Gardner syndrome is characterized by the triad of colorectal adenomas, soft and hard tissue tumors. This disorder was regarded as a separate disease until the identification of the APC gene when it was recognized that mutations in the APC gene were the underlying cause of both Gardner syndrome and familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). The present study aimed at examining whether a particular APC genotype could be delineated in FAP patients with benign extracolonic manifestations: sebaceous cysts and/or osteomas. A questionnaire was sent to all Danish FAP patients (N = 234) asking for occurrence of sebaceous cysts and palpable osteomas. Medical records later verified positive findings, when possible. The results for each patient were correlated to the position of his or her mutation in the APC gene. Positive participation compliance was 77% (N = 180), and in 105 of these patients the pathogenic APC mutation was known. Palpable osteomas were reported in 17 of the patients in whom a pathogenic mutation had been identified. Osteomas were only identified in patients with mutations between codon 767 and 1513, a gene area also associated with congenital hypertrophy of the retinal-pigmented epithelium (CHRPE) and hepatoblastoma. Sebaceous cysts were reported in 51% of the patients, and their APC mutations were evenly distributed in the gene with no particular hotspot. Osteomas appeared most frequently in patients with sebaceous cysts, odds ratio 6.6, P < 0.001. The study provides molecular evidence that Gardner syndrome is a variant of FAP and essentially obsolete in clinical practice.
2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.