Abstract 2247: Genomic heterogeneity in the aqueous humor cell-free DNA in a patient with bilateral retinoblastoma
Authors: Wong Elyssa Y. , Xu Liya , Shen Lishuang , Kim Mary E. , Polski Ashley , Prabakar Rishvanth K. , Shah Rachana , Jubran Rima , Kim Jonathan W. , Biegel Jaclyn A. , Gai Xiaowu , Kuhn Peter , Hicks James , Berry Jesse L. 
Published: July 2021

Purpose: Germline alterations in the RB1 tumor suppressor gene predispose patients to developing retinoblastoma (RB) in both eyes. However, tumors in bilateral RB may not respond identically to treatment. The additional genomic events that occur independently in each eye during tumorigenesis are not well characterized. The aqueous humor (AH) provides a novel source of cell-free tumor-derived DNA (ctDNA) for liquid biopsy, enabling the in vivo study of RB tumors. In this case report, we use our AH liquid biopsy to compare genomic profiles between the right and left eyes of a single patient with heritable RB while also showing that ctDNA longitudinal dynamics correspond to therapeutic response.

Methods: One patient with bilateral RB was included. Multiple samples of AH were obtained from each eye during routine intravitreal melphalan therapy and following enucleation of the left eye. Routine clinical blood testing was performed to determine germline RB1 status. CtDNA was isolated from the AH and sequenced on an Illumina platform to assess genome-wide somatic copy number alterations (SCNAs). The same sequencing libraries were used to identify somatic RB1 pathogenic variants using a custom hybridization and next generation sequencing panel targeting RB1. Tumor fraction (TFx) was estimated using ichorCNA software.

Results: Five AH samples from both eyes (3 from the right eye and 2 from the left eye) were included. Peripheral blood RB1 testing detected germline 13q and 16p deletions. Targeted RB1 mutational analysis of AH ctDNA identified a different somatic RB1 mutation in each eye. At initial AH sampling, three SCNAs were present in the right eye and these same SCNAs persisted in further samples. Two SCNAs were initially detected in the left eye and were consistently identified in later sampling. Despite the same germline RB1 mutation, the second somatic mutation was different in each eye and there were distinct, non-overlapping patterns of SCNAs in each eye. In addition, the right eye demonstrated a progressive decrease in TFx corresponding with therapeutic responsiveness and ocular salvage. The left eye had persistently larger TFx values and required enucleation due to tumor recurrence.

Conclusions: Our AH liquid biopsy detected distinct genomic events between eyes in a patient with bilateral RB and TFx changes corresponding with disease activity. Identifying inter-eye genomic heterogeneity without the need for enucleated tumor tissue may help direct active management of RB, with particular usefulness in bilateral cases.

Citation Format: Elyssa Y. Wong, Liya Xu, Lishuang Shen, Mary E. Kim, Ashley Polski, Rishvanth K. Prabakar, Rachana Shah, Rima Jubran, Jonathan W. Kim, Jaclyn A. Biegel, Xiaowu Gai, Peter Kuhn, James Hicks, Jesse L. Berry. Genomic heterogeneity in the aqueous humor cell-free DNA in a patient with bilateral retinoblastoma [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 2247.