scholarly journals Development and Validation of a Targeted ‘Liquid’ NGS Panel for Treatment Customization in Patients with Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

Diagnostics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 2375
Author(s):  
Myrto Kastrisiou ◽  
George Zarkavelis ◽  
Anastasia Kougioumtzi ◽  
Prodromos Sakaloglou ◽  
Charilaos Kostoulas ◽  
...  

The detection of actionable mutations in tumor tissue is a prerequisite for treatment customization in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Analysis of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) for the identification of such mutations in patients’ plasma is an attractive alternative to invasive tissue biopsies. Despite having the high analytical sensitivity required for ctDNA analysis, digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) technologies can only detect a very limited number of hotspot mutations, whilst a broader mutation panel is currently needed for clinical decision making. Recent advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) have led to high-sensitivity platforms that allow screening of multiple genes at a single assay. Our goal was to develop a small, cost- and time-effective NGS gene panel that could be easily integrated in the day-to-day clinical routine in the management of patients with mCRC. We designed a targeted panel comprising hotspots in six clinically relevant genes (KRAS, NRAS, MET, BRAF, ERBB2 and EGFR) and validated it in a total of 68 samples from 30 patients at diagnosis, first and second disease progression. Results from our NGS panel were compared against plasma testing with BEAMing dPCR regarding the RAS gene status. The overall percent of agreement was 83.6%, with a positive and negative percent agreement of 74.3% and 96.2%, respectively. Further comparison of plasma NGS with standard tissue testing used in the clinic showed an overall percent agreement of 86.7% for RAS status, with a positive and negative percent agreement of 81.2% and 92.8%, respectively. Thus, our study strongly supports the validity and efficiency of an affordable targeted NGS panel for the detection of clinically relevant mutations in patients with mCRC.

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (10) ◽  
pp. 1501-1510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beili Wang ◽  
Shengchao Wu ◽  
Fei Huang ◽  
Minna Shen ◽  
Huiqin Jiang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Evaluating the tumor RAS/BRAF status is important for treatment selection and prognosis assessment in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients. Correction of artifacts from library preparation and sequencing is essential for accurately analyzing circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) mutations. Here, we assessed the analytical and clinical performance of a novel amplicon-based next-generation sequencing (NGS) assay, Firefly™, which employs a concatemer-based error correction strategy. Methods Firefly assay targeting KRAS/NRAS/BRAF/PIK3CA was evaluated using cell-free DNA (cfDNA) reference standards and cfDNA samples from 184 mCRC patients. Plasma results were compared to the mutation status determined by ARMS-based PCR from matched tissue. Samples with a mutation abundance below the limit of detection (LOD) were retested again by droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) or NGS. Results The Firefly assay demonstrated superior sensitivity and specificity with a 98.89% detection rate at an allele frequency (AF) of 0.2% for 20 ng cfDNA. Generally, 40.76% and 48.37% of the patients were reported to be positive by NGS of plasma cfDNA and ARMS of FFPE tissue, respectively. The concordance rate between the two platforms was 80.11%. In the pre-treatment cohort, the concordance rate between plasma and tissue was 93.33%, based on the 17 common exons that Firefly™ and ARMS genotyped, and the positive percent agreement (PPA) and negative percent agreement (NPA) for KRAS/NRAS/BRAF/PIK3CA were 100% and 99.60%, respectively. Conclusions Total plasma cfDNA detected by Firefly offers a viable complement for mutation profiling in CRC patients, given the high agreement with matched tumor samples. Together, these data demonstrate that Firefly could be routinely applied for clinical applications in mCRC patients.


Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3481
Author(s):  
Rebecca A. Shuford ◽  
Ashley L. Cairns ◽  
Omeed Moaven

The genetic and molecular underpinnings of metastatic colorectal cancer have been studied for decades, and the applicability of these findings in clinical decision making continues to evolve. Advancements in translating molecular studies have provided a basis for tailoring chemotherapeutic regimens in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) treatment, which have informed multiple practice guidelines. Various genetic and molecular pathways have been identified as clinically significant in the pathogenesis of metastatic colorectal cancer. These include rat sarcoma (RAS), epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR), vascular endothelial growth factor VEGF, microsatellite instability, mismatch repair, and v-raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog b1 (BRAF) with established clinical implications. RAS mutations and deficiencies in the mismatch repair pathway guide decisions regarding the administration of anti-EGFR-based therapies and immunotherapy, respectively. Furthermore, there are several emerging pathways and therapeutic modalities that have not entered mainstream use in mCRC treatment and are ripe for further investigation. The well-established data in the arena of targeted therapies provide evidence-based support for the use or avoidance of various therapeutic regimens in mCRC treatment, while the emerging pathways and platforms offer a glimpse into the future of transforming a precision approach into a personalized treatment.


2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (16) ◽  
pp. 1809-1824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marwan G. Fakih

Substantial improvements have been made in the management of metastatic colorectal cancer over the last two decades. The overall survival of patients diagnosed with unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer has increased from approximately 1 year during the era of fluoropyrimidine monotherapy to more than 30 months with the integration of multiple cytotoxic agents and targeted therapies. More effective therapeutic combinations have increased the rate of curative-intent surgical resections, resulting in median survival in this subgroup that exceed 5 years. Here we review the landscape of systemic therapies for unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer during the current era of targeted therapies, review the effects of RAS and BRAF mutations on clinical decision making, and reflect on future directions for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer.


Author(s):  
Lukas Weiss

SummaryThe 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting provided updates on novel therapies in rare subgroups of metastatic colorectal cancer, such as immunotherapy in microsatellite instable colorectal cancer and antibody–drug conjugate therapy in HER2-positive disease. Furthermore, the concept of anti-EGFR rechallenge therapy has received additional momentum with data from the CHRONOS trial in regard to treating patients in later lines as well as how to integrate analysis of circulating tumor DNA in clinical decision-making.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e15084-e15084 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beili Wang ◽  
Shengchao Wu ◽  
Fei Huang ◽  
Minna Shen ◽  
Huiqin Jiang ◽  
...  

e15084 Background: Evaluating the tumor RAS/BRAF status is important for treatment selection and prognosis assessment in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients. Correction of artifacts from library preparation and sequencing is essential for accurately analyzing circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) mutations. Here, we assessed the analytical and clinical performance of a novel amplicon-based next-generation sequencing (NGS) assay, Firefly, which employs a concatemer-based error correction strategy. Methods: Firefly assay targeting KRAS/NRAS/BRAF/PIK3CA was evaluated using cfDNA reference standards and cfDNA samples from 184 mCRC patients. Plasma results were compared to the mutation status determined by ARMS-based PCR from matched tissue. For samples with mutation abundance below the limit of detection (LOD), were retested again by droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) or NGS. Results: Firefly assay demonstrated superior sensitivity and specificity with 98.89% detection rate at allele frequency of 0.2% for 20ng cfDNA. Generally, 40.76% and 48.37% of the patients were reported to be positive by NGS of plasma cfDNA and ARMS of FFPE tissue, respectively. The concordance rate between the two platforms was 80.11%. In pre-treatment cohort, the concordance rate between plasma and tissue was 93.33%, based on the 17 common exons that Firefly and ARMS genotyped, positive percent agreement (PPA), and negative percent agreement (NPA) for KRAS/NRAS/BRAF/PIK3CA was 100% and 99.60%, respectively. Conclusions: Total plasma cfDNA detected by Firefly offers a viable complement for mutation profiling in CRC patients, given highly agreement with matched tumor samples. Together, these data demonstrate that Firefly could be routinely applied for clinical applications in mCRC patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 149-161
Author(s):  
M. I. Sluzhev ◽  
V. V. Semiglazov ◽  
T. Yu. Semiglazova ◽  
E. V. Tkachenko ◽  
S. A. Protsenko ◽  
...  

Challenges in cancer detection, prognosis and management are currently being solved by determining circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). The assessment of this marker has acquired particular importance in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), the systemic treatment of which depends on the RAS gene status, which has prognostic and predictive value. However, the possibilities of taking samples from the primary or metastatic lesion for pathomorphological and molecular analysis in CRC are often limited. The determination of ctDNA using liquid biopsy has an advantage over standard biopsy due to its low invasiveness and high availability of the method. Analysis of mutations using ctDNA as well as changes in the level of this marker is a criterion for the effectiveness of systemic treatment, as well as a factor that determines the risk of disease progression. Currently, the potential of using ctDNA to monitor effectiveness of first-and second-line chemotherapy, as well as to predict the development of secondary resistance to EGFR inhibitors (cetuximab and panitumumab) in the first-line treatment and assessment of RAS status for returning to therapy with EGFR inhibitors in the third-line treatment of mCRC is being studied. Several pilot studies have provided evidence of the efficacy of EGFR re-treatment. The modern literature data published in leading peer-reviewed journals in Russian and international scientific citation databases, such as Medline, Elibrary, and PubMed were analyzed. Of the 138 analyzed publications, 56 were used to write this review. 


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