In Iran, esophageal cancer is the fourth common cancers in women and sixth common cancers in men. Here we evaluated the importance of familial risk factors and the role of genetic predisposition in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (ESCC) using Whole-Exome Sequencing (WES). Germline damaging mutations were identified in WES data from 9 probands of 9 unrelated ESCC pedigrees. Mutations were confirmed with Sanger sequencing and evaluated amplification-refractory mutation system-Polymerase Chain Reaction (ARMS-PCR) in 50 non-related ethnically matched samples and in complete genomics database. Sixteen candidate variants were detected in ESCC 9 probands. Four of these 16 variants were rare damaging mutations including novel mutations in KCNJ12/KCNJ18, and GPRIN2 genes. This WES study in Iranian patients with ESCC, provides insight into the identification of novel germline mutations in familial ESCC. Our data suggest an association between specific mutations and increased risk of ESCC.
Keywords: Familial Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma; Whole-Exome Sequencing; environmental factor; genetic predisposition; germline mutation.
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