• Bryan T J Hennessy, Kirsten M Timms, Mark S Carey, Alexander Gutin, Larissa A Meyer, Darl D Flake, Victor Abkevich, Jennifer Potter, Dmitry Pruss, Pat Glenn, Yang Li, Jie Li, Ana Maria Gonzalez-Angulo, Karen Smith McCune, Maurie Markman, Russell R Broaddus, Jerry S Lanchbury, Karen H Lu, and Gordon B Mills.
• Department of Gynecology Medical Oncology, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA. bryanhennessy74@gmail.com
• J. Clin. Oncol. 2010 Aug 1; 28 (22): 3570-6.

PurposeThe prevalence of BRCA(1/2) mutations in germline DNA from unselected ovarian cancer patients is 11% to 15.3%. It is important to determine the frequency of somatic BRCA(1/2) changes, given the sensitivity of BRCA-mutated cancers to poly (ADP ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP1) inhibitors and platinum analogs.Patients And MethodsIn 235 unselected ovarian cancers, BRCA(1/2) was sequenced in 235, assessed by copy number analysis in 95, and tiling arrays in 65. 113 tumors were sequenced for TP53. BRCA(1/2) transcript levels were assessed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction in 220. When available for tumors with BRCA(1/2) mutations, germline DNA was sequenced.ResultsForty-four mutations (19%) in BRCA1 (n = 31)/BRCA2 (n = 13) were detected, including one homozygous BRCA1 intragenic deletion. BRCA(1/2) mutations were particularly common (23%) in high-grade serous cancers. In 28 patients with available germline DNA, nine (42.9%) of 21 and two (28.6%) of seven BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations were demonstrated to be somatic, respectively. Five mutations not previously identified in germline DNA were more commonly somatic than germline (four of 11 v one of 17; P = .062). There was a positive association between BRCA1 and TP53 mutations (P = .012). BRCA(1/2) mutations were associated with improved progression-free survival (PFS) after platinum-based chemotherapy in univariate (P = .032; hazard ratio [HR] = 0.65; 95% CI, 0.43 to 0.98) and multivariate (P = .019) analyses. BRCA(1/2) deficiency, defined as BRCA(1/2) mutations or expression loss (in 24 [13.3%] BRCA(1/2)-wild-type cancers), was present in 67 ovarian cancers (30%) and was also significantly associated with PFS in univariate (P = .026; HR = 0.67; 95% CI, 0.47 to 0.96) and multivariate (P = .008) analyses.ConclusionBRCA(1/2) somatic and germline mutations and expression loss are sufficiently common in ovarian cancer to warrant assessment for prediction of benefit in clinical trials of PARP1 inhibitors.

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