Pathway alterations in stage II/III primary melanoma Journal Article


Authors: Kostrzewa, C. E.; Luo, L.; Arora, A.; Seshan, V. E.; Ernstoff, M. S.; Edmiston, S. N.; Conway, K.; Gorlov, I.; Busam, K.; Orlow, I.; Hernando-Monge, E.; Thomas, N. E.; Berwick, M.; Begg, C. B.; Shen, R. L.
Article Title: Pathway alterations in stage II/III primary melanoma
Abstract: PURPOSE Genomic classification of melanoma has thus far focused on the mutational status of BRAF, NRAS, and NF1. The clinical utility of this classification remains limited, and the landscape of alterations in other oncogenic signaling pathways is underexplored.METHODS Using primary samples from the InterMEL study, a retrospective cohort of cases with specimens collected from an international consortium with participating institutions throughout the United States and Australia, with oversampling of cases who ultimately died of melanoma, we examined mutual exclusivity and co-occurrence of genomic alterations in 495 stage II/III primary melanomas across 11 cancer pathways. Somatic mutation and copy number alterations were analyzed from next-generation sequencing using a clinical sequencing panel.RESULTS Mutations in the RTK-RAS pathway were observed in 81% of cases. Other frequently occurring pathways were TP53 (31%), Cell Cycle (30%), and PI3K (18%). These frequencies are generally lower than was observed in The Cancer Genome Atlas, where the specimens analyzed were predominantly obtained from metastases. Overall, 81% of the cases had at least one targetable mutation. The RTK-RAS pathway was the only pathway that demonstrated strong and statistically significant mutual exclusivity. However, this strong mutual exclusivity signal was evident only for the three common genes in the pathway (BRAF, NRAS, and NF1). Analysis of co-occurrence of different pathways exhibited no positive significant trends. However, interestingly, a high frequency of cases with none of these pathways represented was observed, 8.4% of cases versus 4.0% expected (P < .001). A higher frequency of RTK-RAS singletons (with no other pathway alteration) was observed compared with The Cancer Genome Atlas. Clonality analyses suggest strongly that both the cell cycle and RTK-RAS pathways represent early events in melanogenesis.CONCLUSION Our results confirm the dominance of mutations in the RTK-RAS pathway. The presence of many mutations in several well-known, actionable pathways suggests potential avenues for targeted therapy in these early-stage cases.
Keywords: survival; relapse; braf; resistance; open-label; mek inhibition; vemurafenib; genetic evolution; nivolumab
Journal Title: JCO Precision Oncology
Volume: 7
Issue: 7
ISSN: 2473-4284
Publisher: American Society of Clinical Oncology  
Date Published: 2023-09-01
Start Page: e2200439
Language: English
ACCESSION: WOS:001118469500066
DOI: 10.1200/po.22.00439
PROVIDER: wos
PMCID: PMC10309586
PUBMED: 36926987
Notes: The MSK Cancer Center Support Grant (P30 CA008748) is acknowledged in the PubMed record and PDF. Corresponding MSK author is Ronglai Shen -- Source: Wos
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MSK Authors
  1. Venkatraman Ennapadam Seshan
    385 Seshan
  2. Colin B Begg
    306 Begg
  3. Ronglai Shen
    205 Shen
  4. Irene Orlow
    247 Orlow
  5. Klaus J Busam
    690 Busam
  6. Arshi Arora
    36 Arora