Lanjouw, L.; Bart, J.; Mourits, M.J.E.; Willems, S.M.; van der Hout, A.H.; ter Elst, A.; de Bock, G.H. BRCA1/2 Testing Landscape in Ovarian Cancer: A Nationwide, Real-World Data Study. Cancers2024, 16, 1682.
Lanjouw, L.; Bart, J.; Mourits, M.J.E.; Willems, S.M.; van der Hout, A.H.; ter Elst, A.; de Bock, G.H. BRCA1/2 Testing Landscape in Ovarian Cancer: A Nationwide, Real-World Data Study. Cancers 2024, 16, 1682.
Lanjouw, L.; Bart, J.; Mourits, M.J.E.; Willems, S.M.; van der Hout, A.H.; ter Elst, A.; de Bock, G.H. BRCA1/2 Testing Landscape in Ovarian Cancer: A Nationwide, Real-World Data Study. Cancers2024, 16, 1682.
Lanjouw, L.; Bart, J.; Mourits, M.J.E.; Willems, S.M.; van der Hout, A.H.; ter Elst, A.; de Bock, G.H. BRCA1/2 Testing Landscape in Ovarian Cancer: A Nationwide, Real-World Data Study. Cancers 2024, 16, 1682.
Abstract
Analyzing BRCA1/2 tumor pathogenic variants (TPVs) in epithelial tubal/ovarian cancers (EOC) has become an essential part of the diagnostic workflow in many centers to guide treatment options and genetic cascade testing. However, there is no standardization of testing procedures, including techniques, gene assays, or sequencers used, and data on the execution of tumor tests remains scarce. Therefore, we evaluated characteristics of BRCA1/2 tumor testing in advanced-stage EOC with real-world national data. Pathology reports of patients diagnosed with EOC in 2019 in the Netherlands were obtained from the Dutch Pathology Registry (PALGA), and data regarding histological subtype and BRCA1/2 tumor tests were extracted. A total of 999 patients with advanced-stage EOC were included. Tumor tests were performed for 502 patients (50.2%) and BRCA1/2 TPVs were detected in 14.7%. Of all tests, 48.6% used hybrid capture techniques and 26.5% used PCR-based techniques. More than half of the tests (55.0%) analyzed other genes in addition to BRCA1/2. Overall, this study highlights the heterogeneity in the execution of BRCA1/2 tumor tests. Despite a lack of evidence of quality differences, we emphasize that adequate reporting and internal and external quality monitors are essential for high-quality implementation and execution of reliable BRCA1/2 tumor testing, which is crucial for identifying all patients with BRCA1/2 TPVs.
Keywords
BRCA1/2 pathogenic variants; ovarian carcinoma; tumor test; next generation sequencing; real-world data
Subject
Medicine and Pharmacology, Oncology and Oncogenics
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.