Abstract 640: Genome sequencing of circulating multiple myeloma cells for minimally invasive molecular characterization of precursor disease pathology
Authors: Dutta Ankit K. , Alberge Jean-Baptiste , Lightbody Elizabeth D. , Sklavenitis-Pistofidis Romanos , Boehner Cody J. , Mouhieddine Tarek H. , Cowan Anna , Su Nang Kham , Horowitz Erica M. , Dunford Andrew , Stewart Chip , Lin Ziao , Hevenor Laura , Barr Hadley , Cao Amanda , Zepp Ornkleaw , Bui Thai , Gross Steve , Auclair Daniel , Getz Gad , Ghobrial Irene M. 
Published: June 2022

Introduction: Multiple myeloma (MM) develops from indolent stages monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM). Precursor conditions are incidentally diagnosed and require invasive bone marrow (BM) biopsies for complete characterization, highlighting the urgent need for improved early detection methods. Minimally invasive blood biopsies to measure circulating multiple myeloma cells (CMMCs) as markers of MM disease development are a promising solution to this unmet need. Here, we present our novel method CatchTheFISH, for whole genome sequencing (WGS) of CMMCs that enables genomic profiling and WGS based cytogenetic analyses from enriched liquid biopsy samples. Application of WGS in a cohort of 20 patients, revealed CMMCs were of tumor origin and able to faithfully match BM sequencing results and detect 100% of clinically reported events.

Methods: Peripheral blood from 110 SMM patients from the PCROWD observational study (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute IRB #14-174) was collected and processed on CellSearch system (Menarini Silicon Biosystems), with enrichment and enumeration of CMMCs based on CD138+38+CD45-19- immunophenotype. In 20 patients, CMMCs and white blood cells were sorted for library construction, quantification and WGS on Illumina NovaSeq6000. Mutation analyses were performed with the cancer genome analysis pipelines of the Broad Institute.

Results: CMMCs were detected in 84% of SMM patients enrolled in the study, with a median count of 13 CMMCs (range 0 to 43836). We first demonstrated the concordance of WGS results obtained from CMMCs with BM. In 100% of patients tested with paired BM and CMMCs (n = 8), we observed full agreement in structural event calling between our samples and clinical reports, including translocations and CNAs (trisomies, tetrasomy, monosomy 13 and 1q gain/amplification). Next, we showed WGS of CMMCs provided increased diagnostic yield compared to BM biopsy for the detection of structural events and MM-associated driver mutations. In 7 patients (88%) we detected additional aberrations not found by FISH. Unknown translocation events of IGH-MYC and t(14;20) were distinguished in two patients. Additionally, our method enabled detection of MM driver mutations. Three patients (38%) were found to harbor RAS mutations (KRAS and NRAS) in BM samples, which were also validated in matched CMMCs. Finally, we assessed a validation cohort of 12 SMM patients with CMMCs only. WGS detected comprehensive mutation data across all scales including clinically relevant translocations, trisomies, CNAs and mutations.

Conclusion: Our findings provide proof of principle that capture and genomic profiling of CMMCs could be a robust surrogate to BM biopsy, allowing minimally invasive detection and monitoring of disease, unlocking the clinical potential of liquid biopsies for MM diagnostics.

Citation Format: Ankit K. Dutta, Jean-Baptiste Alberge, Elizabeth D. Lightbody, Romanos Sklavenitis-Pistofidis, Cody J. Boehner, Tarek H. Mouhieddine, Anna Cowan, Nang Kham Su, Erica M. Horowitz, Andrew Dunford, Chip Stewart, Ziao Lin, Laura Hevenor, Hadley Barr, Amanda Cao, Ornkleaw Zepp, Thai Bui, Steve Gross, Daniel Auclair, Gad Getz, Irene M. Ghobrial. Genome sequencing of circulating multiple myeloma cells for minimally invasive molecular characterization of precursor disease pathology [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 640.