Sequencing showed that most malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumours lose the polycomb repressive complex 2 through EED or SUZ12 mutations, on top of NF1 and CDKN2A loss, explaining their biology and giving pathologists the H3K27me3 stain that diagnoses them.
Genomic analysis of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumours identifying loss-of-function alterations in EED or SUZ12, components of PRC2, in 70 percent of sporadic and 90 percent of radiotherapy-associated tumours, co-occurring with NF1 and CDKN2A inactivation, leading to loss of H3K27 trimethylation and amplified Ras signalling.
Loss of H3K27me3 immunostaining is now a diagnostic marker for MPNST, and PRC2 loss is a target for epigenetic and combination therapies under investigation.