BackgroundHigh-throughput genomic profiling of tumour specimens facilitates the identification of individual actionable mutations which could be used for individualised targeted therapy. This approach is becoming increasingly more common in the clinic; however, the interpretation of results from molecular profiling tests and efficient guiding of molecular therapies to patients with advanced cancer offer a significant challenge to the oncology community.Experimental designMONDTI is a precision medicine platform for molecular characterisation of metastatic solid tumours to identify actionable genomic alterations. From 2013 to 2016, comprehensive molecular profiles derived from real-time biopsy specimens and archived tumour tissue samples of 295 patients were performed. Results and treatment suggestions were discussed within multidisciplinary tumour board meetings.ResultsThe mutational profile was obtained from 293 (99%) patients and a complete immunohistochemical (IHC) and cytogenetic profile was obtained in 181 (61%) and 188 (64%) patients. The most frequent cancer types were colorectal cancer (12%), non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas (9.8%) and head and neck cancers (7.8%). The most commonly detected mutations were TP53 (39%), KRAS (19%) and PIK3CA (9.5%), whereas ≥1 mutation were identified in 217 (74%) samples. Regarding the results for IHC testing, samples were positive for phospho-mammalian target of rapamycin (phospho-mTOR) (71%), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) (68%), mesenchymal epithelial transition (MET) (56%) and/or platelet-derived growth factor alpha (PDGFRα)-expression (48%). Of the 288 tumour samples with one or more genetic alteration detected, 160 (55.6%) targeted therapy recommendations through 67 multidisciplinary tumour board meetings were made; in 69 (24%) cases, an individual treatment concept was initiated.ConclusionsThe results reveal that the open concept for all solid tumours characterised for molecular profile and immunotherapy could not only match individualised treatment concepts at a high rate but also underscores the challenges encountered when offering molecularly matched therapies to a patient population with an advanced stage cancer.
Leptomeningeal metastases from solid tumours
