Background: Pediatric paired box 3:forkhead box protein O1 fusion-negative (PF-) rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) represents a diverse spectrum of tumors with marked differences in histology, myogenic differentiation, and clinical behavior.
Methods: This study sought to evaluate the clinical and mutational spectrum of 24 pediatric PF- human RMS tumors with high levels of myogenic differentiation. Tumors were sequenced with OncoPanel v.2, a panel consisting of the coding regions of 504 genes previously linked to human cancer.
Results: Most of the tumors (19 of 24) arose at head/neck or genitourinary sites, and the overall survival rate was 100% with a median follow-up time of 4.6 years (range, 1.4-8.6 years). RAS pathway gene mutations were the most common mutations in PF-, highly differentiated RMS tumors. In addition, Hedgehog (Hh) and mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) gene mutations with evidence for functional relevance (high-impact) were identified in subsets of tumors. The presence of Hh and mTOR pathway gene mutations was mutually exclusive and was associated with high-impact RAS pathway gene mutations in 3 of 4 Hh-mutated tumors and in 1 of 6 mTOR-mutated tumors.
Conclusions: Interestingly, Hh and mTOR gene mutations were previously associated with rhabdomyomas, which are also known to preferentially arise at head/neck and genitourinary sites. Findings from this study further support the idea that PF-, highly differentiated RMS tumors and rhabdomyomas may represent a continuous spectrum of tumors. Cancer 2018;124:1973-81. © 2018 American Cancer Society.
Keywords: Hedgehog signaling; RAS; mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling; rhabdomyoma; rhabdomyosarcoma; sequencing.
© 2018 American Cancer Society.