Abstract P5-02-24: Whole genome sequencing of long-term, never relapse exceptional responders HER2+ advanced metastatic breast cancer
Authors: Andrieu Charlotte , Ivers Laura P. , Pina Jose Javier Berenguer , Skrobo Darko , Ballot Jo , Eustace Alex J. , Quinn Cecily , Gullo Giuseppe , Walsh Naomi , Crown John P. 
Published: March 2023

Background: Anti-HER2 therapies such as trastuzumab used for the treatment of patients with HER2+ metastatic breast cancer (MBC) have led to significant improvements to disease progression. We previously identified cases from the “Thousand Patient HER2 database” project at Saint Vincent’s University Hospital (SVUH) Dublin, of HER2+ MBC long-term durable complete responders to trastuzumab, and reported that Copy Number Aberration (CNA) burden may represent a novel prognostic predictor to trastuzumab response from the exome analysis of in HER2+ MBC “exceptional responders’’ (ExRs). However, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) allows a better understanding of how CNA affects the MBC genome and to-date, the complete genome of this “exceptional” cohort has never been described. Methods: We performed WGS analysis to characterise the CNA profiles of 9 ExRs from our HER2+ MBC cohort treated with trastuzumab. Samples were obtained from patients who never progressed/relapsed for more than 5 years (OS &gt; 60 months). DNA was sequenced from tumours (primary or metastases) and matching control (blood or normal tissue) at a mean depth of 60X and 30X, respectively (18 samples). Somatic single nucleotide variants (SNV) were detected using GATK4 Mutect2 and CNA were identified using Control-FREEC. Results: Eighty-five HER2+ MBC were identified with OS &gt; 60 months, of which 28 were ExRs with bone, lung, liver and lymph metastasis who responded exceptionally to trastuzumab, with a mean OS of 108 months (range 61-236 months). This cohort includes patients who were diagnosed between 31 and 80 years old (median=51). WGS analysis revealed CNA in chr6p21 with amplification of CCND3 and in chr17q12 with amplification of RAD51D. SNV were identified in genes involved in the DNA damage repair (DDR) pathway such as ATM, BRCA2, RAD50 and FANCA. On-going analysis will allow the CNA profiles of all ExRs to be presented and their CNA burden calculated in order to investigate the relationship between whole genome CNA burden and HER2+ MBC patient survival. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first study to sequence the whole genome of HER2+ MBC, never relapse exceptional responders. The identification of the genomic aberrations of these metastatic patients increases our understanding of the mechanisms involved in MBC progression. CNA burden may represent a novel prognostic predictor to trastuzumab response and new outcomes for patients, particularly as MBC is generally termed incurable.

Citation Format: Charlotte Andrieu, Laura P. Ivers, Jose Javier Berenguer Pina, Darko Skrobo, Jo Ballot, Alex J. Eustace, Cecily Quinn, Giuseppe Gullo, Naomi Walsh, John P. Crown. Whole genome sequencing of long-term, never relapse exceptional responders HER2+ advanced metastatic breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2022 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(5 Suppl):Abstract nr P5-02-24.