Overcoming Barriers to Tumor Genomic Profiling through Direct-to-Patient Outreach

Seyram A. Doe-Tetteh, Sabrina Y. Camp, Dalicia Reales, Jett Crowdis, Anne Marie Noronha, Bernadette Wolff, Tina Alano, Jesse Galle, S. Duygu Selcuklu, Agnes Viale, Nicholas D. Socci, Ying L. Liu, William P. Tew, Carol Aghajanian, Marc Ladanyi, Meng Xiao He, Saud H. AlDubayan, Roei David Mazor, Ofer Shpilberg, Oshrat Hershkovitz-RokahJose A. Riancho, Jose L. Hernandez, M. Carmen Gonzalez-Vela, Justin J. Buthorn, Manda Wilson, Amy E. Webber, Mariko Yabe, Kseniya Petrova-Drus, Marc Rosenblum, Benjamin H. Durham, Omar Abdel-Wahab, Michael F. Berger, Mark T.A. Donoghue, Andrew L. Kung, Julia Glade Bender, Neerav N. Shukla, Samuel A. Funt, Ahmet Dogan, Robert A. Soslow, Hikmat Al-Ahmadie, Darren R. Feldman, Eliezer M. Van Allen, Eli L. Diamond, David B. Solit

Research output: Contribution to journalEditorial

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

PURPOSE: To overcome barriers to genomic testing for patients with rare cancers, we initiated a program to offer free clinical tumor genomic testing worldwide to patients with select rare cancer subtypes. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Patients were recruited through social media outreach and engagement with disease-specific advocacy groups, with a focus on patients with histiocytosis, germ cell tumors (GCT), and pediatric cancers. Tumors were analyzed using the MSK-IMPACT next-generation sequencing assay with the return of results to patients and their local physicians. Whole-exome recapture was performed for female patients with GCTs to define the genomic landscape of this rare cancer subtype. RESULTS: A total of 333 patients were enrolled, and tumor tissue was received for 288 (86.4%), with 250 (86.8%) having tumor DNA of sufficient quality for MSK-IMPACT testing. Eighteen patients with histiocytosis have received genomically guided therapy to date, of whom 17 (94%) have had clinical benefit with a mean treatment duration of 21.7 months (range, 6-40+). Whole-exome sequencing of ovarian GCTs identified a subset with haploid genotypes, a phenotype rarely observed in other cancer types. Actionable genomic alterations were rare in ovarian GCT (28%); however, 2 patients with ovarian GCTs with squamous transformation had high tumor mutational burden, one of whom had a complete response to pembrolizumab. CONCLUSIONS: Direct-to-patient outreach can facilitate the assembly of cohorts of rare cancers of sufficient size to define their genomic landscape. By profiling tumors in a clinical laboratory, results could be reported to patients and their local physicians to guide treatment. See related commentary by Desai and Subbiah, p. 2339.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2445-2455
Number of pages11
JournalClinical Cancer Research
Volume29
Issue number13
DOIs
StatePublished - 5 Jul 2023

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