Clinical utility of upfront circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) genotyping to guide first-line therapy in patients (pts) with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC): A GOZILA substudy.

Abstract

157 Background: The clinical utility of upfront ctDNA genomic profiling is not established in treatment (tx)-naïve pts with mCRC. Methods: GOZILA is a nationwide plasma genomic profiling study using Guardant360 CDx for advanced solid tumors. We assessed ctDNA molecular profile and its association with treatment efficacy in pts with mCRC who were enrolled in GOZILA from January 2018 to July 2022 and underwent ctDNA genotyping before initiation of first-line systemic tx. ctDNA fraction was defined as the maximum variant allelic frequency of somatic alteration and pts were classified into three groups based on ctDNA fraction: low (<1%), middle (≥1% and <10%) and high (≥10%) ctDNA fraction groups. Results: This study included 418 pts with mCRC receiving upfront ctDNA genotyping. Median turnaround time of ctDNA test was 7 days, comparable with standard-of-care (SOC) tissue RAS/BRAF testing (7 days) and microsatellite instability (MSI) testing (8 days). Pathogenic alterations were detected in 384 pts (92%), and concordance rates for RAS and BRAF mutation (mut) compared to SOC tissue-based testing were 91% and 97%, respectively. Based on biomarkers identified by ctDNA genotyping, 142 (40%) pts were treated with matched targeted tx: anti-EGFR antibody for RAS/BRAF wild-type (n=137), BRAF inhibitor for BRAF V600E mutation (n=4), and anti-PD-1 antibody for MSI high (n=1). Low, middle, and high ctDNA fraction groups included 87, 97 and 234 pts, respectively, and had significantly different median progression-free survival (PFS) (p<0.01, table) and overall survival (OS) (p<0.01, table), respectively. In 13 pts who repeated ctDNA test before second-line tx, those with elevated ctDNA fraction compared to upfront ctDNA had significantly shorter PFS (median, 3.8 vs. 8.1 months; HR, 5.7, 95% CI, 0.9 to 35.1) and OS (median, 8.2 vs. 17.4 months; HR, 11.3, 95% CI, 1.2 to 105.9) of second-line tx that those with not elevated ctDNA fraction. Conclusions: Upfront ctDNA genotyping successfully identified actionable genomic alterations in pts with mCRC. ctDNA fraction in upfront ctDNA was significantly associated with efficacy of first-line tx and ctDNA fraction monitoring may be useful in determination of subsequent tx. [Table: see text]