Promoter hypermethylation of the PALB2 susceptibility gene in inherited and sporadic breast and ovarian cancer

The partner and localizer of BRCA2 (PALB2) gene was recently identified as a BRCA2-interacting protein and subsequently shown to be a Fanconi anemia gene (FANCN). Disease-associated point mutations resulting in protein truncation have been found in BRCA1/2 mutation-negative breast cancer families identifying PALB2 as a susceptibility gene for breast cancer. Aberrant promoter hypermethylation is a mechanism of inactivation of many tumor suppressor genes, including BRCA1 and P16(INK4a), in breast and ovarian cancer. We therefore investigated the methylation status of a 1512 bp typical CpG island located in the promoter and exon 1 region of the PALB2 gene in 130 sporadic and familial breast and ovarian primary tumors, 9 cell lines, and 10 normal cell specimens. We found two primary breast tumors from BRCA2 mutation carriers, four sporadic primary breast tumors, and four sporadic primary ovarian tumors showed hypermethylation of the core promoter region of PALB2. All 10 normal tissue DNA had an unmethylated PALB2 promoter region. Quantitative real-time reverse transcription-PCR showed PALB2 expression to be reduced 28-fold in primary breast tumor with PALB2 promoter hypermethylation compared with matched normal breast tissue RNA. Aberrant promoter hypermethylation of PALB2 is more frequent than the reported level of PALB2 point mutations in breast tumors from BRCA-1/2-negative families and is similar to the frequency of BRCA-1 hypermethylation in inherited and sporadic breast and ovarian cancers.