Genomic Mapping of Metastatic Organotropism in Lung Adenocarcinoma
PMID: 37084736 · DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2023.03.018 · Journal: Cancer Cell (2023)
TL;DR
Lengel et al. analyzed 2,532 lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) specimens from 2,309 MSK patients with matched clinicopathologic and targeted-panel genomic data to identify features associated with metastasis, metastatic burden, organotropism, and metastasis-free survival. Patients developing metastasis were younger and more often male, with primaries enriched for micropapillary/solid histology, higher TMB, chromosomal instability, and fraction of genome doubled. Inactivation of TP53, SMARCA4, and CDKN2A correlated with shorter site-specific time to metastasis; APOBEC signatures were enriched in metastases, especially liver lesions; and only ~4% of metastases harbored actionable alterations not already present in the matched primary PMID:37084736.
Cohort & data
- 2,532 primary and metastatic LUAD specimens from 2,309 patients profiled at Memorial Sloan Kettering PMID:37084736.
- Sites profiled include adrenal gland, bone, CNS, liver/biliary, lung, lymph node, and pleura PMID:37084736.
- Targeted sequencing via the MSK-IMPACT panel (luad_mskcc_2023_met_organotropism), with an additional whole-exome sequencing subcohort for mutational signature analysis PMID:37084736.
Key findings
- Ever-metastatic primaries had higher TMB, chromosomal instability, and fraction of genome doubled than never-metastatic primaries PMID:37084736.
- APOBEC signatures SBS2/SBS13 were more prevalent in metastases than primaries (18% vs 8%, p=0.012), and were particularly enriched in liver metastases in the WES cohort PMID:37084736.
- TP53, KEAP1, CDKN2A, MDM2, PIK3CA were among ten genes differentially altered between ever- and never-metastatic primary tumors PMID:37084736.
- TP53/EGFR co-alteration with KEAP1 (q<0.001) and STK11 (q<0.001) was significant only in ever-metastatic primaries PMID:37084736.
- SMARCA4, STK11, KEAP1, and KRAS alterations were mutually exclusive with EGFR alterations PMID:37084736.
- EGFR (p=0.002) and NF1 (p<0.001) alterations were associated with worse metastasis-free survival PMID:37084736.
- SMARCA4 alterations were strongly enriched in patients with bone metastasis (OR=6.47) and shortened time to bone metastasis (OR=2.79, 95% CI 1.71–4.56, p<0.001) PMID:37084736.
- Adrenal gland metastases had the highest proportion of EGFR activating mutations (133/202, 66%) PMID:37084736.
- In primary tumors that metastasized to liver, KRAS G12C was elevated (21%) vs the matched liver metastases (6%, p<0.001) PMID:37084736.
- Only ~4% of metastases carried therapeutically actionable alterations undetected in their matched primaries PMID:37084736.
Genes & alterations
- TP53 — inactivation correlated with site-specific shorter time to metastasis; co-altered with EGFR in ever-metastatic context PMID:37084736.
- SMARCA4 — strong enrichment in bone metastases; shortened time to bone metastasis PMID:37084736.
- CDKN2A — inactivation more frequent in CNS and liver metastases than in matched primaries PMID:37084736.
- KEAP1, STK11 — co-alteration with TP53/EGFR defines higher-risk metastatic context PMID:37084736.
- EGFR — activating mutations enriched at adrenal gland metastases; associated with worse MFS PMID:37084736.
- KRAS — G12C preferentially seen in primaries that metastasized to liver vs the liver lesions themselves PMID:37084736.
- NF1 — alterations associated with worse MFS PMID:37084736.
- Additional genes altered more often in metastases: NKX2-1, FOXA1, MET, ARID1A, MGA; altered less in metastases: MDM2, PIK3CA, ERBB2 PMID:37084736.
Clinical implications
- Because only ~4% of metastases carry new actionable alterations not present in the primary, routine re-biopsy of metastases for new targetable drivers yields limited incremental benefit in LUAD PMID:37084736.
- Co-alteration patterns (e.g., TP53+EGFR+KEAP1/STK11) and SMARCA4 status may inform site-specific metastatic risk, notably for bone PMID:37084736.
Limitations & open questions
- Targeted panel (MSK-IMPACT) limits mutational signature resolution; authors partially address this with a WES subcohort PMID:37084736.
- Single-institution (MSK) cohort; external validation was performed but organotropism findings remain cancer-type-specific and may not generalize beyond LUAD PMID:37084736.
- Some site-specific analyses (e.g., liver for SMARCA4) were underpowered PMID:37084736.
Citations from this paper used in the wiki
- “We analyzed 2532 lung adenocarcinomas (LUAD) to identify clinicopathologic and genomic features associated with metastasis, metastatic burden, organotropism, and metastasis-free survival.” (Summary)
- “Inactivation of TP53, SMARCA4, and CDKN2A are correlated with a site-specific shorter time to metastasis. The APOBEC mutational signature is more prevalent among metastases, particularly liver lesions.” (Summary)
- “Only 4% of metastases harbor therapeutically actionable alterations undetected in their matched primaries.” (Summary)
- “SMARCA4 … associated with shorter time to bone metastasis (OR=2.79, 95% CI 1.71–4.56, p<0.001)” (Results)
- “APOBEC-related signatures SBS2 and SBS13 in metastatic tumors (18% vs. 8%, p=0.012)” (Results)
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