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. 2021 Sep 16;16(9):e0251639. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251639

Clinical and molecular characterization of patients fulfilling Chompret criteria for Li-Fraumeni syndrome in Southern Brazil

Camila Matzenbacher Bittar 1,2,#, Yasminne Marinho de Araújo Rocha 2,#, Igor Araujo Vieira 1,2,#, Clévia Rosset 1,2,, Tiago Finger Andreis 1,2,, Ivaine Tais Sauthier Sartor 3, Osvaldo Artigalás 3, Cristina B O Netto 4, Barbara Alemar 1,2, Gabriel S Macedo 2, Patricia Ashton-Prolla 1,2,4,*
Editor: Amanda Ewart Toland5
PMCID: PMC8445435  PMID: 34529667

Abstract

Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) is an autosomal dominant cancer predisposition syndrome caused by pathogenic germline variants in the TP53 gene, characterized by a predisposition to the development of a broad spectrum of tumors at an early age. The core tumors related to LFS are bone and soft tissue sarcomas, premenopausal breast cancer, brain tumors, adrenocortical carcinomas (ACC), and leukemias. The revised Chompret criteria has been widely used to establish clinical suspicion and support TP53 germline variant testing and LFS diagnosis. Information on TP53 germline pathogenic variant (PV) prevalence when using Chompret criteria in South America and especially in Brazil is scarce. Therefore, the aim of this study was to characterize patients that fulfilled these specific criteria in southern Brazil, a region known for its high population frequency of a founder TP53 variant c.1010G>A (p.Arg337His), as known as R337H. TP53 germline testing of 191 cancer-affected and independent probands with LFS phenotype identified a heterozygous pathogenic/likely pathogenic variant in 26 (13.6%) probands, both in the DNA binding domain (group A) and in the oligomerization domain (group B) of the gene. Of the 26 carriers, 18 (69.23%) were R337H heterozygotes. Median age at diagnosis of the first tumor in groups A and B differed significantly in this cohort: 22 and 2 years, respectively (P = 0.009). The present study shows the clinical heterogeneity of LFS, highlights particularities of the R337H variant and underscores the need for larger collaborative studies to better define LFS prevalence, clinical spectrum and penetrance of different germline TP53 pathogenic variants.

Introduction

Li-Fraumeni (LFS) syndrome is an autosomal dominant cancer predisposition disorder mainly caused by pathogenic and likely pathogenic germline variants (PV) in the TP53 tumor suppressor gene encoding the p53 protein. Although any tumor can be identified in LFS carriers, “core” tumors of the syndrome have been reported and include premenopausal breast cancer, bone and soft-tissue sarcoma, brain cancer, leukemia and adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC). Carriers of germline TP53 PV have a variable lifetime risk of developing cancer, and phenotype may vary from fully penetrant LFS to cancer-free over a lifetime. Nevertheless, about 50% of carriers develop at least one malignancy by age 30, especially those with TP53 DNA-binding domain (DBD) variants, also called “classic” variants, which represent approximately 86% of the TP53 pathogenic variants associated with the LFS phenotype in most countries [13].

Population prevalence studies have estimated that germline TP53 PV occur at a frequency of 1 in 5,000 to 1 in 20,000 individuals [4]. In more recent studies, prevalence of TP53 PV heterozygotes was proposed to reach 0.2% in Europeans [5, 6]. In addition, a germline TP53 founder PV, c.1010G>A (p.Arg337His), widely referred as R337H, has been reported in Southern Brazil at a frequency of 1 in approximately 300 newborns [79], but tumor penetrance appears to be lower than that observed in carriers of DNA-binding domain (DBD) PV [1013]. The arginine residue at codon 337 is involved in the protein oligomerization and functional data have shown that its replacement with histidine disrupts the tetramer form, making the domain unable to fully oligomerize in conditions of slightly elevated pH [14]. Although it was initially described as a “tissue-specific sequence variant” related only to ACC, today it is considered to be a PV related to the occurrence of multiple tumors, in a spectrum similar to that of LFS [15, 16]. Recent findings from a mouse model provided in vivo evidence that the R337H PV decreased p53 transactivation potential and renders mice susceptible to carcinogen-induced liver tumorigenesis [17].

Clinical criteria to define diagnosis of LFS were established based on the first study by Li and Fraumeni [18]. Approximately 70% to 80% of patients who fulfill classical criteria will have a germline PV in TP53 [16, 19] When a broader LFS tumor spectrum was considered, a number of different sets of criteria started to be used to identify LFS patients, including the Chompret criteria and other criteria for Li-Fraumeni Like Syndrome (LFL) [1921]. Importantly, diagnostic criteria defined by Chompret have increased the sensitivity of TP53 germline PV detection by including patients with the core LFS tumors even without a family history. The revised Chompret criteria [2123] had a PV detection rate of 18% and, when incorporated as part of TP53 testing criteria along with classic LFS criteria, have been shown to improve the diagnostic sensitivity to 95% (Classic and Chompret criteria together) [2]. Therefore, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and several other guidelines recommend using both the Classic LFS and the revised Chompret criteria to indicate germline TP53 genetic testing [24].

So far, only a few studies showed the prevalence of germline TP53 PV in individuals from Southern Brazil, in which the prevalence of 28,8% and 11,4% were found in a case series of 45 and 70 probands fulfilling any LFS criteria [25, 26]. In the present study, we aimed to characterize the clinical and molecular profile in a series of LFS patients fulfilling the 2015 revised Chompret criteria and recruited from cancer risk evaluation clinics in southern Brazil. These results can help to better define the LFS prevalence in Southern Brazil and also points out to differences in the clinical spectrum among carriers of distinct PV in TP53.

Materials and methods

Patients and ethical aspects

From July 2015 to January 2019, 211 independent cancer-affected patients from unique families with a suggestive clinical phenotype of LFS were identified at a public hospital and private cancer risk evaluation clinics in Southern Brazil. Of these, 191 were residents of the Southern region of Brazil, met the 2015 revised Chompret criteria and were included in the present study. The majority of patients, 148 patients were from a reference public hospital (Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre), seen at the institutional’s outpatient cancer genetics clinic (108) and pediatric cancer ward (40). The additional 43 probands were identified in 4 private cancer genetics clinics in the same city. S1 Fig is a Consort Diagram that depicts the recruitment and testing process, while the S1 Table lists 2015 revised Chompret criteria. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board. All participants underwent pre- and post-test genetic counseling, provided informed written or verbal consent for the study. When verbal consent was obtained, it was registered on participant clinical chart. Parents signed the consent for participants that were minors. Personal clinical history, self-reported family history and previous testing results were collected from patient interviews or medical records.

Molecular analysis

Of the 191 patients participating in this study, 43 had previously undergone multi-gene panel testing (MGPT) including TP53 sequence variant and rearrangement testing using Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS, retrospectively tested), 99 patients had undergone previous analysis of the TP53 coding region by Sanger sequencing and Multiplex Ligation-Dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA) (also retrospectively tested), and 49 patients were offered molecular testing in the institutional research laboratory at recruitment (prospectively tested). TP53 genotyping in the latter was performed employing two methodologies: (1) NGS in peripheral blood samples using the Ion AmpliSeq ™ Panel TP53 kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific) and Ion GeneStudio S5 system (Ion Torrent Systems Inc, Gilford, NH); and (2) MLPA using the SALSA MLPA P056 kit (MRC Holland, Amsterdam, Netherlands), followed by capillary gel electrophoresis with the Applied Biosystem 3500 Genetic Analyzer (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA) and analyses of the copy number variations conducted in the Coffalyser.Net software (MRC-Holland®) [27].

Statistical analysis

Tumor spectrum and clinical characteristics of carriers of DBD variants (group A) and R337H variant (group B) were compared. Data normality assumptions were verified on the age of group A and B and Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test was performed. To measure the association among the groups, gender, type of cancer and multiple tumors we used Pearson’s Chi-Squared test or Fisher’s exact test. Odds ratio with 95% confidence intervals were also calculated. To compare the pathogenic variant detection rate in this study and the rate found in Bougeard et al in 2015 [2], we used Pearson’s Chi-Squared test with Yates continuity correction. We also divided our probands in three groups (hotspot DBD variant carriers; R337H carriers and DBD non hotspot variant carriers) and Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Benjamini-Hochberg correction for multiple comparisons was performed. All data analyses were performed in R 3.4.2 statistical software.

Results

Germline PV TP53 were identified in twenty-six (13.6%) of the 191 probands included in the study. One of the carriers was homozygote and the other 25 carriers of germline PV were heterozygotes. 18 (69.2%) harboured the Brazilian founder R337H variant and 8 probands (30.8%) had a PV in the TP53 DBD. MLPA analysis identified no TP53 deletions and/or duplications in this series. Fig 1 shows the location of each pathogenic alteration detected in the gene and Table 1 summarizes the clinical and molecular results of all PV-positive probands (S2 Table exhibits the characterization of all probands analyzed). Fig 2 depicts the NGS results encompassing the entire TP53 coding region from two probands.

Fig 1. Location of the TP53 pathogenic variants detected in the p53 protein functional domains.

Fig 1

Green dots represent the variants identified in the present study. P53_TAD, transactivation domain; P53_DBD, DNA binding domain; P53_oligomer, oligomerization domain.

Table 1. Clinical and molecular characterization of all LFS probands harboring germline TP53 pathogenic variants (PV) identified in this study.

Proband ID / Gender Age at 1st cancer diagnosis (years) Proband’s type of cancer Age at diagnosis, other tumors (years) 2015 Version Chompret Criterion(s) Recruitment Genetic Testing chr17 position on Assembly GRCh37 (dbSNP rs ID) TP53 variant HGVS c. TP53 variant HGVS p.
    166 / F 32 Breast Breast (38) Familial PC Sanger + MLPA rs28934874 c. 451C>T p. (Pro151Ser)
    167 / F 30 Breast (bilateral) Thyroid (37) Familial, EOBC PUB Sanger + MLPA rs1057517983 c.731G>A p. (Gly244Asp)
    168 / F 11 CNS NA Familial PUB Sanger + MLPA rs28934575 c.733G>A p. (Gly245Ser)
    169 / F 12 OS Breast (21), Breast (22), STS(24) MT, EOBC PC MGPT rs28934575 c.733G>A p. (Gly245Ser)
    170 / F 25 Breast NA EOBC PC MGPT rs11540652 c.743G>A p. (Arg248Gln)
    171 / M 44 ACC NA RT PUB NGS + MLPA rs121912652 c.772G>A p. (Glu258Lys)
    172 / F 19 OS Breast (29), STS (38) Familial, MT, EOBT PUB Sanger + MLPA rs28934576 c.818G>A p. (Arg273His)
    173 / F 5 CNS (CPC) NA RT PC MGPT rs28934574 c.844C>T p. (Arg282Trp)
    174 / F 0 (6 mo) ACC NA RT PED Sanger + MLPA rs121912664 c.1010G>A p. (Arg337His)
    175 / F 0 (4 mo) ACC NA Familial, RT PED Sanger + MLPA rs121912664 c.1010G>A p. (Arg337His)
    176 / F 0 (8 mo) ACC NA RT PED Sanger + MLPA rs121912664 c.1010G>A p. (Arg337His)
    177 / F 1 ACC NA Familial, RT PUB Sanger + MLPA rs121912664 c.1010G>A p. (Arg337His)
    178 / M 1 ACC NA RT PED Sanger + MLPA rs121912664 c.1010G>A p. (Arg337His)
    179 / M 2 ACC NA RT PED Sanger + MLPA rs121912664 c.1010G>A p. (Arg337His)
    180 / M 2 ACC NA RT PUB Sanger + MLPA rs121912664 c.1010G>A p. (Arg337His)
    181 / F 3 ACC NA RT PUB Sanger + MLPA rs121912664 c.1010G>A p. (Arg337His)
    182 / F 3 ACC NA RT PUB NGS + MLPA rs121912664 c.1010G>A p. (Arg337His)
    183 / F 5 ACC NA RT PED Sanger + MLPA rs121912664 c.1010G>A p. (Arg337His)
    184 / F 11 ACC NA RT PED Sanger + MLPA rs121912664 c.1010G>A p. (Arg337His)
    185 / M 17 ACC NA RT PED Sanger + MLPA rs121912664 c.1010G>A p. (Arg337His)
    186 / F 23 Breast NA Familial, EOBC PUB Sanger + MLPA rs121912664 c.1010G>A p. (Arg337His)
    187 / F 57 Breast NA Familial PUB Sanger + MLPA rs121912664 c.1010G>A p. (Arg337His)
    188 / F 49 Breast (bilateral) NA Familial PUB Sanger + MLPA rs121912664 c.1010G>A p. (Arg337His)
    189 / M 1 CNS (CPC) NA RT PED Sanger + MLPA rs121912664 c.1010G>A p. (Arg337His)
    190 / M 1 CNS (CPC) NA RT PED Sanger + MLPA rs121912664 c.1010G>A p. (Arg337His)
    191 / F 1 ACC NA Familial, RT PED Sanger + MLPA rs121912664 c.1010G>A p. (Arg337His)*

ACC, Adrenocortical Carcinoma; CNS, Central Nervous System; CPC, Choroid Plexus Carcinoma; EOBC, Early Onset Breast Cancer; MGPT, Multigene Panel Testing; MT, Multiple Tumors; MO, months old; OS, Osteosarcoma; RT, Rare Tumors, STS, Soft tissue sarcoma; NA, not applicable; PUB, high-risk public clinic; PC, high-risk private clinic; PED, pediatric tumors database; NGS, Next-generation Sequencing; MLPA, Multiplex Ligation-Dependent Probe Amplification; WT, wild-type genotype

* homozygous for the R337H variant.

Fig 2. Representative next-generation sequencing results encompassing the TP53 entire coding region (minimum coverage of 100X by amplicon) from two probands fulfilling the 2015 revised Chompret criteria for Li-Fraumeni syndrome.

Fig 2

(A) Carrier of a germline pathogenic variant (PV) located in the p53 DNA binding domain (DBD); and (B) carrier of the Brazilian founder R337H PV located in the p53 oligomerization domain. Description of TP53 sequence variants is provided according to updated Human Genome Variation Society (HGVS) recommendations. Human TP53 sequence corresponding to the NM_000546.5 was used as a wild-type reference. Right panels show wild-type and variant allele counts, which were consistent with the expected germline occurrence of these genetic alterations (around 50% of reads for each allele). Note that both alleles were analyzed from antisense strand due to the TP53 gene orientation. Chr17, position or genomic coordinate at chromosome 17 (GRCh37/hg19 human genome assembly).

Important differences were observed when comparing the tumor spectrum and clinical characteristics of carriers of DBD variants (group A) and R337H variant (group B) (Table 2). The median age at first cancer diagnosis was 22 years in group A and 2 years in group B (P = 0.009; Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test). Fifteen patients (83.3%) in group B and only 3 (37.5%) in group A developed a tumor before age 18 years. Most of the tumors (13, 72.22%) observed in group B were ACC (all under 18 years), and only one ACC (12.5%) was observed in group A (diagnosed at age 44 years). Finally, multiple primary tumors were observed only among patients from group A, including 4 (50%) patients. Interestingly, one proband had been diagnosed with 4 primary tumors: osteosarcoma, bilateral breast cancer and soft tissue sarcoma; all before age 25 years. The tumor spectrum of the PV carriers is depicted in Fig 3 and shows evident differences between groups (DBD variant and R337H carriers), especially regarding ACC.

Table 2. Distribution of tumor types in all LFS PV-positive patients (n = 26).

Tumor types diagnosed in PV carriers Number of tumors per PV group (A/B) OR (95% CI), p value Number of patients per group (A/B) % PV carriers per group (A/B) Age at diagnosis (range when >1) in each group (A/B)
Adrenocortical Carcinoma 1 / 13 16.0 (1.5–875.8), 0.009 1 / 13 12.5 / 72.2 44 / 0 to 17
Breast 8 / 4 0.18 (0.03–1.0), 0.03 5 / 3 62.5 / 16.6 21 to 38 / 23 to 57
CNS 2 / 2 0.39 (0.02–6.53), 0.56 2/ 2 25 / 11.1 5 to 11 / 1
Osteosarcoma 3 / NA - 2 / NA 25 / NI 12 to 38 / NA
Thyroid 1 / NA - 1 / NA 12.5 / NI 37 / NA

DBD, pathogenic variants located in the DNA-binding domain; CNS, Central Nervous System tumors; NA, not applicable; NI, not identified.

Fig 3. Graphic showing the differences between the tumor spectrum observed in carriers of the DBD variants, R337H variant and R337H homozygous proband.

Fig 3

ACC, adrenocortical carcinoma; CNS, central nervous system; CPC, choroid plexus carcinoma; DBD, DNA binding domain; OS, osteosarcoma.

As observed in Table 3, a significant association was found in the comparative analyses including type of cancer and multiple tumors. A higher prevalence of ACC was observed in group B when compared to group A patients (P = 0.043; Chi-squared test) and the presence of multiple tumors was most frequent in group A (P = 0.005, Fisher exact test). Additionally, we classified the DBD variants in two groups, namely: group A non-hotspot PV, which comprised of p.(Pro151Ser), p.(Gly244Asp) and p.(Glu258Lis) variants; and group A hotspot PV (p.(Gly245Ser), p.(Arg248Gln), p.(Arg273His), p.(Arg282Trp)). When comparing the median age at first diagnosis of cancer in patients from group A non-hotspot PV, group A hotspot PV, and group B (R337H variants) we observed a significative difference (P = 0.021), being 31.8, 12.1 and 2.35 years respectively. The post-hoc analysis pointed out that age at first diagnosis was different between group B and A non-hotspot PV (data not shown).

Table 3. Association of gender, age at first tumor diagnosis, tumor type and development of multiple tumors among carriers of different groups of germline PV TP53 (groups A and B).

Group of pathogenic germline variants (PV)
A (n = 8) B (n = 18) P value
Gender
Female 7 12 0.375*
Male 1 6
Age at first cancer diagnosis, median (IQR) 22 (11.7–30.5) 2.0 (1.0–9.5) 0.009 **
Tumor types
ACC 1 13 0.043
Breast 2 2
Breast bilateral 1 1
CNS 1 0
CNS (CPC) 1 2
OS 2 0
Multiple tumors
Yes 4 0 0.005 *
No 4 18

† Pearson Chi-squared test.

* Fisher exact test.

** Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test.

ACC, adrenocortical carcinoma; OS, osteosarcoma; CNS, central nervous system; CPC, choroid plexus carcinoma.

Discussion

LFS is considered a rare cancer predisposition disorder worldwide. In Southern Brazil, due to presence of a germline founder pathogenic variant in the TP53 oligomerization domain (R337H), it is estimated that 0,3% of the general population carries this variant [12]. Despite significant heterozygote frequency at the population level, little information is available on the prevalence of germline TP53 PV among individuals with a suggestive phenotype, i.e. fulfilling revised Chompret criteria. This information is important to guide health care policies for cancer prevention and treatment in the region. Identifying LFS patients is important to determine adequate clinical surveillance and follow up, not only in the proband but in his/her relatives, since detection of a carrier provides the opportunity for cascade testing and, if additional carriers are identified in the family, they can be referred to appropriate genetic counseling and specific high risk screening protocols [28]. Villani and colleagues (2016) demonstrated that carriers of pathogenic TP53 variants benefit enormously from an enhanced surveillance protocol, including frequent physical examination plus targeted biochemical monitoring and periodic imaging screens (ultrasounds, brain magnetic resonance images, and rapid whole body MRI scans) [28]. Collectively, this approach has a significant impact in overall survival, compared to patients that do not undergo enhanced surveillance. In Brazil, although patients with health insurance have access to genetic testing if they fulfill the revised Chompret criteria, those that rely solely on the public health care system (about 70% of the population) must pay out of pocket to have this information, since genetic testing for cancer predisposition is not yet payed in the public setting.

In this cohort, tumoral spectrum in R337H carriers was similar to that already described in literature, especially when compared to previous studies performed in other Brazilian Centers. However, in the present study a strikingly higher prevalence of ACC was observed in R337H carriers when compared to carriers of DBD variants (P = 0.043; chi-squared test). From this observation we can conclude that in the series presented here, ACC was the most prevalent tumor observed in association with R337H whereas the previous Brazilian study described breast cancer as the most frequent tumor (30%) [25].

Regarding PV detection rate for the 2015 Chompret Criteria identified here (13,6%), this rate is similar to the 18% described by Bougeard et al. in 2015 in France (P = 0.2482; chi-squared test with Yates correction), but it is mainly due to the presence of the R337H variant [2]. Of note, in the previous study by Andrade et al. (2017) of Brazilian patients from the Southeastern region, PV detection rate in 17 probands with the 2015 Chompret Criteria was much higher, 35% [26]. These differences between the studies from Southern and Southeastern Brazil may reflect regional genetic modifiers of the phenotype (i.e. additional genetic risk factors), regional environmental factors or different recruitment strategies in each study.

Regarding genotype-phenotype correlations, it is well know that DBD hotspot variants with reported dominant negative effects, such as p.(Gly245Ser), p.(Arg248Gln), p.(Arg273His) and p.(Arg282Trp) are associated with earlier onset cancers and stronger family history of tumors within the LFS spectrum [29]. On the other hand, several previous studies from Brazilian cohorts have suggested that R337H is a PV with lower prevalence associated with cancer diagnoses at older ages, although a bimodal distribution of age at cancer diagnosis has also been suggested [30, 31]. Contrary to the expected phenotype, probands with the R337H variant in this study had earlier age at first tumor diagnosis when compared with carriers of DBD variants. To analyze this data in more detail, we divided our probands in three groups according to type of PV (non-hotspot DBD, hotspot DBD and R337H) and observed that median age at first tumor diagnosis among groups with the lowest mean age identified among R337H carriers.

The results of the present study are relevant for two main reasons. First, they underscore the importance of considering that significant regional differences may occur and that criteria established for one population may not have the same performance in another population. Considering that the population of Southern Brazil is mostly of European ancestry, one would expect to see a prevalence of germline TP53 PV variants similar to that observed in Europeans. A high frequency of R337H among probands with a phenotype suggesting LFS had been previously reported by Achatz et al. (2007) (46,1% of those with coding region TP53 variants), but these authors did not restrict their recruitment to patients fulfilling Chompret criteria [25]. Second, results from the present analysis, in which overall TP53 germline PV detection rate in Chompret criteria fulfilling probands was lower than expected from previous studies, may suggest that a different set of pathogenic variants, not yet mapped (i.e. located in intronic or regulatory regions of TP53) may be associated with the LFS phenotype in this particular region. It is also possible that PV in other, yet unidentified genes are associated with the LFS phenotype, accounting for the “missing heritability” of more than 85% observed here [32, 33]. An important limitation of the present study, that must be accounted for when analyzing the results is this study, is that a significant proportion of data on genetic testing were obtained retrospectively and with different variant detection strategies. Thus, further analyses on a prospectively recruited cohort of probands fulfilling Chompret criteria and then, clinical assessment of families carrying either DBD PV or R337H will be important to confirm these findings. Expanding this study in the region will be essential to instrument policy makers in establishing cancer screening protocols for these individuals.

Conclusions

The current study shows the impressive clinical heterogeneity of LFS, highlights particularities of the founder TP53 pathogenic variant R337H and points to the need for larger and collaborative studies to better define LFS prevalence, clinical spectrum and penetrance of different types of PVs in the Brazilian population.

Supporting information

S1 Fig. Consort Diagram representing the patient recruitment and genetic testing process employed in the current study.

(DOCX)

S1 Table. 2015 revised Chompret criteria for LFS and TP53 gene testing.

(DOCX)

S2 Table. Clinical and molecular characterization of all probands (n = 191) included in the study.

(DOCX)

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Gustavo Stumpf da Silva and Patricia Santos-Silva for their valuable contributions and technical support.

Data Availability

All relevant data are within the manuscript and its S1 Fig and S1,S2 Tables files.

Funding Statement

This study was funded by grants from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) (Grant # 478430/2012-4), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (FAPERGS) (Grant # 16/2551-0000486-2), and Fundo de Incentivo à Pesquisa do Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (FIPE-HCPA) to PA-P. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Decision Letter 0

Amanda Ewart Toland

5 Jan 2021

PONE-D-20-38705

Clinical and molecular characterization of patients fulfilling Chompret criteria for Li-Fraumeni Syndrome in Southern Brazil

PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Ashton-Prolla,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

1.  Include a CONSORT diagram to describe participant inclusion and exclusion.  Provide clarity on whether all participants were from unique families or if there were any related cases.  See additional comments from reviewers on descriptions of inclusion/exclusion.

2. Consider adding in a new table to describe the overall cohort of the 191 study participants in a more concise manner with percentages etc. See both reviewer's comments.

3. Replace mutation with pathogenic variant per recently revised genetics terminology.

4.  Provide more description on the technology used for pathogenic variant detection.  If multiple methods were used were there differences in types of variants detected or rate of variant detection?

5.  Update the Discussion per the reviewer's suggestions.

6. Consider adding in the suggested references.

7.  Address both reviewer's comments related to putting this study into the context of the literature.

Please submit your revised manuscript by Feb 19 2021 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

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Kind regards,

Amanda Ewart Toland, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

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Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: I Don't Know

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: This is an interesting manuscript which continues to add to our dynamic understanding of germline TP53 PVs. The manuscript would be aided by the following additions/changes:

-Please replace use of the term mutation in all places as this is no longer the preferred terminology.

-There are some notable omissions from the reference list that would be best cited including the following by LFS experts (David Malkin/ Judy Garber):

—>In particular during the discussion of the oligomerization domain: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6292786/

Lines 68-74: Reference work by Rana et al.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6292786/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31105275/

-On variable penetrance of TP53 and meeting of Chompret criteria: You can contrast your findings in the discussion as there are notable differences likely based in the ascertainment of the cohorts studied, but it is worth contrasting these results.

-Why were some patients excluded? This is not explained. Please include a CONSORT diagram on how the 191 were arrived at.

-Please limit Table 1 to the TP53 pathogenic and likely pathogenic (PV) carriers only. The negative ones can be in a supplemental table.

Table 2: Instead of referring to mutations as ‘classic’ can you label them as DBD. Use of ‘classic’ in this context and in the table is confusing.

Relative risks or Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals should be provided.

Table 3: For cohorts a/b: include median age at testing with IQR; include median age at first cancer diagnosis also with IQR.

Line 214 — comparison to literature should be in the discussion and not in the results section

Line 243 —include discussion of ascertainment

Line 250 — poor prognosis for what? Overall survival?

My understanding is that R337H was first identified due to the unusually high frequency of ACC, there is no mention of this well-established association or prior literature supporting the role of this variant in ACC. For example, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15952083/ from 2005.

The discussion would be aided by referencing the findings of Pinto et al., which may help to explain potential modifiers of TP53 R337H : https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32637605/ from 2020.

Reviewer #2: A good study examining the frequency of TP53 pathogenic variants (PV) in patients with cancer meeting the revised 2015 Chrompret criteria in Southern Brazil. The investigation of 191 cases builds the case for differences between age of onset and prevalence of cancer type between group A (classic mutations in the DNA binding domain of TP53) and group B (oligomerization domain encompassing the prevalent R337H PV in Brazil). Findings show a PV detection rate of 13.6% and that ACC is more prevalent in group B with a younger age of onset then other previous studies have suggested.

Comment one:

The abstract mentions “191 cancer affected and unrelated probands” (line 36) does unrelated probands mean all index cancer cases were independent and not from the same family? If so consider re-wording to “191 independent cancer cases from unique families”. The introduction would be aided with inclusion of literature on the prevalence of TP53 cases identified from the expansion of multi-gene panel testing (MGPT) in clinical practice and how this relates to targeting TP53 testing to cases that meet classic TP53 testing criteria and broadening of testing criteria.

Comment two:

In the methods section, it is not clear whether MGPT, Sanger sequencing or research testing using next generation sequencing (NGS) was applied retrospectively or just data collected retrospectively on a consecutive case series. This point needs clarifying to understand the origins of the data. If from retrospective data or application of testing retrospectively this needs to be mentioned in the limitations of the study also.

The methods section should include a statement in the first paragraph that all cancer cases and family histories meet revised 2015 Chrompret criteria and were selected for on this basis.

Comment three:

The results section would be aided with a concise summary description of the population characteristics. Consider the expansive Table 1 as a supplementary table and instead summarise this data in a concise table with percentages for cancer type, gender, average age or age range of diagnosis, which aspect of chrompret criteria was meet, testing strategy and result. Suggest to organise case characteristics by negative and positive result or by group A or B. In this re-organisation it would be useful to understand the percentage of TP53 cases picked up by testing regimes MGPT, sanger or research NGS. This would link back to the inclusion of literature in introduction of TP53 pick up from MGPT in general. The existing supplementary table 1 defining the revised 2015 Chrompret criteria could be used alongside the above data to re-organise or link to expansive table 1 when moved to supplementary material. This would help the reader to digest and interpret the results better.

Comment four:

For the reader the discussion would be aided by stating the main findings of the study from the start and then discuss each main finding in separate paragraphs. Inclusion of the emerging screening modalities for TP53 carriers ie MRI screening in adult TP53 carriers and paediatric screening protocol with attention to efficacy and benefit in the context of Brazil’s current funding model of genetic testing access and screening limits. There isn’t a comprehensive limitations section – need to include additional information on limitations ie study design in the nature of methods and statistical tools used and link to the future research direction information ie the use of different study designs in the application of MGPT with population control and cases included and other avenues of investigation to confirm the higher prevalence of R337H in group B and ACC with different ethnicities and larger data sets.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

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Decision Letter 1

Amanda Ewart Toland

30 Apr 2021

Clinical and molecular characterization of patients fulfilling Chompret criteria for Li-Fraumeni Syndrome in Southern Brazil

PONE-D-20-38705R1

Dear Dr. Ashton-Prolla,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to help maximize its impact. If they’ll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team as soon as possible -- no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org.

Kind regards,

Amanda Ewart Toland, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

**********

2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #2: The author has responded to comments - Table 1 presents in it's original form in the main manuscript as per the first submission and is now also in supplementary. Consider, removing from main manuscript and refer to supplementary table 2 in the text or keep table and revise to only include the description of cases that were identified with PV as these are further described in the main manuscript.

**********

7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #2: No

Acceptance letter

Amanda Ewart Toland

25 Aug 2021

PONE-D-20-38705R1

Clinical and molecular characterization of patients fulfilling Chompret criteria for Li-Fraumeni Syndrome in Southern Brazil

Dear Dr. Ashton-Prolla:

I'm pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been deemed suitable for publication in PLOS ONE. Congratulations! Your manuscript is now with our production department.

If your institution or institutions have a press office, please let them know about your upcoming paper now to help maximize its impact. If they'll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team within the next 48 hours. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information please contact onepress@plos.org.

If we can help with anything else, please email us at plosone@plos.org.

Thank you for submitting your work to PLOS ONE and supporting open access.

Kind regards,

PLOS ONE Editorial Office Staff

on behalf of

Dr. Amanda Ewart Toland

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Associated Data

    This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.

    Supplementary Materials

    S1 Fig. Consort Diagram representing the patient recruitment and genetic testing process employed in the current study.

    (DOCX)

    S1 Table. 2015 revised Chompret criteria for LFS and TP53 gene testing.

    (DOCX)

    S2 Table. Clinical and molecular characterization of all probands (n = 191) included in the study.

    (DOCX)

    Attachment

    Submitted filename: Response to Reviewers 38705.docx

    Data Availability Statement

    All relevant data are within the manuscript and its S1 Fig and S1,S2 Tables files.


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