BRCA2 gene, c.3195_3196insA, in a 54-year-old Chinese female with hereditary ovarian cancer. This frameshift mutation generates a premature stop codon at amino acid 1,076, which leads to a truncated BRCA2 protein instead of a wild-type BRCA2 protein with 3,418 amino acids. According to the Breast Cancer Information Core database, this mutation has not been previously reported. However, germline mutations of BRCA2 are a more prevalent cause of ovarian cancer in Chinese females compared with females in Western populations. The present study expands the mutational spectra of BRCA2 that is associated with ovarian cancer.
Keywords: frameshift mutation; novel heterozygous mutations; ovarian cancer; truncated BRCA2 protein; tumor suppressor genes.