Precision needle-punch tumor enrichment from paraffin blocks improves the detection of clinically actionable genomic alterations and biomarkers.

Background: While many molecular assays can detect mutations at low tumor purity and variant allele frequencies, complex biomarkers such as tumor mutational burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI), and genomic loss of heterozygosity (gLOH) require higher tumor purity for accurate measurement. Scalable, quality-controlled, tissue-conserving methods to increase tumor nuclei percentage (TN%) from tumor specimens are needed for complex biomarkers and hence necessary to maximize patient matching to approved therapies or clinical trial enrollment. We evaluated the clinical utility and performance of precision needle-punch enrichment (NPE) compared with traditional razor blade macroenrichment of tumor specimens on molecular testing success. Methods: Pathologist-directed NPE was performed manually on formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded (FFPE) blocks. Quality control of target capture region and quantity of residual tumor in each tissue block was determined via a post-enrichment histologic slide recut. Resultant tumor purity and biomarker status were determined by the computational analysis pipeline component of the FDA-approved next-generation sequencing (NGS) assay, FoundationOne®CDx. Following NPE implementation for real-world clinical samples, assay performance and biomarker (MSI, TMB, gLOH) detection were analyzed. Results: In real-world clinical samples, enrichment rate via NPE was increased to ~50% over a 2.5-year period, exceeding the prior use of razor blade macro-enrichment (<30% of cases) prior to NPE implementation due to proven efficacy in generating high quality molecular results from marginal samples and the ease of use for both pathologist and histotechnologists. NPE was associated with lower test failures, higher computational tumor purity, and higher rates of successful TMB, MSI and gLOH determination when stratified by pre-enriched (incipient) tumor nuclei percentage. In addition, challenging cases in which tumor content was initially insufficient for testing were salvaged for analysis of biomarker status, gene amplification/deletion, and confident mutant or wild-type gene status determination. Conclusions: Pathologist-directed precision enrichment from tissue blocks (aka NPE) increases tumor purity, and consequently, yields a greater number of successful tests and complex biomarker determinations. Moreover, this process is rapid, safe, inexpensive, scalable, and conserves patient surgical pathology material. NPE may constitute best practice with respect to enriching tumor cells from low-purity specimens for biomarker detection in molecular laboratories.

Molecular analysis of endometrial serous carcinoma reveals distinct clinicopathologic and genomic subgroups.

OBJECTIVES: Endometrial serous carcinoma (EMSC) is an aggressive variant of uterine cancer with limited therapeutic options. We sought to define distinct clinicopathologic and genomic EMSC subgroups. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 2159 EMSC and 2346 endometrioid-type endometrial carcinomas (EEC) tissue specimens that had undergone comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) via the FoundationOne CDx assay during routine clinical care. High tumor mutational burden (TMB) was defined as ≥10mut/Mb using the FDA-approved CDx cutoff for pembrolizumab. Microsatellite instability (MSI) was determined on 95 loci. Evidence of homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) was determined via genomic loss of heterozygosity (gLOH), a validated HRD detection method for predicting PARP inhibitor effectiveness in ovarian carcinoma. High gLOH was defined as ≥16%. RESULTS: A genomic analysis of 2159 EMSCs revealed a predominance of TP53 mutations, microsatellite stability, low tumor mutational burden (TMB), and recurrent alterations of PIK3CA, PPP2R1A, ERBB2, CCNE1, FBXW7 and MYC. Evidence of HRD via high gLOH was identified in 22% of EMSCs. BRCA1 and BRCA2 alterations, as well as unique SET (solid, pseudo-endometrioid, and transitional cell-like) variant morphology, were enriched in HRD-EMSC. There was an increased frequency of CCNE1 amplification, a lower prevalence of PIK3CA and PPP2R1A alterations, and no differences in HRD, MSI or TMB biomarker frequencies in patients of predicted African ancestry. EMSC exhibited distinct gene mutation frequencies and MSI, TMB and gLOH biomarker signatures compared to a cohort 2346 EEC. CONCLUSIONS: Molecularly defined subgroups provide a framework to test the susceptibility of EMSC to targeted therapies in specific genetic settings (e.g. HRD, PIK3CA, PPP2R1A, ERBB2, MYC, CCNE1).

Clinically Advanced Pheochromocytomas and Paragangliomas: A Comprehensive Genomic Profiling Study.

Patients with clinically advanced paragangliomas (CA-Para) and pheochromocytomas (CA-Pheo) have limited surgical or systemic treatments. We used comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) to compare genomic alterations (GA) in CA-Para and CA-Pheo to identify potential therapeutic targets. Eighty-three CA-Para and 45 CA-Pheo underwent hybrid-capture-based CGP using a targeted panel of 324 genes. Tumor mutational burden (TMB) and microsatellite instability (MSI) were determined. The GA/tumor frequencies were low for both tumor types (1.9 GA/tumor for CA-Para, 2.3 GA/tumor for CA-Pheo). The most frequent potentially targetable GA in CA-Para were in FGFR1 (7%, primarily amplifications), NF1, PTEN, NF2, and CDK4 (all 2%) and for CA-Pheo in RET (9%, primarily fusions), NF1 (11%) and FGFR1 (7%). Germline mutations in known cancer predisposition genes were predicted in 13 (30%) of CA-Pheo and 38 (45%) of CA-Para cases, predominantly involving SDHA/B genes. Both CA-Para and CA-Para had low median TMB, low PD-L1 expression levels and none had MSI high status. While similar GA frequency is seen in both CA-Para and CA-Para, germline GA were seen more frequently in CA-Para. Low PD-L1 expression levels and no MSI high status argue against strong potential for novel immune checkpoint inhibitors. However, several important potential therapeutic targets in both CA-Para and CA-Para are identified using CGP.

Recurrent urothelial carcinoma-like FGFR3 genomic alterations in malignant Brenner tumors of the ovary.

Malignant Brenner tumor is a rare primary ovarian carcinoma subtype that may present diagnostic and therapeutic conundrums. Here, we characterize the genomics of 11 malignant Brenner tumors, which represented 0.1% of 14,153 clinically advanced ovarian carcinomas submitted for genomic profiling during the course of clinical care. At the time of molecular profiling, there was no evidence of a primary urothelial carcinoma of the urinary tract in any case. Cases with transitional-like morphologic features in the setting of variant ovarian serous or endometrioid carcinoma morphology were excluded from the final cohort. Malignant Brenner tumors exhibited CDKN2A/2B loss and oncogenic FGFR1/3 genomic alterations in 55% of cases, respectively; including recurrent FGFR3 S249C or FGFR3-TACC3 fusion in 45% of cases. FGFR3-mutated cases had an associated benign or borderline Brenner tumor pre-cursor components, further confirming the diagnosis and the ovarian site of origin. Malignant Brenner tumors were microsatellite stable, had low tumor mutational burden and exhibited no evidence of homologous recombination deficiency. PIK3CA mutations were enriched with FGFR3 alterations, while FGFR3 wild-type cases featured MDM2 amplification or TP53 mutations. The FGFR3 S249C short variant mutation was absent in 14,142 non-Brenner, ovarian carcinomas subtypes. In contrast to malignant Brenner tumors, FGFR1/2/3 alterations were present in ~5% of non-Brenner, ovarian serous, clear cell and endometrioid carcinoma subtypes, most often as FGFR1 amplification in serous carcinoma or FGFR2 short variant alterations in clear cell or endometrioid carcinomas, respectively. Finally, malignant Brenner tumors had overall distinct genomic signatures compared to FGFR-mutated ovarian serous, endometrioid, and clear cell carcinoma subtypes. This study provides insights into the molecular pathogenesis of malignant Brenner tumors, contrasts the extent of FGFR1/2/3 alterations in ovarian serous, clear cell and endometrioid carcinomas and emphasizes the potential value of novel and FDA-approved, anti-FGFR inhibitors, such as erdafitinib and pemigatinib, in refractory, FGFR3-mutated malignant Brenner tumors.

Predictive Biomarkers for Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Metastatic Breast Cancer.

We examined a large dataset of female metastatic breast cancers (MBCs) profiled with comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) to identify the prevalence and distribution of immunotherapy responsiveness-associated biomarkers. DNA was extracted from 3831 consecutive MBCs: 1237 (ERpos /HER2neg ), 1953 ERneg /HER2amp , and 641 triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). CGP was performed using the FoundationOne® or FoundationOne® CDx NGS assay. Tumor mutational burden (TMB) and microsatellite instability (MSI) were determined in a subset of cases. PD-L1 expression in immunocytes in a subset of cases was determined by immunohistochemistry using the companion diagnostic VENTANA PD-L1 SP142 Assay. The median age of the cohort was 54 years (range 20-89). Genomic alterations (GAs)/tumor were similar (range: 5.9-7.3). Markers of potential immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICPI) benefit included: CD274 (PD-L1) amplification (1%-3%), BRAF GA (1%-4%), TMB of ≥10 mutations/Mb (8%-12%), MSI-high (0.1%-0.4%), PBRM1 GA (1%), and positive PD-L1 staining of immunocytes ranging from 13% in ERpos /HER2neg and 33% in ERneg /HER2amp to 47% in the TNBC group. Potential markers of ICPI resistance included inactivating STK11 GA (1%-2%) and MDM2 amplification (3%-6%). MTOR pathway targets were common with lowest frequency in TNBC. ERBB2 short variant mutations were most frequent ERpos /HER2neg and absent in TNBC. BRCA1/2 GA were least frequent in ERneg /HER2amp . The demonstrations of clinical benefit of immunotherapy in MBC support the need for development and utilization of biomarkers to guide the use of ICPIs for these patients. In addition to guiding therapy selection, CGP shows potential to identify GA linked to response and resistance to ICPI in MBC.

Molecular profiling of mesonephric and mesonephric-like carcinomas of cervical, endometrial and ovarian origin.

Mesonephric carcinoma is a rare cancer that most often arises within the cervix, and less frequently, in the ovary and endometrium. A retrospective search of our CLIA-certified and CAP-accredited reference molecular laboratory database (Foundation Medicine, Inc.) identified 20 mesonephric or mesonephric-like, cervical (n = 10), endometrial (n = 5), ovarian (n = 4) or peri-bladder (n = 1) carcinomas that had undergone comprehensive genomic profiling via next generation sequencing. Activating KRAS mutations were present in 90%, 18 of 20 cases, including G12V (n = 7), G12D (n = 6), G12A (n = 3) and G12C (n = 2). Other recurrent alterations were identified in ARID1A (25%), PIK3CA (20%), CTNNB1 (15%), TP53 (10%), MLL2 (10%) and CDKN2A (10%). One KRAS wild-type case had a GATA3 mutation as the sole alteration, while the second KRAS wild-type case had an EGFR exon 20 insertion D770_N771insSVD alteration. All tumors were negative for HPV DNA, microsatellite instability, high tumor mutational burden and homologous recombination deficiency. A circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) liquid biopsy from peripheral blood, which was performed 6 years after original solid tumor resection in one patient with suspected lung metastasis, revealed concordance of KRAS alteration, gains of chromosomes 1q, 2, 10, 12 and 20, plus new TP53 alterations in the liquid biopsy compared to the original sample. KRAS G12 mutation is major driver of mesonephric and mesonephric-like carcinomas, with less frequent contribution by ARID1A and PIK3CA pathways in tumors of non-cervical origin. ctDNA liquid biopsy may be useful in detecting mutations in recurrent or metastatic patients, who may potentially be eligible for trials against emerging targeted therapies.

A sporadic gastric-type endocervical adenocarcinoma with endometrial involvement and bilateral ovarian metastasis, a case report.

•Gastric type endocervical adenocarcinoma (GAS) is rare in the United States.•GAS is an aggressive tumor and can metastasize unusual sites including peritoneal surfaces and adnexa.•Metastatic lesions can mimic benign/borderline mucinous tumors of ovaries.•There is no established standard of care for GAS.•Genetic consultation should be included in patient's management.

Comprehensive Assessment of Immuno-oncology Biomarkers in Adenocarcinoma, Urothelial Carcinoma, and Squamous-cell Carcinoma of the Bladder.

BACKGROUND: In patients with rare histologies of bladder cancer, including adenocarcinoma of the bladder (ACB) and squamous-cell carcinoma (SCC), there are limited standard therapy options, defining an unmet medical need. OBJECTIVE: In this comparative comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) study, genomic alterations (GAs), and immuno-oncology (IO) biomarkers have been analyzed. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Within the Foundation Medicine database, 143 cases with centrally reviewed pure ACB, 2142 with pure urothelial carcinoma (UC), and 83 with pure SCC were subjected to CGP. All patients developed advanced disease following a primary diagnosis of bladder cancer. INTERVENTION: CGP using a hybrid capture-based assay and immunohistochemistry (IHC). OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Tumor mutational burden (TMB) was determined on 1.1 Mbp of sequenced DNA, and microsatellite instability (MSI) was determined on 114 loci. Programmed cell-death ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression was determined by IHC (Ventana SP-142 assay), with >1% tumor cells (TCs) or tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) scoring positive. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: Pure ACB patients were younger and more often female than pure UC and pure SCC patients. UC and SCC had a significantly higher median TMB than ACB (p < 0.001). Rare CD274 (PD-L1) amplification cases were more frequently seen in SCC than in UC (5% vs 1%), and were not seen in ACB. MSI high status was very uncommon in all tumor types (0-1%). The frequencies of PD-L1 expression in both TCs and TILs was higher in UC and SCC (both 30%) than in ACB (18%). The results are limited by their retrospective nature and lack of clinical data annotation. CONCLUSIONS: Deep sequencing revealed significant differences in IO biomarkers among the three major subtypes of bladder carcinomas. UC and SCC revealed higher frequencies of PD-L1 expression and higher TMB than ACB, and SCC has the highest frequency of CD274 amplification. The presence of pure SCC features should not disqualify patients for inclusion in IO trials. PATIENT SUMMARY: Tumor samples from patients diagnosed with advanced pure adenocarcinoma of the bladder (ACB) or pure squamous-cell carcinoma (SCC) have been analyzed in terms of frequency of putative immunotherapy biomarkers. The results indicated that pure SCC of the bladder was characterized by genomic features that portend similar response possibilities to immunotherapy compared with the classical pure urothelial carcinoma. Conversely, for pure ACB there might be different therapeutic opportunities, such as targeted therapies against peculiar genomic alterations in selected patients.

Genomic Characterization of Testicular Germ Cell Tumors Relapsing After Chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Although both seminomatous and nonseminomatous testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) have favorable outcomes with chemotherapy, a subset is chemorefractory, and novel therapeutic options are needed. OBJECTIVE: To molecularly characterize chemotherapy-refractory TGCTs. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Archival tissues from 107 chemotherapy-treated and relapsed TGCT patients (23 seminomas; 84 nonseminomas) underwent hybrid-capture-based genomic profiling to evaluate four classes of genomic alterations (GAs). Tumor mutational burden (TMB) and microsatellite instability (MSI) were also measured. INTERVENTION: Genomic profiling on tumor samples from chemotherapy-refractory TGCTs. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Descriptive analyses and differences between seminoma and nonseminoma subgroups were reported. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: The mean GA/tumor was 2.9 for seminomas and 4.0 for nonseminomas (p=0.04). KRAS alterations (mainly amplifications) were the most common GAs at the single-gene level (47.8% of seminomas and 51.2% of nonseminomas). RAS-RAF pathway (56.5% vs 52.3%) and cell-cycle pathway (52.2% vs 56.0%) were the most common GA classes in seminomas and nonseminomas, respectively. Receptor tyrosine kinase pathway and PI3K pathway GAs were more frequent in seminomas (p=0.02). Median TMB was 1.8 mutations/Mb for seminomas and 2.7 mutations/Mb for nonseminomas (p=0.098), and MSI-high status was found in one nonseminoma only (1.2%). A lack of clinical outcome correlation is a limitation of the present analyses. CONCLUSIONS: In chemotherapy-refractory TGCTs, trials with agents targeting the KRAS pathway may be pursued due to the high frequency of KRAS GAs. Overall, the GAs found in refractory seminomas and nonseminomas differ significantly. Considering the frequency of high TMB or MSI-high status, immunotherapy may benefit a small subset of nonseminomas. PATIENT SUMMARY: Testicular cancers that are resistant to or relapse after standard chemotherapy may harbor genomic alterations that are potentially druggable, particularly in the clinical trial setting, and genomic profiling can guide clinical research and disclose therapeutic opportunities for these patients.

SMARCA4 inactivation defines a subset of undifferentiated uterine sarcomas with rhabdoid and small cell features and germline mutation association.

A rare subset of aggressive SMARCA4-deficient uterine sarcomas has been recently proposed, with only a limited number of cases having been previously described. Here, we identify 16 additional cases of SMARCA4-deficient uterine sarcoma from the database of a large, CLIA-certified and CAP-accredited, reference molecular laboratory, and we expand on their clinicopathological and genomic features. Median patient's age was 49 years (range 32-70). Most tumors were aggressive with distant metastasis. SMARCA4-deficient uterine sarcoma demonstrated predominantly rhabdoid or large epithelioid cells with abundant cytoplasm, but also had varying degrees of small cell and spindle cell morphology. Tumors were microsatellite stable and exhibited no other or only few co-occurring genomic alterations by comprehensive genomic profiling. We discovered one patient, who developed SMARCA4-deficient uterine sarcoma at the age of 55, had a germline SMARCA4 mutation, whose daughter had previously died of small cell carcinoma of the ovary, hypercalcemic type, at the age of 32. Our data support the notion that SMARCA4 inactivation is the driver oncogenic event of a morphologically and molecularly distinct form of uterine sarcoma. Identification of SMARCA4-deficient uterine sarcomas may be clinically important due to their aggressive behavior, germline association, and emerging targeted therapies.

Genomic Features of Metastatic Testicular Sex Cord Stromal Tumors.

BACKGROUND: Metastatic testicular sex cord stromal tumors of the testis (MSCSTs) comprise an extremely uncommon form of genitourinary malignancy. OBJECTIVE: To perform comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) to enable the search for potential therapy targets. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Ten patients with testicular Leydig cell tumors (LCTs), six with Sertoli cell tumors (SCTs), and three with undifferentiated sex cord stromal tumors (USCSTs) and a comparison group of 366 patients with ovarian sex cord stromal tumors (SCSTs) underwent hybrid-capture-based CGP to evaluate all classes of genomic alterations (GAs). The tumor mutational burden (TMB) was determined on 1.1 Mbp of sequenced DNA, and microsatellite instability (MSI) was determined on 114 loci. INTERVENTION: CGP on tumor samples. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Descriptive analyses and differences between histological subgroups were reported. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: In these patients, all of whom had metastatic disease at the time of sequencing, the primary testis tumor was sequenced in six (32%) patients and a metastatic site in 13 (68%) patients. The overall frequencies of GAs were similar in LCTs, SCTs, and USCSTs, ranging from 3.0 to 3.5 GAs/tumor. The most frequent untargetable GAs included CTNNB1 and CDKN2A/B, both ranging from 20% to 33% of cases. Targetable GAs were uncommon in all MSCST subgroups, but several tumors showed potential for cell-cycle inhibitors (CDK4 in LCTs), mTOR inhibitors (RICTOR, NF2, and PTEN in all three tumor types), hedgehog inhibitors (PTCH1 in LCTs), and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (BAP1 in SCTs). No MSI-high status was identified. The TMB was also low in all MSCST groups, and tumors featuring a TMB of ≥10 mutations/Mb were not identified. GA findings from ovarian SCSTs largely recapitulated those from MSCSTs. A lack of clinical outcome correlation is a limitation of the present analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Rare cases of testicular MSCSTs have GAs linked to potential targeted therapy benefits on CGP. In contrast, the lack of MSI-high status and an overall low TMB indicate a likely lack of benefit for immunotherapies. PATIENT SUMMARY: Genomic profiling can guide clinical research and disclose therapeutic opportunities for patients with rare testicular cancers for which standard therapies are lacking.

G-cimp status prediction of glioblastoma samples using mRNA expression data.

Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is a tumor with high mortality and no known cure. The dramatic molecular and clinical heterogeneity seen in this tumor has led to attempts to define genetically similar subgroups of GBM with the hope of developing tumor specific therapies targeted to the unique biology within each of these subgroups. Recently, a subset of relatively favorable prognosis GBMs has been identified. These glioma CpG island methylator phenotype, or G-CIMP tumors, have distinct genomic copy number aberrations, DNA methylation patterns, and (mRNA) expression profiles compared to other GBMs. While the standard method for identifying G-CIMP tumors is based on genome-wide DNA methylation data, such data is often not available compared to the more widely available gene expression data. In this study, we have developed and evaluated a method to predict the G-CIMP status of GBM samples based solely on gene expression data.

Accurate diagnosis of acute graft-versus-host disease using serum proteomic pattern analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The rapid diagnosis of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is important for optimizing the management of this life-threatening complication. Current diagnostic techniques are time-consuming and require invasive tissue sampling. We investigated serum protein pattern analysis using surface-enhanced laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (SELDI-TOF) mass spectrometry as a tool to diagnose GVHD. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eighty-eight serum samples were obtained from 34 patients undergoing HCT either pretransplant (n = 28 samples) or at various time points posttransplant (n = 60 samples), including 22 samples obtained on the day of onset of acute GVHD symptoms. Serum proteomic spectra generated from a "training set" of known samples were used to identify distinct proteomic patterns that best categorized a sample as either pretransplant, posttransplant non-GVHD, or GVHD; these distinct proteomic signatures were subsequently used to classify samples from a masked "test" sample set into the appropriate diagnostic category. RESULTS: Proteomic pattern analysis accurately distinguished GVHD samples from both posttransplant non-GVHD samples and pretransplant samples (100% specificity and 100% sensitivity in both cases). Furthermore, distinct serum proteomic signatures were identified that distinguished pretransplant from posttransplant non-GVHD samples (100% specificity and 94% sensitivity). CONCLUSION: These preliminary data suggest a potential application of SELDI-TOF-based proteomic analysis as a rapid and accurate method to diagnose acute GVHD.