The evaluation of the possibility of Li-Fraumeni syndrome in cancer patients in East Azarbaijan Province of Iran

Introduction: In 1969, Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS), which is a rare cancer predisposition syndrome, was reported for the first time. The main problem in LFS is the mutation in the TP53 gene, which is a crucial tumor suppressor gene in the cell cycle. A hereditary syndrome is inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern. There is a significant correlation between this syndrome and various cancers such as sarcoma, breast cancer, brain tumors, and different other types of malignancies. This study aimed to identify the possibility of LFS in cancer patients in the East Azarbaijan, Iran. Methods: In this experimental study, 45 children with cancer in the Northwest of Iran were investigated for LFS. DNA was extracted from the whole blood cells using the salting-out method. The region within the exons 5-8 of the TP53 gene has been replicated via Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method. The PCR products were sent for Sanger sequencing, and finally, the data were analyzed by Chromas software. Results: In the studied probands, in 12 (26.67%) cases, polymorphisms in Exon 6 and Introns 6 and Intron 7 were identified, and no mutation was observed in exons 5-8 of the TP53 gene. Conclusion: Our results show that there were no mutations in exons 5-8 of the TP53 gene as an indication of LFS possibility in these families. Further studies are needed to be done in a bigger population, and Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) needs to be done to evaluate the whole genome of these patients to complete our data.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the possibility of Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) in cancer patients in East Azarbaijan, Iran. The results showed no mutations in exons 5-8 of the TP53 gene in the studied patients, indicating no possibility of LFS in these families. Further studies in a larger population and Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) are needed to evaluate the whole genome and gather more comprehensive data.