Abstract 760: Concordance of DNA copy number profiles between primary and metastatic colorectal carcinoma
Authors: Kroupa Michal , Tomasova Kristyna , Saskova Katerina , Drabova Jana , Horak Josef , Vodickova Ludmila , Rosendorf Jachym , Liska Vaclav , Vodicka Pavel 
Published: June 2022

The most common form of genomic instability in sporadic colorectal cancer (CRC) is chromosomal instability, a phenotype characterized by a high frequency of DNA copy number gain (CNG) and loss (CNL). Given the fundamental role of chromosomal instability in the pathogenesis of CRC, this study aimed to investigate the concordance of DNA copy number variants (CNV) between primary and metastatic CRC to better understand how the genomic structure differs during tumor evolution.

In this study, the SurePrint G3 Human Genome CGH+SNP 2x400K Microarray (Agilent, SC, California, USA) was used for genome-wide screening of CNV in 9 pairs of primary tumors and metachronous liver metastases obtained during surgical resection from patients diagnosed with advanced CRC. Data from the Microarray-based Comparative Genomic Hybridization was analyzed by COSMIC Cancer Gene Census (CGC) and an independent non-CGC panel to map hotspot regions harboring genes causally implicated in cancer in the course of the metastatic cascade. Also, unique CNV in metastases were further investigated to identify loci advantageous for tumor progression and those presumably associated with therapy resistance.

Overall, CNG observed in primary tumors were highly concordant with those in liver metastases. The CNG hotspot regions for both tissues represented chr7 (p22.3-p13), chr8 (q21.13-q24.3), chr13 (q12.11-q13.3), chr20 (q11.1-q13.33) and chrX (q11.1-q28) loci, while the most frequent CNL was at chr8 (p21.3-p12) locus. All identified loci underwent CNV events with a higher frequency in metastases (67-100%) than in primary tumors (55%). The identified genomic loci with CNG encode DNA repair genes (such as PMS2, NBN, BRCA2, RAD54B, RAD21, RPA3,4, and TREX2), homeobox genes (HOXA9,11,13), genes encoding centrosome-associated proteins (CETN2, MPLKIP), proto-oncogenes (MYC), and also tumor suppressor (ATRX, ASXL1). Additionally, an analysis of unique CNV within distinct tissues revealed CNG at Chr6 (p25.1-p22.3) in 89% of metastatic samples and absent in all the primary tumor lesions. This particular genomic region contains proto-oncogene DEK.

Although the analysis is still underway, we have identified several shared and unique regions of altered copy number in both, primary tumors and metastases. We conclude that despite the high inter- and intra-tumoral genomic heterogeneity, metachronous metastases “inherit” a similar profile of DNA CNV from their respective primary tumor tissues. We intend to further extend our studied group of patients and perform integrative analyses of CNV with gene expression.

This study was supported by the Charles University (UNCE/MED/006) and the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (21-04607X, 21-27902S)

Citation Format: Michal Kroupa, Kristyna Tomasova, Katerina Saskova, Jana Drabova, Josef Horak, Ludmila Vodickova, Jachym Rosendorf, Vaclav Liska, Pavel Vodicka. Concordance of DNA copy number profiles between primary and metastatic colorectal carcinoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 760.