Genomic alterations as predictive biomarkers for cancer-associated thrombosis (CAT) in biliary tract cancer (BTC).
Authors: Pirozzi Angelo , Hoyek Celine , Zheng-Lin Binbin , Okano Naohiro , Abidoye Oluseyi , Eslinger Cody , Babiker Hani M. , Majeed Umair , Tran Nguyen H. , Rimassa Lorenza , Bekaii-Saab Tanios S. , Shah Surbhi , Borad Mitesh J. 
Published: January 2025

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Background:
CAT is the second leading cause of cancer-related death, yet the genetic underpinnings of VTE risk in BTC remain underexplored. The evaluation of CAT risk is based on Khorana score (KS), which is limited to clinical parameters. Incorporation of a genomic signature in CAT risk assessment may allow for individualized risk assessment.
Methods:
We collected data from consecutive patients (pts) with BTC treated at Mayo Clinic Hospitals (Phoenix, Rochester, Jacksonville) between 1998-2024. Genomic profiling was conducted on FFPEs and blood samples through next-generation sequencing (NGS) (NextSeq, Tempus xT CDx, FoundationOne CDx). Association between CAT and clinic-pathologic features (age, gender, race, ethnicity, BMI, tumor site (TS), surgery, stage, radiotherapy, systemic therapy, history of thromboembolism (hVTE)) were assessed with multivariate Cox regression (p<0.05). A separate Cox regression adjusting for age, hVTE, radiotherapy, systemic therapy, metastatic disease stratified for TS was used for gene associations. Benjamini–Hochberg method was applied (q<0.1) based on previous publications. Median overall survival (mOS) was calculated from the date of diagnosis to the date of death or last follow-up.
Results:
740 adult pts were included, median age 62 years (IQR: 56-71), male/female (51%/49%), median BMI 26.6 (IQR: 22.8-31.1) with intrahepatic (496, 67%) and extrahepatic BTC (173, 23%), gallbladder cancer (71, 10%). 244 (33%) had metastatic disease. 216 (29%) experienced CAT. For those with CAT, 31 (14%) scored 1, 9 (4%) scored 2 and 1 (<1%) scored 3 on KS. mOS was 33 months (mos) (95% CI 28.9-38.4) vs. 55 mos (95% CI 25.1-39.1) (p=0.2) for pts with and without CAT, respectively. hVTE was associated with CAT (HR 3.14, 95% CI 1.98-4.98, p<0.001) along with systemic therapy (HR 1.19, 95% CI 1.11-2.89, p<0.01) and metastatic disease (HR 1.65, 95% CI 1.11-2.44, p<0.01). 305 pts (41%) underwent NGS. The most common altered genes were TP53 (126, 41%), KRAS (64, 21%), CDKN2A (63, 21%). The most common altered currently targetable genes were FGFR2 (43, 14%), IDH1 (30, 10%) and HER2/ERBB2 (16, 5%). MYC (4, 1%) (HR 11.60, 95% CI 3.04-44.25, p<0.001, q=0.058) and HER2/ERBB2 (HR 2.45, 95% CI 1.26-4.77, p=0.008, q=0.087) alterations were significantly associated with an increased risk of CAT. MYC alterations were all copy number gains (100%). The most frequent HER2/ERBB2 alterations were copy number gains (10, 62%). FGFR2 fusions (31, 10%) were linked to a lower CAT risk (HR 0.46, 95%CI 0.22-0.93, p=0.032, q=0.075) with FGFR2-BICC1 being the most frequent (5,16%).
Conclusions:
MYC and HER2/ERBB2 alterations are novel predictive biomarkers for an increased risk of CAT in BTC, while FGFR2 fusions confer lower risk. The knowledge of mutational status lends insight into guidance for anticoagulant prophylaxis management for this subgroup and integration with KS.