Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) patients have 10% of lifetime risk for developing malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNST), one of the most aggressive cancers. We examined the spectrum of constitutional NF1 mutations among 24 NF1 patients with MPNST. We found mutations in 18 patients: four megabase deletions involving the NF1 gene, 13 truncating mutations, and only one missense mutation. One deletion included both exonic and intronic sequences. No typical splicing mutation was found. Five of these mutations were novel: c.3686delA, c.197_204+9del17, c.3044T>C (p.Leu1015Pro), c.2497delT, and c.6020_6027dup. The proportion of megabase deletions of the NF1 gene found in patients with MPNST (17%=4/24) was higher than that in a group of unselected NF1 patients (5.4%=27/500).
Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.