RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Patients’ who are positive for kinase domain activating mutations in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene, constitute 30–40% of non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and are suitable candidates for Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor based targeted/personalized therapy. In EGFR non‑mutated subset, 8–10% that show molecular abnormalities such as EML4‑ALK, ROS1‑ALK, KIP4‑ALK, may also derive the benefit of targeted therapy. However, 40% of NSCLC belong to a grey zone of tumours that are negative for the clinically approved biomarkers for personalized therapy. This pilot study aims to identify and classify molecular subtypes of this group to address the un‑met need for new drug targets in this category. Here we screened for known/novel oncogenic driver mutations using a 46 gene Ampliseq Panel V1.0 that includes Ser/Thr/ Tyr kinases, transcription factors and tumor suppressors. METHODS: NSCLC with tumor burden of at least 40% on histopathology were screened for 29 somatic mutations in the EGFR kinase domain by real‑time polymerase chain reaction methods. 20 cases which were EGFR non‑mutated for TK domain mutations were included in this study. DNA Quality was verified from each of the 20 cases by fluorimeter, pooled and subjected to targeted re‑sequencing in the Ion Torrent platform. Torrent Suite software was used for next generation sequencing raw data processing and variant calling. RESULTS: The clinical relevance and pathological role of all the mutations/variants that include SNPs and Indels was assessed using polyphen‑2/SIFT/PROVEAN/mutation assessor structure function prediction programs. There were 10 pathogenic mutations in six different oncogenes for which annotation was available in the COSMIC database; C420R mutation in PIK3CA, Q472H mutation in vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) (KDR), C630W and C634R in RET, K367M mutation in fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2), G12C in KRAS and 4 pathogenic mutations in TP53 in the DNA binding domain (E285K, R213L, R175H, V173G). CONCLUSION: Results suggest, a potential role for PIK3CA, VEGFR2, RET and FGFR2 as therapeutic targets in EGFR non‑mutated NSCLC that requires further clinical validation.
RESUMO
Background: Gain of the q arm of chromosome 20 in human colorectal cancer has been associated with poorer survival time and has been reported to increase in frequency from adenomas to metastasis. The increasing frequency of chromosome 20q amplification during colorectal cancer progression and the presence of this amplification in carcinomas of other tissue origin has lead us to hypothesize that 20q11-13 harbors one or more genes which, when over expressed promote tumor invasion and metastasis. Aims: Generate genomic and expression profiles of the 20q amplicon in human cancer cell lines in order to identify genes with increased copy number and expression. Materials and Methods: Utilizing genomic sequencing clones and amplification mapping data from our lab and other previous studies, BAC/ PAC tiling paths spanning the 20q amplicon and genomic microarrays were generated. Array-CGH on the custom array with human cancer cell line DNAs was performed to generate genomic profiles of the amplicon. Expression array analysis with RNA from these cell lines using commercial oligo microarrays generated expression profiles of the amplicon. The data were then combined in order to identify genes with increased copy number and expression. Results: Over expressed genes in regions of increased copy number were identified and a list of potential novel genetic tumor markers was assembled based on biological functions of these genes Conclusions: Performing high-resolution genomic microarray profiling in conjunction with expression analysis is an effective approach to identify potential tumor markers.