Molecular Basis of Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome Spectrum with Associated Tumors and Consequences for Clinical Practice

Thomas Eggermann, Eamonn R. Maher, Christian P. Kratz, Dirk Prawitt

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS, OMIM 130650) is a congenital imprinting condition with a heterogenous clinical presentation of overgrowth and an increased childhood cancer risk (mainly nephroblastoma, hepatoblastoma or neuroblastoma). Due to the varying clinical presentation encompassing classical, clinical BWS without a molecular diagnosis and BWS-related phenotypes with an 11p15.5 molecular anomaly, the syndromic entity was extended to the Beckwith-Wiedemann spectrum (BWSp). The tumor risk of up to 30% depends on the molecular subtype of BWSp with causative genetic or epigenetic alterations in the chromosomal region 11p15.5. The molecular diagnosis of BWSp can be challenging for several reasons, including the range of causative molecular mechanisms which are frequently mosaic. The molecular basis of tumor formation appears to relate to stalled cellular differentiation in certain organs that predisposes persisting embryonic cells to accumulate additional molecular defects, which then results in a range of embryonal tumors. The molecular subtype of BWSp not only influences the overall risk of neoplasia, but also the likelihood of specific embryonal tumors.

Original languageEnglish
Article number3083
Number of pages13
JournalCancers
Volume14
Issue number13
Early online date23 Jun 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2022

Bibliographical note

Copyright © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Keywords

  • Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrom spectrum
  • tumor
  • genomic imprinting

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Molecular Basis of Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome Spectrum with Associated Tumors and Consequences for Clinical Practice'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this