Abstract PO5-15-02: Integration of synonymous mutations and variants of unknown significance for basal and longitudinal characterization of metastatic breast cancer by circulating tumor DNA
Authors: Molteni Elisabetta , Reduzzi Carolina , Davis Andrew , Foffano Lorenzo , Medford Arielle , Clifton Katherine , Hensing Whitney L. , Velimirovic Marko , Shah Ami N. , Arcos Laura Munoz , Dai Charles S. , Keenan Jennifer C. , Denault Elyssa , Gradishar William , Damante Giuseppe , Behdad Amir , Gerratana Lorenzo , Puglisi Fabio , Ma Cynthia , Bardia Aditya , Cristofanilli Massimo 
Published: May 2024

Background: Despite how commonly synonymous mutations (SYN) and unknown significance (VUS) are detected in tissue and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) next-generation sequencing (NGS), the potential for these somatic changes to impact personalized approaches in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is unclear. Emerging evidence suggests that SYN mutations may play a role in cancer biology through changes in mRNA stability, splicing, and gene expression. The aim of this study was to characterize SYN and VUS in a large multicenter consortium and to analyze their interplay with pathogenic variants (PATH).

Methods: The study retrospectively analyzed a multi-institutional cohort comprising 1189 patients with MBC characterized for ctDNA using NGS (Guardant360™, Guardant Health) before treatment start (BL) and at disease progression (PD). Pathway classification was defined based on prior research (Sanchez-Vega F et al, Cell. 2018). Single Nucleotide Variations (SNVs) were annotated for oncogenicity (OncoKB) and protein domain (UniProtKB). Associations between clinical characteristics and pathway classifications for SYN and VUS were explored by multinomial logistic regression; survival was tested through Cox regression in terms of overall survival (OS).

Results: Hormone-receptor positive (HR+)/HER2 negative (luminal-like) was the most represented subtype (68.7%) followed by HER2-positive (14.6%), and triple-negative (TNBC) (16.7%). PATH were mainly detected in the TP53 DNA binding domain, ESR1 ligand binding domain, helical and catalytic domains of PIK3CA, SYN in the ligand binding domain of ESR1, MET Sema, KIT protein kinase domain, and FGFR1 Ig-like C2-type 1. In contrast, VUS were mainly found in the ESR1 ligand binding domain, MET Sema, ATM PI3K/PI4K catalytic domain, DDR2 Protein kinase and PIK3CA C2 PI3K-type. Analyzing pathways, after multivariable multinomial logistic regression, RAS SYN, PI3K and ESR PATH were significantly associated with HER2+ MBC (respectively RRR=4.14, P=0.046; RRR = 0.474, P &lt; 0.001 and RRR = 0.306, P &lt; 0.001). TNBC was associated with PATH PI3K (RRR = 0.366, P &lt; 0.001), PATH P53 (RRR = 4.71, P &lt; 0.001) and PATH RAS (RRR = 0.362, P = 0.026, 95% CI 0.147 - 0.888). In luminal-like MBC, a significant impact on OS was observed for SYN P53 (HR = 2.53, P = 0.008) and PATH ER (HR = 1.54, P &lt; 0.001), PATH P53 (HR = 1.56, P &lt; 0.001), PATH cell-cycle (HR = 1.64, P = 0.0299), and PATH RAS (HR = 1.62, P = 0.010). An impact on OS was observed in TNBC for SYN cell-cycle (HR = 5.41, P = 0.006), VUS ESR (HR = 2.87, P = 0.018), PATH P53 (HR = 1.84, P = 0.012) and PATH cell-cycle (HR = 5.07, P &lt; 0.001). VUS MYC (HR = 38.5, P = 0.001) and PATH PI3K3 (HR = 2.32, P = 0.022) were significant among HER2 positive. Differences in SYN, VUS and PATH alterations were then compared between baseline and progressive disease. While a significant increase in mutant allele frequency (MAF) was observed for PATH (P=0.0010) and VUS (P=0.0152) at PD, no differences were highlighted for SYN (P=0.8362).

Conclusions: In our cohort we characterized the MBC for PATH, VUS and SYN utilizing the ctDNA. In this study, considering the complex genomic landscape of MBC, we demonstrated that both SYN and VUS mutations had an impact on the survival outcome. Therefore, further analysis to validate the prognostic and predictive role of SYN and VUS, with or without PATH mutations, are needed to better characterize and monitoring of MBC through ctDNA. Moreover, functional studies are needed to better understand their role in the nuanced biology of MBC.

Citation Format: Elisabetta Molteni, Carolina Reduzzi, Andrew Davis, Lorenzo Foffano, Arielle Medford, Katherine Clifton, Whitney L. Hensing, Marko Velimirovic, Ami N. Shah, Laura Munoz Arcos, Charles S. Dai, Jennifer C. Keenan, Elyssa Denault, William Gradishar, Giuseppe Damante, Amir Behdad, Lorenzo Gerratana, Fabio Puglisi, Cynthia Ma, Aditya Bardia, Massimo Cristofanilli. Integration of synonymous mutations and variants of unknown significance for basal and longitudinal characterization of metastatic breast cancer by circulating tumor DNA [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2023 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(9 Suppl):Abstract nr PO5-15-02.