Abstract 1743: Pan-cancer review of TP53 somatic alterations as a function of tumor type: Sometimes lost, sometimes gained, frequently altered
Authors: Tanveer Ubaid A. , Hayes David N. , George Julie , Holt Jeremiah R. , Peifer Martin , Thomas Roman 
Published: March 2024

Background: TP53 is the gene most frequently disrupted by somatic alterations in cancer. Mutations include single nucleotide variants resulting in functional alterations, as well as premature stop codons, splice variants, and cryptic alterations. TP53 gene dosage is disrupted by heterozygous and homozygous deletions, copy-neutral loss of heterozygosity, and other structural changes such as intragenic deletions and fusions. TP53 is altered by epigenetic events and viral oncogenes, such as E6 expressed by the human papillomavirus. The readout of altered TP53 includes decreased gene expression of either variant or wild-type alleles. Epistatic alteration of TP53 pathway components have also been described, with the E3 ubiquitin ligase MDM2 being the canonical example. Depending on the type of TP53 alteration, there may be differential signaling consequences, ranging from loss of function and dominant negative to oncogenic signaling.

Hypothesis: Patterns of TP53 mutations will vary based on tumor type. Differential alterations of TP53 will suggest differential pathway dependence and downstream pathophysiology that may be relevant to signaling and therapeutic potential.

Methods: We analyzed extensive cancer genomics repositories, such as the Pan-Cancer Atlas (10,000+ tumors, &gt;30 cancer types) from The Cancer Genome Atlas project and the International Cancer Genome Consortium. Assessing genes in the TP53 pathway, we examined somatic mutations, copy number alterations, structural changes, and gene expression. Epigenetic data was considered when available.

Results: A significant pattern amongst sarcomas, prostate cancers, and urothelial carcinomas emerged, revealing that certain tumors exhibited a predominant classic tumor suppressor gene genotype. This genotype featured frequent homozygous deletions, inactivating mutations, and relatively low TP53 gene expression, often accompanied by epistatic MDM2 amplification. By contrast, other tumors demonstrate an atypical pattern in which TP53 mutations were rarely if ever associated with loss of TP53 gene expression with low levels of homozygous TP53 gene deletion. Likewise, atypical TP53 mutant tumor types rarely demonstrated MDM2 amplifications, and in opposition to typical TP53 cases, MDM2 amplification was positively associated with TP53 mutation rather than anti-correlated. Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, uterine carcinoma, and pancreatic adenocarcinoma followed this pattern. Investigation within selected tumor types such as lung squamous cell carcinoma suggested that both typical and atypical TP53 mutation patterns could be observed.

Conclusions: TP53 mutation patterns were strongly associated with tumor type and may suggest differential pathway activation according to the somatic alteration status.

Citation Format: Ubaid A. Tanveer, David N. Hayes, Julie George, Jeremiah R. Holt, Martin Peifer, Roman Thomas. Pan-cancer review of TP53 somatic alterations as a function of tumor type: Sometimes lost, sometimes gained, frequently altered [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 1743.