Next generation sequencing of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer to reveal potential biomarkers and rational therapeutic targets.

Abstract

302 Background: We examined a cohort of index pre-treatment NMIBC tumors using Next Generation Sequencing to identify genetic alterations with potential clinical implications. Methods: 105 patients on a prospective IRB-approved protocol had their pre-treatment index NMIBC tumor and matched germline DNA sequenced with a 341 cancer-associated gene panel in a CLIA-certified clinical laboratory. A genitourinary pathologist reviewed representative H&E slides to confirm grade, stage, and urothelial histology. Restaging TUR was performed in all HGT1 tumors. Results: To characterize the genomic landscape of NMIBC, we analyzed 105 tumors across the disease spectrum including LGTa (n = 23), HGTis (n = 12), HGTa (n = 32) and HGT1 (n = 38). The most frequently altered genes in NMIBC were the TERT promoter (74%), FGFR3 (50%), KDM6A (47%), ARID1A (28%), PIK3CA (27%), KMT2D (24%), STAG2 (21%), and CDKN2A (17%). 81% of tumors had inactivating alterations in a chromatin-modifying gene. Alterations in the RTK/RAS/PIK3 pathway occurred in 83% of tumors, including 58% of high-grade NMIBC having alterations in either ERBB2 or FGFR3. Of the 105 patients, 62 were treated uniformly with a 6-week induction course of BCG without maintenance. We investigated all genes altered on the 341-gene panel in at least 5 patients for their association with recurrence after BCG therapy in this 62 patient cohort. On cox-regression analysis, only truncating mutations in the chromatin-modifying gene ARID1A were associated with recurrence after BCG (HR = 3.14 [95%CI = 1.51, 6.51] p = 0.002). This remained significant when adjusting for multiple comparisons (p = 0.04) and when including ARID1A missense mutations of unknown significance (p = 0.002). Conclusions: Next Generation Sequencing of index pre-treatment NMIBC tumors identified an association between ARID1A mutations and recurrence after BCG therapy. Further investigation is needed to determine whether ARID1A mutations are a potential predictive/prognostic biomarker or therapeutic target. Moreover, most NMIBC tumors had at least one potentially “actionable” alteration that could serve as a target in rationally designed trials of intravesical or systemic therapy.