Abstract 1390: Molecular characterization of circulating tumor cells in cholangiocarcinoma patients: A new tool for treatment management
Authors: Reduzzi Carolina , Vismara Marta , Silvestri Marco , Niger Monica , Motta Rosita , Peverelli Giorgia , Miodini Patrizia , Celio Luigi , Braud Filippo De , Daidone Maria G. , Cappelletti Vera 
Published: August 2019

BACKGROUND: Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a highly fatal disease mainly treated with standard chemotherapy, albeit with limited efficacy. New therapeutic options are greatly needed, but the use of targeted treatments is often prevented by the impossibility to obtain tissue biopsies for molecular characterization. Here, we propose the use of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) as an alternative source of tumor material to perform molecular characterization for the identification of novel therapeutic targets.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Blood samples (10 ml) from patients with advanced CCA were processed for CTC isolation as follows: -CTC enrichment with Parsortix -identification and single-cell recovery of epithelial CTCs (expressing epithelial markers) and non-conventional CTCs (lacking epithelial and leukocyte markers) using the DEPArray -whole genome amplification and quality check using Ampli1 kit and Ampli1 QC kit -mutational profiling using Ion AmpliSeq Cancer HotSpot Panel v2 and AmpliSeq somatic pipeline for variant calling -copy number alteration (CNA) analysis using Ampli1 LowPass kit, plus unsupervised clustering and frequency alteration analyses.

RESULTS: We analyzed 88 single CTCs isolated from 38 blood samples longitudinally collected from 23 patients (12 with intrahepatic, 9 with extrahepatic CCA and 2 with gallbladder cancer). CNA profiles showed a high level of both inter- and intra-patient heterogeneity, with each CTC displaying a unique profile. Intra-patient heterogeneity was further confirmed by clustering analysis as, in most cases, CTCs from the same patient clustered independently. CTC clustering was also not affected by sampling time (before/during chemotherapy), nor by the anatomical location of primary tumor. Conversely, we observed an enrichment of CTCs derived from patients non-responding to therapy (showing a PD according to RECIST criteria) in 2 of the 4 identified clusters (p=0.00041). By pairwise comparison of CNAs among clusters, we identified 2 regions more frequently altered in one cluster enriched for CTCs from non-responders: 10q22.2 and 3p11.1. The latter encodes, among others, for EPHA3, a targetable gene whose involvement in chemoresistance will be investigated by in vitro studies. Mutational profiling of 19 CTCs (from 6 patients) also confirmed the high intra-patient heterogeneity with most mutations being present in only 1 CTC. This limits the applicability of this approach in patients with few CTCs. Nonetheless, in 1 patient presenting 9 CTCs, we identified 1 mutation in KIT shared by 7/9 CTCs, indicating it as a possible treatment target for this patient.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the possibility of using CTC molecular characterization to identify both resistance mechanisms and patient-specific targets, thus opening the way for a shift in treatment management of CCA towards an innovative and personalized therapy.

Citation Format: Carolina Reduzzi, Marta Vismara, Marco Silvestri, Monica Niger, Rosita Motta, Giorgia Peverelli, Patrizia Miodini, Luigi Celio, Filippo De Braud, Maria G. Daidone, Vera Cappelletti. Molecular characterization of circulating tumor cells in cholangiocarcinoma patients: A new tool for treatment management [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1390.