Abstract 587: Genomic copy number profiling of single CTCs reveals clonal evolution in metastatic breast cancer and identifies actionable targets for informing treatment decisions
Authors: Garcia Daniel Fernandez , Nteliopoulos Georgios , Hastings Robert , Rushton Amelia , Page Karen , Martinson Luke J. , Gray Molly , Guttery David S. , Ferrarini Alberto , Manaresi Nicolò , Coombes Charles , Shaw Jacqui 
Published: July 2021

Introduction: Genomic profiling of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is an approach to help to understand tumour heterogeneity and evolution in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) to inform prognosis and guide treatment options. We showed previously that single CTCs provide complementary information on hot spot mutations to those detected in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and the primary tumour tissue, and now extend analyses to include genomic copy number changes. Herein, we report that identification of actionable targets through copy number profiling of single CTCs is achievable at any time point during metastatic progression and could be a valuable tool to guide treatment options.

Methods: Fourteen patients (13 12 progressing and 1 2 responding) who were receiving treatment for MBC (12 13 HR pos, 1 HER2 pos, I1 TNBC) were recruited to the study with ethical consent and followed up with a single blood sample. A 7.5ml blood sample was collected into a CellSave Preservative tube and processed and counted within 96 hours of collection using the CELLSEARCH® system and the Circulating Tumor Cell Kit (Menarini Silicon Biosystems). The DEPArray™ System was used to identify and recover individual, intact CTCs of epithelial origin (Cytokeratin 8, 18, 19 +ve, CD45 -ve) and white blood cells (WBCs) as single cells or as a small pool of cells. Whole genome amplification was performed using the Ampli1 WGA kit. Libraries were generated using the Ampli1 LowPass Kit (Menarini Silicon Biosystems) and samples passing QC were analysed f by next generation sequencing on an S5 platform (Thermo fFisher). Results were analysed using the MSBiosuite software and data was compared with in- house informatics workfows.

Results: From the 14 patients included in the study, we profiled a total of 97 samples using the Ampli1 LowPass sequencing workflow comprising 79 individual cells (across 14 patients) and 18 pools of approximately 10 cells. Successful genome- wide copy number profiles were generated in 12 of the 14 patients; samples from 2 patients had low QC scores and were inconclusive. In all, 12 patients individual CTCs from 12 patients showed similar copy number profiles, but with some heterogeneity, that revealed gene specific changes not detected by the cell pool. Moreover, 10 of the 12 patients had gene- specific changes (5 with CCND1 amplification, 2 with FGFR1 amplification, 1 with JAK2 amplification and 2 with STK11 deletion) that could have guided treatment decisions, for example offering an FGFR1 or JAK2 inhibitor.

Conclusion: This study highlights the genomic heterogeneity in CTCs seen in MBC and the potential of monitoring gene specific changes to identify actionable targets in order to inform treatment decisions. The work requires further evaluation and validation but it may offer a new approach to managing treatment decisions in MBC for those patients with detectable CTCs.

Citation Format: Daniel Fernandez Garcia, Georgios Nteliopoulos, Robert Hastings, Amelia Rushton, Karen Page, Luke J. Martinson, Molly Gray, David S. Guttery, Alberto Ferrarini, Nicolò Manaresi, Charles Coombes, Jacqui Shaw. Genomic copy number profiling of single CTCs reveals clonal evolution in metastatic breast cancer and identifies actionable targets for informing treatment decisions [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr 587.