Background: Next generation sequencing (NGS) has increased the detection of fusion genes in cancer. NGS has found multiple fusions in single tumor samples; however, the incidence of this in pediatric soft tissue and bone tumors (PSTBTs) is not well documented. The aim of this study is to catalogue the incidence of multiple fusions in a series of PSTBTs, and apply a modified gene fusion classification system to determine clinical relevance.
Methodology: RNA from 78 bone and soft tissue tumors and 7 external quality assessment samples were sequenced and analyzed using recently-described Metafusion (MF) software and classified using a modification of previously-published schema for fusion classification into 3 tiers: 1, strong clinical significance; 2, potential clinical significance; and 3, unknown clinical significance.
Results: One-hundred forty-five fusions were detected in 85 samples. Fifty-five samples (65%) had a single fusion and 30 (35%) had more than 1 fusion. No samples contained more than 1 tier 1 fusion. There were 40 tier 1 (28%), 36 tier 2 (24%), and 69 (48%) tier 3 fusions.
Conclusions: A significant percentage of PSTBTs harbor more than 1 fusion, and by applying a modified fusion classification scheme, the potential clinical relevance of such fusions can be determined.
Keywords: bone tumors; fusion classification; fusion genes; fusion pathogenicity; molecular oncology; soft tissue tumors.