Abstract 2143: Clinicopathologic, genomic and immunophenotypic landscape of ATM mutations in non-small cell lung cancer
Authors: Ricciuti Biagio , Alessi Joao Victor , Wang Xinan , Bertram Arrien A. , Vaz Victor R. , Nishino Mizuki , Lindsay James , Felt Kristen D. , Sharma Bijaya , Sholl Lynette M. , Scott Rodig , Awad Mark M. , Cheng Michael L. 
Published: June 2022

Introduction: Defective DNA damage repair machinery is a hallmark of cancer, resulting in increased mutation rates and genomic instability. In non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), ATM is mutated in ~10% of cases, representing the most commonly mutated DNA damage and repair gene. However, the clinicopathologic, genomic, and immunophenotypic correlates of ATM mutations in NSCLC are unknown. The impact of ATM mutation on clinical outcomes to PD-(L)1 blockade is also unclear.

Methods: Clinicopathologic and genomic data were collected from 3592 patients (pts) with NSCLC who had consented to correlative studies at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), and whose tumors underwent genomic profiling (OncoPanel). Multiplexed immunofluorescence (mIF) for CD8, PD1, PD-L1, FOXP3, and CK AE1/AE3 was performed on a subset of 416 NSCLC samples to examine tumor-infiltrating immune cells. ATM immunohistochemistry (IHC) was also performed on 184 ATM mutated NSCLCs with available tissue. ATM mutated (ATMMUT) tumors were defined as harboring loss-of-function mutations (nonsense, frameshift, splice site, known deleterious missense mutations). Missense mutation of unknown significance were excluded, unless deemed to affect protein function in silico. Tumors lacking ATM mutations or harboring benign ATM alterations were defined as ATM wild type (ATMWT).

Results: A total of 399 deleterious ATM mutations were identified in 10.2% (365/3592) of samples; 138 (34.6%) mutations were truncating (nonsense, frameshift, and splice site mutations); the remaining 261 (65.4%) were missense mutations. Truncating mutations were significantly more likely to result in ATM loss by IHC compared to missense mutations (71.4% vs 28.9%, P&lt;0.01) When we examined the genomic profiles of tumors with versus without deleterious ATM mutations, we found that ATMMUT NSCLCs were significantly enriched with KRAS, STK11, RBM10, and KDM5C co-mutations (P&lt;0.01), while co-mutations in EGFR, CDKN2A and TP53 were nearly mutually exclusive (P&lt;0.01). Among ATMMUT NSCLCs, those with ATM loss by IHC were significantly enriched with KRAS and STK11 co-mutations, while those with retained ATM expression were enriched with TP53 co-mutations (P&lt;0.01). Pts with ATMMUT NSCLCs had similar outcomes to PD-(L)1 inhibition +/- chemotherapy, compared to ATMWT cases, and similar immune cell subsets infiltration (P&gt;0.05). Pts with deleterious mutations in ATM and TP53 (ATMMUT/TP53MUT) had increased response rates to chemo-immunotherapy compared to those with ATMMUT/TP53WT, ATMWT/TP53MUT, or ATMWT/TP53WT genotypes (70% vs 56.2% vs 35.7% vs 27.4%, respectively, P=0.01), as well as increased tumor-stroma interface CD8+ T cells (P&lt;0.01) and higher PD-L1 expression by mIF on tumor (P&lt;0.01) and immune cells (P&lt;0.01).

Conclusion: Deleterious ATM mutations defined a subset of NSCLC with unique clinicopathologic, genomic, and immunophenotypic features.

Citation Format: Biagio Ricciuti, Joao Victor Alessi, Xinan Wang, Arrien A. Bertram, Victor R. Vaz, Mizuki Nishino, James Lindsay, Kristen D. Felt, Bijaya Sharma, Lynette M. Sholl, Rodig Scott, Mark M. Awad, Michael L. Cheng. Clinicopathologic, genomic and immunophenotypic landscape of ATM mutations in non-small cell lung cancer [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 2143.