NTRK1-3 genomic fusions in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) determined by comprehensive genomic profiling

Abstract

Background: The Neurotrophic Tyrosine Kinase genes, NTRK1-3 are extremely rare drivers of a wide variety of malignancies. The recent pan-cancer approval of kinase inhibitor drugs targeting NTRK has sparked interest in the frequency of NTRK rearrangements found in NSCLC. Methods: Comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) was performed on FFPE samples from 42,791 NSCLC cases. Tumor mutational burden (TMB) was determined on 0.8-1.1 Mbp of sequenced DNA and microsatellite instability (MSI) was determined on 95 loci. Results: 58 (0.1%) of the NSCLC featured genomic fusions or rearrangements in the NTRK1-3 genes (Table). The ages and genders of NTRK1-3 fusion+ cases were similar to NSCLC in general and did not enrich for younger patients. NTRK fusions were highest in adenocarcinomas (67%) and squamous cell carcinomas (SCC; 9%). The average genomic alterations (GA) per NTRK1-3 altered tumor ranged from 6.1 – 8.2 GA and was higher than that reported for EGFR, ALK and ROS1 driven NSCLC. The NTRK1-3 fusions involved a wide variety of fusion partners with NTRK1- IRF2BP2 (6) and NTRK1-TPM3 (9) most frequent. The levels of TMB and frequencies of PD-L1 expression were higher than EGFR, ALK and ROS1 altered cases. The STK11 GA frequencies were similar to NSCLC in general but lower than the frequency in lung adenocarcinoma only. [Table presented] Conclusions: Although the addition of RNA sequencing may marginally increase their detection, based on this DNA-only CGP sequencing study, NTRK1-3 fusions are extremely rare in NSCLC. These NTRK1-3 fusion-driven NSCLC differ from other well-known driver associated NSCLC such as EGFR, ALK and ROS1 in their having higher GA/tumor, TMB and PD-L1 expression frequencies suggesting that immunotherapies may also be available for the care of these patients, possibly as a combination therapy. Legal entity responsible for the study: Foundation Medicine. Funding: Foundation Medicine. Disclosure: E.S. Sokol: Shareholder / Stockholder / Stock options, Full / Part-time employment: Foundation Medicine. S.E. Trabucco: Shareholder / Stockholder / Stock options, Full / Part-time employment: Foundation Medicine. D.X. Jin: Shareholder / Stockholder / Stock options, Full / Part-time employment: Foundation Medicine. G.M. Frampton: Shareholder / Stockholder / Stock options, Full / Part-time employment: Foundation Medicine. J.A. Elvin: Shareholder / Stockholder / Stock options, Full / Part-time employment: Foundation Medicine. J. Vergilio: Shareholder / Stockholder / Stock options, Full / Part-time employment: Foundation Medicine. J.K. Killian: Shareholder / Stockholder / Stock options, Full / Part-time employment: Foundation Medicine. N. Ngo: Shareholder / Stockholder / Stock options, Full / Part-time employment: Foundation Medicine. D. Lin: Shareholder / Stockholder / Stock options, Full / Part-time employment: Foundation Medicine. S. Ramkissoon: Shareholder / Stockholder / Stock options, Full / Part-time employment: Foundation Medicine. E. Severson: Shareholder / Stockholder / Stock options, Full / Part-time employment: Foundation Medicine. S.M. Ali: Shareholder / Stockholder / Stock options, Full / Part-time employment: Foundation Medicine. A.B. Schrock: Shareholder / Stockholder / Stock options, Full / Part-time employment: Foundation Medicine. J. Chung: Shareholder / Stockholder / Stock options, Full / Part-time employment: Foundation Medicine. P. Reddy: Shareholder / Stockholder / Stock options, Full / Part-time employment: Foundation Medicine. K. McGregor: Shareholder / Stockholder / Stock options, Full / Part-time employment: Foundation Medicine. B.M. Alexander: Leadership role, Shareholder / Stockholder / Stock options, Full / Part-time employment, Officer / Board of Directors: Foundation Medicine. J.S. Ross: Leadership role, Shareholder / Stockholder / Stock options, Full / Part-time employment: Foundation Medicine. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.