ABCG2 Protein Levels and Association to Response to First-Line Irinotecan-Based Therapy for Patients with Metastatic Colorectal Cancer.

In this study we investigated the use of cancer cell protein expression of ABCG2 to predict efficacy of systemic first-line irinotecan containing therapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). From a Danish national cohort, we identified 119 mCRC patients treated with irinotecan containing therapy in first-line setting. Among these, 108 were eligible for analyses. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) analyses were performed on the primary tumor tissue in order to classify samples as high or low presence of ABCG2 protein. Data were then associated with patient outcome (objective response (OR), progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS)). ABCG2 protein expression in the basolateral membrane was high (score 3+) in 33% of the patients. Exploratory analyses revealed a significant interaction between ABCG2 score, adjuvant treatment and OR (p = 0.041) in the 101 patients with evaluable disease. Patients with low ABCG2 (score 0-2) and no prior adjuvant therapy had a significantly higher odds ratio of 5.6 (Confidence Interval (CI) 1.68-18.7; p = 0.005) for obtaining OR. In contrast, no significant associations between ABCG2 expression and PFS or OS were found. These results suggest that measurement of the ABCG2 drug efflux pump might be used to select patients with mCRC for irinotecan treatment. However, additional studies are warranted before conclusions regarding a clinical use can be made. Moreover, patients with high ABCG2 immunoreactivity could be candidates for specific ABCG2 inhibition treatment in combination with irinotecan.

Topoisomerase I copy number alterations as biomarker for irinotecan efficacy in metastatic colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: No biomarker exists to guide the optimal choice of chemotherapy for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. We examined the copy numbers (CN) of topoisomerase I (TOP1) as well as the ratios of TOP1/CEN-20 and TOP1/CEN-2 as biomarkers for irinotecan efficacy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. METHODS: From a national cohort, we identified 163 patients treated every third week with irinotecan 350 mg/m2 as second-line therapy. Among these 108 were eligible for analyses and thus entered the study. Primary tumors samples were collected and tissue microarray (TMA) blocks were produced. FISH analysis was performed using two probe-mixes: TOP1/CEN-20 and TOP1/CEN-2. Only samples harboring all three signals (TOP1, CEN-20 and CEN-2) using FISH were included in the analyses. RESULTS: In the TOP1/CEN-20 probe-mix the median TOP1- and CEN-20 CN were 4.46 (range: 1.5-9.5) and 2.00 (range: 0.55-4.55), respectively. The median TOP1- and CEN-2 CN in the TOP1/CEN-2 probe-mix, were 4.57 (range: 1.82-10.43) and 1.98 (range: 1.22-6.14), respectively. The median TOP1/CEN-20 ratio and TOP1/CEN-2 ratio were 1.25 (range: 0.92-2.90) and 2.05 (range: 1.00-6.00), respectively. None of the markers TOP1 CN, TOP1/CEN-20-ratio or TOP1/CEN-2-ratio were associated with progression free survival, overall survival or baseline characteristics. Yet, we observed a borderline association for a stepwise increase of the TOP1 CN in relation to objective response as hazard ratio were 1.35 (95% CI 0.96-1.90; p = 0.081). CONCLUSIONS: We verified a borderline significant association between increasing TOP1 CN and objective response as previously reported. Applying the probes representing CEN-20 and CEN-2, in order to investigate the ratios of TOP1/CEN-20 and TOP1/CEN-2 provided no further information in search of a biomarker driven patient stratification. Other biomarkers to be paired with TOP1 CN are therefore highly warranted.

FCGR polymorphisms and cetuximab efficacy in chemorefractory metastatic colorectal cancer: an international consortium study.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to better clarify the role of germline variants of the FCG2 receptor, FCGR2A-H131R and FCGR3A-V158F, on the therapeutic efficacy of cetuximab in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). A large cohort with sufficient statistical power was assembled. DESIGN: To show a HR advantage of 0.6 in progression-free survival (PFS) for FCGR2A-HH versus the rest and FCGR3A-VV versus the rest, with an 80% power, 80 Kirsten Rat Sarcoma Viral Oncogene Homolog (KRAS) wild-type (KRAS-WT) and 52 KRAS-WT patients are required, respectively. This leads to a total sample size of 952 and 619 patients, respectively. Samples were collected from 1123 mCRC patients from 15 European centres treated with cetuximab alone or in combination with chemotherapy. Fc gamma receptor (FCGR) status was centrally genotyped. Two additional externally genotyped series were included. RESULTS: Incidences of FCGR2A-HH and FCGR3A-VV in KRAS-WT patients were 220/660 (33%) and 109/676 (16.1%) respectively. There was no difference in median PFS (mPFS) for KRAS-WT patients with FCGR2A-HH (22.0 weeks; 95% CI18.8 to 25.2) versus non-HH (22.0 weeks; 95% CI 19.4 to 24.6) or for FCGR3A-VV (16.4 weeks; 95% CI 13.0 to 19.8) versus non-VV (23 weeks; 95% CI 21.1 to 24.9) (p=0.06). Median overall survival, response rate and disease control rate assessments showed no benefit for either HH or VV. CONCLUSIONS: No differences in mPFS were found between the FCGR polymorphisms HH and the others and VV versus the others in KRAS-WT mCRC patients refractory to irinotecan, oxaliplatin and 5-fluorouracil treated with cetuximab. We cannot confirm the effects of other IgG1 antibodies, which may be weaker than previously suggested. Other markers may be needed to study the actual host antibody response to cetuximab.

MicroRNA Expression in Formalin-fixed Paraffin-embedded Cancer Tissue: Identifying Reference MicroRNAs and Variability.

BACKGROUND: Archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) cancer tissue samples are a readily available resource for microRNA (miRNA) biomarker identification. No established standard for reference miRNAs in FFPE tissue exists. We sought to identify stable reference miRNAs for normalization of miRNA expression in FFPE tissue samples from patients with colorectal (CRC) and pancreatic (PC) cancer and to quantify the variability associated with sample age and fixation. METHODS: High-throughput miRNA profiling results from 203 CRC and 256 PC FFPE samples as well as from 37 paired frozen/FFPE samples from nine other CRC tumors (methodological samples) were used. Candidate reference miRNAs were identified by their correlation with global mean expression. The stability of reference genes was analyzed according to published methods. The association between sample age and global mean miRNA expression was tested using linear regression. Variability was described using correlation coefficients and linear mixed effects models. Normalization effects were determined by changes in standard deviation and by hierarchical clustering. RESULTS: We created lists of 20 miRNAs with the best correlation to global mean expression in each cancer type. Nine of these miRNAs were present in both lists, and miR-103a-3p was the most stable reference miRNA for both CRC and PC FFPE tissue. The optimal number of reference miRNAs was 4 in CRC and 10 in PC. Sample age had a significant effect on global miRNA expression in PC (50% reduction over 20 years) but not in CRC. Formalin fixation for 2-6 days decreased miRNA expression 30-65%. Normalization using global mean expression reduced variability for technical and biological replicates while normalization using the expression of the identified reference miRNAs reduced variability only for biological replicates. Normalization only had a minor impact on clustering results. CONCLUSIONS: We identified suitable reference miRNAs for future miRNA expression experiments using CRC- and PC FFPE tissue samples. Formalin fixation decreased miRNA expression considerably, while the effect of increasing sample age was estimated to be negligible in a clinical setting.

TMPRSS2:ERG Gene Fusion Might Predict Resistance to PARP Inhibitors in Metastatic Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIM: The emergence of novel DNA damage repair (DDR) pathways in molecular-target therapy drugs (MTTD) has shown promising outcomes in treating patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). About 25% of mCRPC patients have actionable deleterious aberrations in DDR genes, primarily in the homologous recombination (HR) pathway. However, the response rate in patients with BRCA1/2 or mutations in HRR-related genes is only 45%-55%, when exposed to poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor-based therapy (PARPi). A frequent characteristic feature of prostate cancer (PC) is the occurrence of genomic rearrangement that affects the transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2) and E26 transformation-specific (ETS)- transcription factor-related gene (ERG). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, a total of 114 patients with mCRPC had their RNA and DNA sequenced using next-generation sequencing. RESULTS: Based on their genetic profile of deleterious gene alterations of BRCA1/2 or ATM, six patients were selected for PARPi. Patients with TMPRSS2:ERG gene fusion and homozygous alteration in ATM or BRCA2 (n=2) or heterozygous alterations (BRCA1 or BRCA2) and lack of TMPRSS2:ERG gene fusion (n=2) did not show clinical benefit from PARPi (treatment duration <16 weeks). In contrast, patients (n=2) without TMPRSS2:ERG gene fusion and homozygous deleterious alterations in ATM or BRCA2 all had clinical benefit from PARPi (treatment duration ≥16 weeks). CONCLUSION: The TMPRSS2:ERG transcript product might be used as a PARPi resistance biomarker.