Lynch syndrome mutation spectrum in New South Wales, Australia, including 55 novel mutations

Background Lynch syndrome, the most frequent hereditary colorectal cancer syndrome, is caused by defects in mismatch repair genes. Genetic testing is important in order to identify mutation carriers who can benefit from intensive surveillance programs. One of the challenges with genetic testing is the interpretation of pathogenicity of detected DNA variants. The aim of this study was to investigate all putative pathogenic variants tested for at the Division of Molecular Medicine, Pathology North, in Newcastle, Australia, to establish whether previous variant classification is in accordance with that recently performed in the InSi GHT collaboration. Methods Prediction programs and available literature were used to classify new variants or variants without classification. Results We identified 333 mutation positive families, in which 211 different putative pathogenic mismatch repair mutations were found. Most variants with an InSi GHT classification (141 out of 146) were in accordance with our classification. Five variants were discordant, of which one can definitively be reclassified according to the InSi GHT scheme as class 5. Sixty‐four variants had not been classified by InSi GHT , of whom 55 have not been previously reported. Conclusion In conclusion, we found that our classifications were mostly in accordance with the InSi GHT scheme. In addition to already known MMR mutations, we have also presented 55 novel pathogenic or putative pathogenic mutations.