Abstract 1043: Liquid biopsy signature combining copy number instability and mutant KRAS detection is associated with survival for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer
Authors: Cannas Samuele , Till Jacob E. , Kim Kristine , LaRiviere Michael J. , Vollmer Charles M. , Eads Jennifer R. , Karasic Thomas B. , O'Dwyer Peter J. , Schneider Charles J. , Teitelbaum Ursina R. , Binder Kim A. Reiss , O'Hara Mark H. , Ross Douglas T. , McGregor Kim , Bornemann-Kolatzki Kirsten , Schütz Ekkehard , Beck Julia , Carpenter Erica L. 
Published: April 2023

Introduction: In the setting of metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma (mPDAC), lower baseline plasma KRAS mutation levels have been associated with improved survival. While tissue-agnostic, plasma-based copy number instability (CNI) has been demonstrated as an early indicator of response to immunotherapy for some solid tumors, it has not been assessed for patients with mPDAC, nor in combination with KRAS mutations for patients receiving standard of care chemo/radiotherapy. Here we evaluate the combination of mutant KRAS (mKRAS) and CNI detection in plasma as a predictor of overall and progression-free survival (OS/PFS) in mPDAC patients who received standard of care therapy.

Methods: Cell-free DNA was extracted from plasma and libraries prepared at baseline (Week 0) and weeks 8, 16 and 24 on therapy, and analyzed by next-generation sequencing (CNI) and droplet digital PCR (mKRAS). Descriptive statistics were computed for variables including CNI (score is a measure of circulating tumor DNA) and mKRAS variant allele fraction. Detection was defined as above the limit of detection (mKRAS=0.13%) and above the 95th percentile of the value in normal individuals (CNI=24). Therapy response was assessed by OS and PFS.

Results: 196 plasma samples from 64 mPDAC patients were analyzed. When dichotomized as detectable vs undetectable, CNI alone was significantly associated with OS at all on-therapy timepoints but not baseline, whereas mKRAS was significantly associated with OS for all 4 timepoints (Table 1). Detection of both CNI and mKRAS in combination was strongly associated with worse OS at all timepoints, yielding the highest HR. Similar results were obtained when mKRAS and CNI were dichotomized at their respective median values or with PFS as the clinical endpoint.

Conclusions: Combined CNI and mKRAS detection at baseline and on-therapy may provide a strong and early indication of worse prognosis for patients with mPDAC.

Table 1. Association of CNI and mKRAS with Overall Survival (HazardRatio [95% CI], log-rank p-value) Timepoint CNI mKRAS CNI and KRAS Baseline/Week 0 1.54 [0.89-2.68], 0.1 2.05 [1.12-3.78], 0.02 2.50 [1.46-4.28], 0.0006 Week 8 1.78 [0.99-3.18], 0.05 2.21 [1.19-4.08], 0.01 9.81 [3.40-28.28], &lt;0.0001 Week 16 1.91 [1.03-3.53], 0.04 3.26 [1.60-6.62], 0.0006 11.11 [4.28-28.83], &lt;0.0001 Week 24 2.55 [1.28-5.09], 0.006 4.55 [2.03-10.23], &lt;0.0001 6.42 [2.61-15.84], &lt;0.0001

Citation Format: Samuele Cannas, Jacob E. Till, Kristine Kim, Michael J. LaRiviere, Charles M. Vollmer, Jennifer R. Eads, Thomas B. Karasic, Peter J. O'Dwyer, Charles J. Schneider, Ursina R. Teitelbaum, Kim A. Reiss Binder, Mark H. O'Hara, Douglas T. Ross, Kim McGregor, Kirsten Bornemann-Kolatzki, Ekkehard Schütz, Julia Beck, Erica L. Carpenter. Liquid biopsy signature combining copy number instability and mutant KRAS detection is associated with survival for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 1043.