Comprehensive genomic profiling of Brazilian non-small cell lung cancer patients (GBOT 0118/LACOG0418)

Background: The aim of this study was to carry out a descriptive analysis of the somatic genetic profile and co-occurring mutations of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) samples from patients tested with comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP).

Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study of patients diagnosed with NSCLC from 2013 to 2018 in Brazil and whose samples were submitted to CGP (FoundationOne or FoundationACT) using either tumor or circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) from plasma.

Results: We recovered 513 CGP results from patients, 457 (89.1%) of which were from tumors and 56 (10.9%) from plasma. The median age of patients was 64 years old, of which 51.6% were males. TP53 mutations were identified in 53.6% of tumor samples, KRAS mutations in 24.2%, EGFR activating mutations were detected in 22.5%, STK11 mutations in 11.6%, PIK3CA mutations in 8.8%, ALK rearrangements in 5.4%, BRAF mutations in 5.2%, and ERBB2 alterations in 4.9%. The most commonly comutated gene was TP53. TP53 p.R337H was observed in 4.3% of samples and was associated with somatic mutations in EGFR and ERBB2 (P < 0.00001). Tumor mutational burden (TMB) analysis was available for 80.5% of samples tested, and 5.5% of samples had high TMB (≥ 20 mutations/Mb). In conclusion, this retrospective analysis of genomic data from NSCLC patients obtained by CGP showed that common abnormalities such as EGFR mutations and ALK rearrangements had similar frequency to those previously described by other groups using others strategies. Additionally, our data confirm an association between TP53 p.R337H, supposedly germline in nature, and somatic mutations in genes of the HER family.

Key points: SIGNIFICANT FINDINGS OF THE STUDY: This is the first report of the prevalence of driver mutations in Brazilian NSCLC patients using comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP). The frequency of the most common driver mutations in this population was similar to that previously described in Brazil.

What this study adds: TP53 was the most commonly comutated gene across samples. TP53 p.R337H was associated with somatic mutations in EGFR and ERBB2. Most samples had low TMB; only 5.5% of samples had high TMB.