Abstract 5237: Monitoring minimal residual disease by urinary or plasma circulating tumor DNA of KRAS mutation burden in colorectal cancer patients with resectable liver metastases
Authors: Melnikova Vlada , Poole Jason C. , Vibat Cecile Rose T. , Benesova Lucie , Belsanova Barbora , Hancock Saege , Hassaine Latifa , Samuelsz Errin , Lu Timothy T. , Erlander Mark G. , Minarik Marek 
Published: August 2015

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the third leading cause of cancer deaths. Over half of patients with CRC will develop liver metastases. Surgical resection, in combination with systemic therapies, greatly improves long-term outcomes, and around 40% of patients with resected liver limited disease are alive 5 years after diagnosis. While tumor staging and radicality of surgery are commonly used for prognostic assessment, better non-invasive markers are needed for monitoring chemo-responsiveness, following minimal residual disease (MRD), and guiding complex treatment decisions in these patients. This study evaluated the utility of quantitating KRAS mutation burden in urinary and plasma ctDNA as a means of monitoring MRD in surgical CRC patients with liver limited metastases.

Methods: We developed a novel, NGS-based method for enrichment and quantitative detection of KRAS mutations in urinary and plasma ctDNA. A blinded retrospective study was conducted on 20 Stage I-IV CRC patients, 15 of whom had undergone curative or palliative intent surgical resection of primary tumor or liver metastases in combination with various systemic therapies.

Results: Archived, matched urine and plasma samples were collected from 20 patients with KRAS positive primary tumor. For operable patients, specimens were collected prior to surgery, during and immediately after surgery, plus additional time points post-surgery. A total of 193 plasma and urine samples archived for 3-5 years were tested. All 101 of 101 plasma samples (100%) and 79 of 92 urine samples (86%) had sufficient DNA and were deemed evaluable. In a blinded analysis, a correct KRAS mutation that correlated with KRAS mutation in tissue was identified in 95% of evaluable baseline plasmas (19 of 20) and 92% of evaluable baseline urines (11 of 12). In one patient, a KRAS mutation distinct from that identified in the tumor biopsy was detected consistently across all serial ctDNA samples. Overall, we observed a clear correlation and highly comparable fold change between plasma and urinary ctDNA KRAS levels on treatment. Significantly, in all patients with curative intent surgery, ctDNA KRAS levels were undetectable in urine or plasma after surgery. In contrast, in 8 of 10 patients with incomplete, palliative surgery, the ctDNA KRAS signal remained detectable or increased after surgery. Further correlation between ctDNA KRAS and clinical outcomes will be discussed.

Conclusion: We demonstrate for the first time that quantitative changes of mutational KRAS burden in plasma and urinary ctDNA are highly correlated. We further demonstrate clinical applicability of urinary ctDNA KRAS analysis for monitoring quantitatively, with single molecule sensitivity, the MRD post-surgery for CRC patients with liver resectable metastases. Supported by Grant no. 13660.

Citation Format: Vlada Melnikova, Jason C. Poole, Cecile Rose T. Vibat, Lucie Benesova, Barbora Belsanova, Saege Hancock, Latifa Hassaine, Errin Samuelsz, Timothy T. Lu, Mark G. Erlander, Marek Minarik. Monitoring minimal residual disease by urinary or plasma circulating tumor DNA of KRAS mutation burden in colorectal cancer patients with resectable liver metastases. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 5237. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-5237