Identifying genes and pathways in familial lymphoid cancers using whole exome sequencing

Lymphoid cancers of different types and subtypes are known to cluster in families. We hypothesize that there are shared susceptibility factors in families with these heterogenous lymphoid malignancies. Exome sequencing was performed on 100 individuals from 43 lymphoid cancer pedigrees. Variants from 37 families were ranked using the Weights-based vAriant Ranking in Pedigrees (WARP) pipeline. Six affected unrelated probands were used for interpretation only. We detected recurrent variants in the germline lymphoid cancer gene FAM160A1 in 4 (9%) of the 43 families, and variants in other genes involved in lymphoid cancers: NPAT, BCL9, HCLS1 and ID3. Variants in genes including BCL9, LEF1, TLE3, and KLHL12 involved in the WNT/β-catenin pathway were identified, representing a novel observation. Some variants appeared to segregate with specific types of lymphoid cancers; others were shared across different subtypes. Identifying factors predisposing to different types of lymphoid cancers will help understand the etiology of these neoplasms.