Diagnostic testing approaches for the identification of patients with TRK fusion cancer prior to enrollment in clinical trials investigating larotrectinib.

NTRK gene fusions are targetable oncogenic drivers independent of tumor type. Prevalence varies from highly recurrent in certain rare tumors to <1% in common cancers. The selective TRK inhibitor larotrectinib was shown to be highly active in adult and pediatric patients with tumors harboring NTRK gene fusions. We examined the techniques used by local sites to detect tumor NTRK gene fusions in patients enrolled in clinical trials of larotrectinib. We also report the characteristics of the detected fusions in different tumor types. The analysis included 225 patients with 19 different tumor types. Testing methods used were next-generation sequencing (NGS) in 196 of 225 tumors (87%); this was RNA-based in 96 (43%); DNA-based in 53 (24%); DNA/RNA-based in 46 (20%) and unknown in 1 (<1%); FISH in 14 (6%) and PCR-based in 12 (5%). NanoString, Sanger sequencing and chromosome microarray were each utilized once (<1%). Fifty-four different fusion partners were identified, 39 (72%) of which were unique occurrences. The most common local testing approach was RNA-based NGS. Many different NTRK gene fusions were identified with most occurring at low frequency. This supports the need for validated and appropriate testing methodologies that work agnostic of fusion partners.

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Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Declaration of Competing Interest E.R.R. reports institutional reimbursement from Bayer for time on advisory boards and as part of clinical trials. J.H. is a full-time employee of Neogenomics, and reports research funding and advisory board fees from Bayer and honoraria from WebMD. M.R., J.S., J.W., K.S. and H.N. are employees of Bayer and R.N. works for an organization that carries out contract research for Bayer. C.M.L. reports that her spouse is employed by Bayer. D.S.H. reports institutional research/grant funding from AbbVie, Adaptimmune, Aldi-Norte, Amgen, Astra-Zeneca, Bayer, BMS, Daiichi-Sankyo, Deciphera, Eisai, Erasca, Fate Therapeutics, Genentech, Genmab, Infinity, Kite, Kyowa, Lilly, LOXO, Merck, Medimmune, Mirati, Mologen, Navier, NCI-CTEP, Novartis, Numab, Pfizer, Pyramid Bio, SeaGen, Takeda, Turning Point Therapeutics, Verstatem, and VM Oncology; travel, accommodation, expenses from: Bayer, Genmab, AACR, ASCO, SITC and Telperian; consulting, speaker or advisory roles with: Adaptimmune, Alpha Insights, Acuta, Alkermes, Amgen, Aumbiosciences, Atheneum, Axiom, Barclays, Baxter, Bayer, Boxer Capital, BridgeBio, CDR-life AG, COR2ed, COG, Ecor1, Genentech, Gilead, GLG, Group H, Guidepoint, HCW Precision, Immunogen, Infinity, Janssen, Liberium, Medscape, Numab, Oncologia Brasil, Pfizer, Pharma Intelligence, POET Congress, Prime Oncology, Seattle Genetics, ST Cube, Takeda, Tavistock, Trieza Therapeutics, Turning Point, WebMD, and Ziopharm; and other ownership interests in relation to: OncoResponse (founder) and Telperian Inc (advisor). A.D. reports honoraria/advisory board roles with: Ignyta/Genentech/Roche, Loxo/Bayer/Lilly, Takeda/Ariad/Millenium, TP Therapeutics, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Blueprint Medicines, Helsinn, Beigene, BergenBio, Hengrui Therapeutics, Exelixis, Tyra Biosciences, Verastem, MORE Health, Abbvie, 14ner/Elevation Oncology, Remedica Ltd., ArcherDX, Monopteros, Novartis, EMD Serono, Melendi, Liberum, Repare RX, Nuvalent, Merus, AXIS, Chugai Pharm, and EPG Health; associated research paid to institution from Pfizer, Exelixis, GlaxoSmithKlein, Teva, Taiho, and PharmaMar; royalties from Wolters Kluwer; other from Merck, Puma, Merus, and Boehringer Ingelheim; and CME honoraria from Medscape, OncLive, PeerVoice, Physicians Education Resources, Targeted Oncology, Research to Practice, Axis, Peerview Institute, Paradigm Medical Communications, WebMD, MJH Life Sciences, Med Learning, Imedex, Answers in CME, and Clinical Care Options. T.W.L. reports consulting roles with Bayer, Cellectis, Novartis, Deciphera, Jumo Health, Y-mAbs Therapeutics and research support from: Bayer, Pfizer and Novartis. S.R.-C. declares that he has no competing interests.