An Asymptomatic, Ectopic Mass as a Presentation of Adrenocortical Carcinoma Due to a Novel Germline TP53 p.Phe338Leu Tetramerisation Domain Variant

Abstract

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare cancer in childhood. ACC is frequently associated with germline TP53 variants, with founder effects especially due to the p.Arg337His mutation. ACC leads to the secretion of adrenocortical hormones, resulting in endocrine syndromes, which is the usual trigger for establishing the diagnosis. We present a surprising ACC pathology in a non-secreting, ectopic retroperitoneal tumour in a 4-year-old boy, successfully controlled with chemotherapy and mitotane after microscopically incomplete tumour resection with spillage. Genomic analysis (gene panel sequencing and copy-number microarray) demonstrated a novel p.Phe338Leu tetramerisation domain (TD) TP53 variant in the proband and his cancer-free mother and a monoallelic deletion encompassing the TP53 locus in cancer tissue, consistent with cancer-predisposition syndrome. While the recurrent p.Arg337His variant translates into high ACC risk, residue 338 and, in general, TD domain variants drive heterogeneous clinical scenarios, despite generally being considered less disruptive than TP53 DNA-binding domain mutations.

Keywords: Li–Fraumeni syndrome; TP53; adrenocortical carcinoma; cancer predisposition.

Figure 1

(A)—Three-dimensional reconstruction of the computed tomography images of the tumour; (B)—microscopic image of a representative hematoxylin–eosin section (400× magnification); (C)—Sanger sequencing chromatogram showing TP53 residue 337 variation in the proband and family members (upper row—proband, middle—mother, and bottom—father); (D)—CytoScan XON assay output from Chromosome Analysis Software (ChAS) v. 4.4 demonstrated a 10.9 Mbp monoallelic deletion encompassing the TP53 locus.