Genomic Profiling of Sarcomas: A Promising Weapon in the Therapeutic Arsenal

Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Nov 17;23(22):14227. doi: 10.3390/ijms232214227.

Abstract

Sarcomas are rare malignant mesenchymal neoplasms, and the knowledge of tumor biology and genomics is scarce. Chemotherapy is the standard of care in advanced disease, with poor outcomes. Identifying actionable genomic alterations may offer effective salvage therapeutic options when previous lines have failed. Here, we report a retrospective cohort study of sarcoma patients followed at our center and submitted to comprehensive genomic profiling between January 2020 and June 2021. Thirty patients were included, most (96.7%) with reportable genomic alterations. The most common alterations were linked to cell cycle regulation (TP53, CDKN2A/B, and RB1 deletions and CDK4, MDM2, and MYC amplifications). Most patients (96.7%) had microsatellite stability and low tumor mutational burden (≤10 muts/megabase (Mb); median 2 Muts/Mb). Two-thirds of patients had actionable mutations for targeted treatments, including five cases with alterations amenable to targeted therapies with clinical benefit within the patient's tumor type, ten cases with targetable alterations with clinical benefit in other tumor types, and five cases with alterations amenable to targeting with drugs under investigation in a clinical trial setting. A significant proportion of cases in this study had actionable genomic alterations with available targeted drugs. Next-generation sequencing is a feasible option for identifying molecular drivers that can provide therapeutic options for individual patients. Molecular Tumor Boards should be implemented in the clinical practice to discuss genomic findings and inform clinically relevant targeted therapies.

Keywords: cancer care; comprehensive genomic profiling; genomics; next-generation sequencing; rare tumor; sarcoma sequencing-directed therapy; targeted therapy.

MeSH terms

  • Genetic Profile
  • Genomics
  • Humans
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Sarcoma* / drug therapy
  • Sarcoma* / genetics
  • Soft Tissue Neoplasms*

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding, as none of the investigators nor the academic institutions involved received any grant for this project. Genomic tests were provided free-of-charge by Roche to be used as per physician’s choice in the context of standard clinical practice. Funding was granted by Roche for publication fees and medical writing.