Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a heterogeneous group of malignancies that primarily originate from the bile duct. Tumor heterogeneity is a prime characteristic of CCA and considering the scarcity of approved targeted therapy drugs, this makes precision oncology impractical in CCA. Stratifying patients based on their molecular signature and biomarker-guided therapy may offer a conducive solution. Receptors tyrosine kinases (RTK) are potential targets for novel therapeutic strategies in CCA as RTK signaling is dysregulated in CCA. This study aims to identify targetable RTK profile in CCA using a bioinformatic approach. We discovered that CCA samples could be grouped into molecular subtypes based on the gene expression profile of selected RTKs (RTK25). Using the RTK25 gene list, we discovered five distinct molecular subtypes of CCA in this cohort. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors that target each RTK profile and their subsequent molecular signatures were also discovered. These results suggest that certain RTKs correlate with each other, indicating that tailored dual inhibition of RTKs may be more favorable than monotherapy. The results from this study can direct future investigative attention towards validating this concept in in vivo and in vitro systems. Ultimately, this will facilitate biomarker-guided clinical trials for the successful approval of novel therapeutic options in CCA.
Keywords: biomarkers; cholangiocarcinoma; precision medicine; receptor tyrosine kinases; targeted therapy.