Exploration of germline variants responsible for adverse events of crizotinib in anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive non-small cell lung cancer by target-gene panel sequencing

Abstract

Objectives: Crizotinib is a standard treatment for advanced anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)- or ROS1-fusion-gene-positive non-small cell lung cancer; however, serious adverse events (AEs), including elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT)/aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and interstitial lung disease (ILD), develop occasionally. Here, we evaluated relationships between clinically significant crizotinib-associated AEs and germline variations.

Materials and methods: DNA obtained from 75 patients allowed selection of 147 genes according to function, exon identification and sequencing, and determination of germline single nucleotide variants (SNVs). Correlations between clinically significant AEs and presence of germline variants were estimated by Fisher's exact test.

Results: We defined clinically significant AEs as grade 4 hematological toxicity, grade ≥3 non-hematological toxicity, and any grade of ILD. These AEs were observed in 26 patients (35%), with elevated AST/ALT (15%) the most common, followed by neutropenia (5%), ILD (4%), and thromboembolic events (4%). Nonsynonymous SNVs in epoxide hydrolase 1 (EPHX1) [odds ratio (OR): 3.86; p = 0.0009) and transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) (OR: 2.51; p = 0.025) were associated with the presence of clinically significant AEs.

Conclusion: Nonsynonymous EPHX1 and TCF7L2 SNVs might be associated with clinically significant crizotinib-associated AEs. These data indicated that target-gene sequencing could be feasible for predicting anticancer-agent toxicity, and that germline multi-gene information might be useful for predicting patient-specific AEs to promote precision medicine.

Keywords: ALK; Crizotinib; Next-generation sequencing; Non-small cell lung cancer.