Purpose
To investigate the feasibility of biomarkers based on dynamic circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) to classify small cell lung cancer (SCLC) into different subtypes.
Materials and Methods
Tumor and longitudinal plasma ctDNA samples were analyzed by next-generation sequencing of 1,021 genes. PyClone was used to infer the molecular tumor burden index (mTBI). Pre-treatment tumor tissues [T1] and serial plasma samples were collected (pre-treatment [B1], after two [B2], six [B3] cycles of chemotherapy and at progression [B4]).
Results
Overall concordance between T1 and B1 sequencing (n=30) was 66.5%, and 89.5% in the gene of RB1. A classification method was designed according to the changes of RB1 mutation, named as subtype Ⅰ (both positive at B1 and B2), subtype Ⅱ (positive at B1 but negative at B2), and subtype Ⅲ (both negative at B1 and B2). The median progressive-free survival for subtype Ⅰ patients (4.5 months [95%CI: 2.6-5.8]) was inferior to subtype Ⅱ (not reached, p<0.0001) and subtype Ⅲ (10.8 months [95%CI: 6.0-14.4], p=0.002). The median overall survival for subtype Ⅰ patients (16.3 months [95%CI: 5.3-22.9]) was inferior to subtype Ⅱ (not reached, p=0.01) and subtype Ⅲ (not reached, p=0.02). Patients with a mTBI dropped to zero at B2 had longer median overall survival (not reached vs. 19.5 months, p=0.01). The changes of mTBI from B4 to B1 were sensitive to predict new metastases, with a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 85.7%.
Conclusion
Monitoring ctDNA based RB1 mutation and mTBI provided a feasible tool to predict the prognosis of SCLC.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Cell-free and extrachromosomal DNA profiling of small cell lung cancer Roya Behrouzi, Alexandra Clipson, Kathryn L. Simpson, Fiona Blackhall, Dominic G. Rothwell, Caroline Dive, Florent Mouliere Trends in Molecular Medicine.2025; 31(1): 64. CrossRef
Circulating tumor DNA as liquid biopsy in lung cancer: Biological characteristics and clinical integration Changshu Li, Jun Shao, Peiyi Li, Jiaming Feng, Jingwei Li, Chengdi Wang Cancer Letters.2023; 577: 216365. CrossRef
Prognostic and predictive impact of molecular tumor burden index in non‐small cell lung cancer patients Fan Yang, Min Tang, Liang Cui, Jing Bai, Jiangyong Yu, Jiayi Gao, Xin Nie, Xu Li, Xuefeng Xia, Xin Yi, Ping Zhang, Lin Li Thoracic Cancer.2023; 14(31): 3097. CrossRef
Genomic and Gene Expression Studies Helped to Define the Heterogeneity of Small-Cell Lung Cancer and Other Lung Neuroendocrine Tumors and to Identify New Therapeutic Targets Ugo Testa, Elvira Pelosi, Germana Castelli Onco.2022; 2(3): 186. CrossRef
Purpose
This study aimed to investigate the clinicopathologic features and mutational landscape of patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)–related advanced hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) undergoing transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE).
Materials and Methods
From January 2017 to December 2018, 38 patients newly diagnosed with HBV-related advanced HCC were enrolled in the final analysis. Their pathological tissues and corresponding blood samples before TACE treatment were collected for whole-exome sequencing. Response to TACE was evaluated at 1-3 months after two consecutive use of TACE. Predictive factors were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analyses in a bivariate Logistic regression model. Enrichment of related pathways of all driver genes were acquired using the gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA).
Results
Among 38 patients, 23 (60.5%) exhibited TACE failure/refractoriness. Patients with TACE failure/refractoriness showed higher frequency of TP53 mutation than their counterparts (p=0.020). Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that only vascular invasion and TP53 mutation were significantly correlated with TACE failure/refractoriness in HBV-related advanced HCC. Of the 16 patients without vascular invasion, eight (50.0%) had TP53 mutations, and TP53 mutation was associated with TACE failure/refractoriness (p=0.041). Moreover, GSEA showed that mitogen-activated protein kinase and apoptosis pathways induced by TP53 mutation were possibly associated with TACE failure/refractoriness.
Conclusion
Our study suggested that TP53 mutation was independently related with TACE efficacy, which may work via mitogen-activated protein kinase and apoptosis pathways. These findings may provide evidence to help distinguish patients who will particularly benefit from TACE from those who require more personalized therapeutic regimens and rigorous surveillance in HBV-related advanced HCC.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Therapeutic efficacy and prognostic indicators in re-resection for recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma: Insights from a retrospective study Qi Fan, Pengcheng Wei, Delin Ma, Qian Cheng, Jie Gao, Jiye Zhu, Zhao Li Surgery Open Science.2025; 23: 16. CrossRef
TP53 Mutation Predicts Worse Survival and Earlier Local Progression in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treated with Transarterial Embolization Ken Zhao, Anita Karimi, Luke Kelly, Elena Petre, Brett Marinelli, Erica S. Alexander, Vlasios S. Sotirchos, Joseph P. Erinjeri, Anne Covey, Constantinos T. Sofocleous, James J. Harding, William Jarnagin, Carlie Sigel, Efsevia Vakiani, Etay Ziv, Hooman Yar Current Oncology.2025; 32(1): 51. CrossRef
Clinical Therapy: HAIC Combined with Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors and Programmed Cell Death Protein-1 Inhibitors versus HAIC Alone for Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma Baokun Liu, Lujun Shen, Wen Liu, Zhiyong Zhang, Jieqiong Lei, Zhengguo Li, Qinquan Tan, Hengfei Huang, Xingdong Wang, Weijun Fan Journal of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.2024; Volume 11: 1557. CrossRef
Enhanced interactions within microenvironment accelerates dismal prognosis in HBV-related HCC after TACE Libo Wang, Jiahui Cao, Zaoqu Liu, Shitao Wu, Yin Liu, Ruopeng Liang, Rongtao Zhu, Weijie Wang, Jian Li, Yuling Sun Hepatology Communications.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
Development and validation of survival prediction models for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma treated with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization plus tyrosine kinase inhibitors Kun Huang, Haikuan Liu, Yanqin Wu, Wenzhe Fan, Yue Zhao, Miao Xue, Yiyang Tang, Shi-Ting Feng, Jiaping Li La radiologia medica.2024; 129(11): 1597. CrossRef
Identification of BRD7 by whole-exome sequencing as a predictor for intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma in patients undergoing TACE Kun Huang, Yanqin Wu, Wenzhe Fan, Yue Zhao, Miao Xue, Haikuan Liu, Yiyang Tang, Jiaping Li Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology.2023; 149(13): 11247. CrossRef
Prediction model of no-response before the first transarterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma: TACF score Jia-Wei Zhong, Dan-Dan Nie, Ji-Lan Huang, Rong-Guang Luo, Qing-He Cheng, Qiao-Ting Du, Gui-Hai Guo, Liang-Liang Bai, Xue-Yun Guo, Yan Chen, Si-Hai Chen Discover Oncology.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
Mechanisms of Pharmacoresistance in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: New Drugs but Old Problems Jose J.G. Marin, Marta R. Romero, Elisa Herraez, Maitane Asensio, Sara Ortiz-Rivero, Anabel Sanchez-Martin, Luca Fabris, Oscar Briz Seminars in Liver Disease.2022; 42(01): 087. CrossRef
Non-Apoptotic Programmed Cell Death-Related Gene Signature Correlates With Stemness and Immune Status and Predicts the Responsiveness of Transarterial Chemoembolization in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Guixiong Zhang, Wenzhe Fan, Hongyu Wang, Jie Wen, Jizhou Tan, Miao Xue, Jiaping Li Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology.2022;[Epub] CrossRef
Plasma arginase-1 as a predictive marker for early transarterial chemoembolization refractoriness in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma Wei-Li Xia, Shi-Jun Xu, Yuan Guo, Xiao-Hui Zhao, Hong-Tao Hu, Yan Zhao, Quan-Jun Yao, Lin Zheng, Dong-Yang Zhang, Chen-Yang Guo, Wei-Jun Fan, Hai-Liang Li Frontiers in Oncology.2022;[Epub] CrossRef
Useful genes for predicting the efficacy of transarterial chemoembolization in hepatocellular carcinoma Yuan Guo, Hongtao Hu, Shijun Xu, Weili Xia, Hailiang Li Journal of Cancer Research and Therapeutics.2022; 18(7): 1860. CrossRef
Development and Validation of a Predictive Model for Early Refractoriness of Transarterial Chemoembolization in Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma Tian-Cheng Wang, Tian-Zhi An, Jun-Xiang Li, Zi-Shu Zhang, Yu-Dong Xiao Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences.2021;[Epub] CrossRef
Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization followed by surgical resection for hepatocellular carcinoma: a focus on its controversies and screening of patients most likely to benefit Zhan-Qi Wei, Yue-Wei Zhang Chinese Medical Journal.2021; 134(19): 2275. CrossRef
Recent Updates of Transarterial Chemoembolilzation in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Young Chang, Soung Won Jeong, Jae Young Jang, Yong Jae Kim International Journal of Molecular Sciences.2020; 21(21): 8165. CrossRef