Tissue- and liquid-biopsy based NGS profiling in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer in a real-world setting: The IMMINENT study.
Authors: Sposito Marco , Belluomini Lorenzo , Insolda Jessica , Dodi Alessandra , Aprile Giuseppe , Veccia Antonello , Caffo Orazio , Soto Parra Hector Josè , Lombardo Fiorella , Lugini Antonio , Occhipinti Mario , Ferrau Francesco , Savastano Clementina , Verderame Francesco , Bria Emilio , Novello Silvia , Malapelle Umberto , Pilotto Sara , Milella Michele 
Published: June 2023

e21154

Background: NGS-based profiling is the current standard for the molecular characterization of advanced NSCLC (aNSCLC) in clinical practice. Here we report the results of tissue- and liquid-biopsy based NGS, using FoundationOne and FoundationLiquid CDx (FM1/FM1L), in the context of a multicenter national access program in a cohort of aNSCLC patients (pts). Methods: Genomic evaluation was performed on FFPE-tumor blocks or blood samples, using FM1 (324 genes) for tissue samples or FM1L (70 genes) for liquid biopsy. Tumor mutational burden (TMB) and microsatellite instability were also evaluated. The aim of this analysis was to investigate the real-world frequency of molecular alterations in aNSCLC and their correlation with patients’ clinical and pathological characteristics. Results: Overall, 232 aNSCLC pts from 11 different institutions were gathered [median age 63 years, never/former or current smokers 29/66%, Performance Status 0-1 93%, adenocarcinoma/squamous 79/13%, metastasis at diagnosis 70%]. 138 pts (59.5%) underwent FM1 and 94 (40.5%) FM1L analyses. Alterations were found in 170 different genes. Median number of mutated genes per sample was 4 (IQ 3-6) in FM1 cohort and 2 (IQ 1-3) in FM1L cohort. In 13 FM1L samples (5.6%) no genetic alterations were detected. In unselected pts, TP53 (57.8%), KRAS (22%), CDKN2A/B (19%) and STK11 (17.2%) alterations were among the most frequently detected. Percentages of ALK, HER2, RET, MET, BRAF, NTRK and ROS1 alterations were 4.3, 4.3, 3.4, 3.0, 2.6, 1.3, 0.9, respectively. Among EGFR-mutant pts (15.1%), in both FM1 and FM1L cohorts, ex19del (31.3/35.7%), L858R (12.5/14.3%) and T790M (0/14.3%) were the most frequently detected. Among KRAS-mutant pts, G12C was the mutation most frequently detected (37%). Alterations in KEAP1 were significantly associated with STK11, SMARCA4 and KRAS alterations. Significant associations between TP53 and RB1 alterations were also detected. Median TMB was 6 (0-100) and was significantly higher in current/former smokers. Median OS was 19.6 months (IQ 6.9-36.1), and significantly lower in pts harboring ≥3 gene mutations.25 pts (10.8%) received target therapy on the basis of molecular profiling with FM1/FM1L. In this subgroup, EGFR was the most frequently actionable gene alteration detected (9), followed by RET (4), ALK (3), KRAS (2), MET (2), NTRK (2), BRAF (1), BRCA (1) and HER2 (1). Conclusions: This analysis confirms that NGS-based molecular profiling (on either tissue or blood samples) of aNSCLC provides important prognostic and predictive information, possibly increasing treatment opportunities. Further analyses will focus on actionable alterations in potentially clinically relevant genes outside “the usual suspects”. In the awareness of the urgent need for real world data and to implement NGS, ATLAS ( https://biomarkersatlas.com/ ) will certainly be a fundamental tool.