Results of two studies matching genomic profiling in patient biopsies and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in plasma of rare cancers will be presented by Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNL) scientists at the American Society for Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, May 30 to June 3 at McCormick Place in Chicago.
Oral Presentation: Friday, May 30 at 4:45 p.m. CT, Hall D1“Comprehensive genomic profiling of matched ctDNA and tissue from patients with less-common cancers enrolled in but not eligible for a treatment arm of the NCI-MATCH trial.” Presenter: Biswajit Das |
Poster presentations: Monday, June 2 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. CT“Classification of histology based on ctDNA fragmentomic analysis in patients with uncommon cancers screened for NCI-MATCH." Presenter: Chris Karlovich “Digital spatial profiling of advanced solid tumors and lymphomas from a Phase 1 trial of copanlisib and nivolumab.” Presenter: Biswajit Das |
Cancer types such as small cell lung, adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, adenocarcinoma of the pancreas and salivary gland cancer are considered rare, or less-common tumors. While there is growing data validating liquid biopsies in the more common breast, colon, prostate and non-small cell lung cancers, there are fewer studies on the less-common tumors.
Sixty percent of patients screened for an arm of the National Cancer Institute Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (NCI-MATCH) precision medicine trial had less-common tumors. As part of the screening, patients provided tumor biopsy tissue for genomic profiling evaluation. They also provided plasma samples.
Scientists from FNL’s Molecular Characterization Laboratory (MoCha) tested the ctDNA of 2,194 patients with less-common tumors and compared each genomic profile to that of the corresponding patient’s tumor biopsy results. In nearly 86% of patients, scientists identified the same mutations in the tumor as in the ctDNA in the blood.
Biswajit Das, Ph.D., MoCha associate director, will present this study in an oral abstract session on Friday, May 30 at 4:45 CT in Hall D1 of the convention center.
Using ctDNA to classify tumor types
In another study, scientists evaluated the ctDNA to determine fragmentation patterns, which are unique to each tumor type and can help more precisely identify the cancer. The fragment-based model accurately identified the cancer type in nearly 100% of samples that were definitively diagnosed in pathology.
About 5% of the time, patient samples are determined “not otherwise specified (NOS)” in pathology reports. The tumor’s origin is unknown, or the sub-type of a cancer cannot be determined.
Using the fragmentation data, Peter Wu and colleagues accurately identified sub-types of pancreatic and ovarian cancer, indicating ctDNA could be used as a tool to more precisely classify tumor types.
MoCha Director Chris Karlovich, Ph.D., will present the study in the Poster Session on Monday, June 2 from 1:30 to 4:30 CT.
Analyzing small biopsy section, digital spatial profiling boosts understanding of tumor
Another study by MoCha scientists showed that the digital spatial profiling (DSP) technique can be used to analyze small sections of a tumor biopsy, providing greater insight into the tumor and the tumor microenvironment.
This study, led by Sayak Ghatak, will be presented in the Poster Session on Monday, June 2 from 1:30 to 4:30 CT.
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