Comprehensive genomic profiling of appendiceal adenocarcinoma.

Abstract

298 Background: Appendiceal adenocarcinomas (AAs) are orphan tumors. Little is known about their molecular profile limiting understanding of their biology and development of novel targeted therapies. The purpose of this study was to delineate the molecular landscape of AAs. Methods: We performed a retrospective review of AAs patients (pts) who were evaluated at MD Anderson Cancer Center between October 2012 and April 2017 and underwent next-generation sequencing (NGS) with internal or external assays (at least 45 genes) using either tumor tissue specimens or peripheral blood for circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA). The primary outcome was to assess the prevalence of genomic alterations (GAs) in AAs. We then performed comparative exploratory analyses of GAs using TCGA colorectal cancer (CRC) sequencing. Results: A total of 78 patients were identified of which 57 (73%) and 18 (23%) underwent tissue based and ctDNA based sequencing, respectively (3 cases had both). At least 1 GA was found in 61 (78%) of AA specimens, with a mean (SD) of 2.8 (1.6) GAs per case. Of these 44 (72%) had ≥ 2 GAs and 31 (51%) had ≥ 3 GAs. The most frequent GAs were KRAS (38 [62%]), TP53 (22 [36%]), GNAS (17 [28%]), SMAD4 (11 [18%]), PIK3CA (10 [16%]), APC (9 [15%]), ATM (8 [13%]), BRAF (5 [8%]), KIT (5 [8%]), NRAS (3 [5%]) and MET (3 [5%]). GNAS mutations frequently co-occurred with KRAS mutations (42% v 5%, OR 14.3, P < 0.001). No GA was associated with grade, mucinous histology or overall survival (OS). Besides these mutations, we also found unusual cases with targetable mutations such as ALK, EGFR, MET, IDH1 and ERBB2. In our comparative analyses, mutations in KRAS (p = 0.009), TP53 (p = 0.020), GNAS (p < 0.001) and APC (p < 0.001) genes were significantly different from CRC whereas there was no difference in prevalence of PIK3CA, SMAD4 and ATM genes. Conclusions: To date, our analysis of one of the largest cohorts of AAs, demonstrate a majority of AAs harbor at least 1 GAs. Although treatment paradigms in AAs are extrapolated from CRC, the molecular profile of these tumors differs significantly. Molecular characterization of these rare tumors is a necessary first step towards discovery of opportunities for use of targeted therapies in these patients.