Several Driver Genes, Tumor Suppressors Found to Be Mutated in Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer

TERT, BRAF, RAS, TP53, and CDKN2A are frequently mutated in Korean patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC), according to a study presented at the 88th Annual Meeting of the American Thyroid Association in Washington, D.C.¹

ATC is associated with poor outcomes, and its molecular features have not yet been identified. The aim of this study was to analyze genomic and transcriptomic alterations in Korean patients with ATC and advanced thyroid cancer (TC).

The study analyzed DNA from 27 patients with ATC and 86 patients with TC by whole-genome, whole-exome, or targeted sequencing; RNA from 13 and 162 patients with ATC and TC, respectively, was also sequenced.

Several genes were commonly mutated in samples from patients with ATC. TERT was mutated in 56% of patients, followed by BRAF in 41%, RAS in 44%, TP53 in 44%, and CDK2A in 22%. No fusion genes were identified.

CDKN2A loss was associated with shorter disease-specific survival among patients with ATC (P = .03) or TC (P < .001).

The authors concluded that these results may represent new targets for the diagnosis and treatment of ATC.

Read more of Cancer Therapy Advisor‘s coverage of the ATA 2018 meeting by visiting the conference page.

Reference

1. Yoo S, Song Y, Park Y, Seo J. Integrative genomic and transcriptomic analysis of 27 anaplastic thyroid cancers and 86 advanced thyroid cancers using massively parallel sequencing. Presented at: 88th Annual Meeting of the American Thyroid Association; Washington, D.C.: October 3-7, 2018. Abstract basic oral 9.