2022 World Conference on Lung Cancer (ePosters)-EP16.03-003. Systematic Population-based Identification of NTRK Fusion Genes Among Hispanic Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)

EP16.03-003. Systematic Population-based Identification of NTRK Fusion Genes Among Hispanic Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)

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A multicenter study was conducted to estimate the detection rates of NTRK fusion genes in Hispanic patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The study aimed to standardize diagnostic methods using a two-tier system. The first tier involved an immunohistochemistry analysis of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples, followed by confirmation analysis using next-generation sequencing (NGS) of RNA.<br /><br />A total of 264 tumor samples were included in the study. Immunohistochemistry staining was performed using the Ventana platform and a monoclonal antibody. Six cases (2.6%) tested positive for NTRK fusion genes through immunohistochemistry staining. However, NGS analysis failed to detect any NTRK fusions with sufficient sequencing quality to be confirmed by bioinformatic pipelines.<br /><br />Further analysis revealed that two of the six immunohistochemistry positive samples were confirmed to have the TP53-NTRK1 fusion through RNA sequencing. The overall positivity rate for NTRK fusions in the cohort was 0.7%. The false positive rate for immunohistochemistry staining was found to be 66%.<br /><br />The study concluded that NTRK fusion genes are relatively rare among lung cancer patients. Immunohistochemistry can be used as a feasible screening method, but the high rate of negative confirmatory studies should be taken into account. Additionally, the study highlighted the importance of better sample preservation and rapid processing to overcome pre-analytic and analytic limitations that may result in lower diagnostic performance. The capacity to detect rare NTRK fusions could also be limited.<br /><br />The findings from this study provide insight into the detection rates of NTRK fusion genes in Hispanic NSCLC patients and emphasize the need for improved diagnostic methods and sample preservation techniques in order to accurately identify these fusions.

Asset Subtitle

Andres F Cardona

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Speaker Andres F Cardona

Topic Tumour Biology and Biomarkers - Molecular Profiling and Targeted Therapies

Keywords

multicenter study

NTRK fusion genes

non-small cell lung cancer

diagnostic methods

immunohistochemistry analysis

next-generation sequencing

RNA sequencing

false positive rate

sample preservation

diagnostic performance