Abstract PO-069: Circulating tumor DNA kinetics to identify genomic predictors of rapid response to chemoradiation in non-small cell lung cancer
Authors: Moding Everett J. , Liu Yufei , Hui Angela B. , He Jianzhong , Qiao Yawei , Xu Ting , Yao Luyang , Gandhi Saumil , Liao Zhongxing , Das Millie , Ramchandran Kavitha J. , Padda Sukhmani K. , Neal Joel W. , Wakelee Heather A. , Loo Billy W. , Lin Steven H. , Alizadeh Ash A. , Diehn Maximilian 
Published: April 2021

Introduction: Despite evidence that a subset of patients with locoregionally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) can be cured with radiation doses less than 60 Gy, there are currently no validated approaches to identify patients that could benefit from radiation dose de-escalation. Normal tissue changes including inflammation and fibrosis can be difficult to distinguish from residual disease on standard imaging during and following chemoradiation therapy (CRT), making assessment of treatment response and identification of favorable responders challenging. We hypothesized that circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) kinetics during CRT could be used as a surrogate of response to identify genomic predictors of rapid response to treatment. Methods: We applied cancer personalized profiling by deep sequencing (CAPP-Seq) ctDNA analysis to 61 patients treated with CRT for Stage II-III NSCLC. We quantified ctDNA concentrations pre-CRT and a median of 21 days into CRT (mid-CRT) to determine the log-fold change in ctDNA concentration and identify “rapid responders.” The association between ctDNA log-fold change as a continuous variable with progression-free survival (PFS) was analyzed using univariable and multivariable regression, including gender, age, and stage as co-variables. The prevalence of driver gene single nucleotide variants in rapid responders versus slow responders was compared for each gene using Fisher’s exact tests with P-values adjusted using the Benjamini-Hochberg procedure. Results: Mid-CRT ctDNA log-fold change was significantly associated with progression-free survival as a continuous variable on both univariable (P=0.02) and multivariable analysis (P=0.03). Among patients whose ctDNA log-fold change was more negative than -2.15, 10/11 (91%) did not recur within the radiation field. We defined ctDNA rapid responders as the 10 patients with the largest decrease in ctDNA concentration mid-CRT without local progression. Compared with slow responders, ctDNA rapid responders had a trend towards more TP53 mutations (P=0.12), but no driver mutations were significantly enriched in rapid responders. Notably, mutations in common driver genes KEAP1, NFE2L2, KRAS, and EGFR were observed in 36% of slow responders and 0% of rapid responders (P=0.03). Conclusions: Our results suggest that ctDNA kinetics during CRT can identify patients responding favorably to treatment. Additional molecular characterization of ctDNA rapid responders may enable identification of patients who could benefit from treatment de-escalation.

Citation Format: Everett J. Moding, Yufei Liu, Angela B. Hui, Jianzhong He, Yawei Qiao, Ting Xu, Luyang Yao, Saumil Gandhi, Zhongxing Liao, Millie Das, Kavitha J. Ramchandran, Sukhmani K. Padda, Joel W. Neal, Heather A. Wakelee, Billy W. Loo, Steven H. Lin, Ash A. Alizadeh, Maximilian Diehn. Circulating tumor DNA kinetics to identify genomic predictors of rapid response to chemoradiation in non-small cell lung cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Special Conference on Radiation Science and Medicine; 2021 Mar 2-3. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2021;27(8_Suppl):Abstract nr PO-069.