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Lawlor RT, Mattiolo P, Mafficini A, Hong SM, Piredda ML, Taormina SV, Malleo G, Marchegiani G, Pea A, Salvia R, Kryklyva V, Shin JI, Brosens LA, Milella M, Scarpa A, Luchini C. Tumor Mutational Burden as a Potential Biomarker for Immunotherapy in Pancreatic Cancer: Systematic Review and Still-Open Questions. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:cancers13133119. [PMID: 34206554 PMCID: PMC8269341 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13133119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2021] [Revised: 06/13/2021] [Accepted: 06/17/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Tumor mutational burden (TMB) represents the number of mutations per megabase (muts/Mb) harbored by tumor cells in a given neoplasm, and can be determined with next-generation sequencing. High values are an indicator of potential response to immunotherapy. With this systematic review, we assessed its role in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Our main findings can be summarized as: (i) high-TMB can be found in about 1% of PDAC; (ii) it is associated with mucinous/colloid and medullary histology; (iii) high-TMB PDAC frequently harbor other actionable alterations, with microsatellite instability as the most common; (iv) immunotherapy has shown promising results in high-TMB PDAC. Abstract Tumor mutational burden (TMB) is a numeric index that expresses the number of mutations per megabase (muts/Mb) harbored by tumor cells in a neoplasm. TMB can be determined using different approaches based on next-generation sequencing. In the case of high values, it indicates a potential response to immunotherapy. In this systematic review, we assessed the potential predictive role of high-TMB in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), as well as the histo-molecular features of high-TMB PDAC. High-TMB appeared as a rare but not-negligible molecular feature in PDAC, being present in about 1.1% of cases. This genetic condition was closely associated with mucinous/colloid and medullary histology (p < 0.01). PDAC with high-TMB frequently harbored other actionable alterations, with microsatellite instability/defective mismatch repair as the most common. Immunotherapy has shown promising results in high-TMB PDAC, but the sample size of high-TMB PDAC treated so far is quite small. This study highlights interesting peculiarities of PDAC harboring high-TMB and may represent a reliable starting point for the assessment of TMB in the clinical management of patients affected by pancreatic cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rita T. Lawlor
- ARC-Net Research Center, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, 37134 Verona, Italy; (R.T.L.); (A.M.); (M.L.P.); (S.V.T.)
| | - Paola Mattiolo
- Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, Section of Pathology, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, 37134 Verona, Italy;
| | - Andrea Mafficini
- ARC-Net Research Center, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, 37134 Verona, Italy; (R.T.L.); (A.M.); (M.L.P.); (S.V.T.)
- Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, Section of Pathology, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, 37134 Verona, Italy;
| | - Seung-Mo Hong
- Asan Medical Center, Department of Pathology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul 05505, Korea;
| | - Maria L. Piredda
- ARC-Net Research Center, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, 37134 Verona, Italy; (R.T.L.); (A.M.); (M.L.P.); (S.V.T.)
| | - Sergio V. Taormina
- ARC-Net Research Center, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, 37134 Verona, Italy; (R.T.L.); (A.M.); (M.L.P.); (S.V.T.)
| | - Giuseppe Malleo
- Department of Surgery, The Pancreas Institute, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, 37134 Verona, Italy; (G.M.); (G.M.); (A.P.); (R.S.)
| | - Giovanni Marchegiani
- Department of Surgery, The Pancreas Institute, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, 37134 Verona, Italy; (G.M.); (G.M.); (A.P.); (R.S.)
| | - Antonio Pea
- Department of Surgery, The Pancreas Institute, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, 37134 Verona, Italy; (G.M.); (G.M.); (A.P.); (R.S.)
| | - Roberto Salvia
- Department of Surgery, The Pancreas Institute, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, 37134 Verona, Italy; (G.M.); (G.M.); (A.P.); (R.S.)
| | - Valentyna Kryklyva
- Department of Pathology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, 6525 GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands; (V.K.); (L.A.B.)
| | - Jae Il Shin
- Department of Pediatrics, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 120-752, Korea;
| | - Lodewijk A. Brosens
- Department of Pathology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, 6525 GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands; (V.K.); (L.A.B.)
- Department of Pathology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Michele Milella
- Department of Medicine, Section of Oncology, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, 37134 Verona, Italy;
| | - Aldo Scarpa
- ARC-Net Research Center, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, 37134 Verona, Italy; (R.T.L.); (A.M.); (M.L.P.); (S.V.T.)
- Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, Section of Pathology, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, 37134 Verona, Italy;
- Correspondence: (A.S.); (C.L.); Tel.: +39-045-812-7458 (A.S.); +39-045-812-4835 (C.L.)
| | - Claudio Luchini
- Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, Section of Pathology, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, 37134 Verona, Italy;
- Correspondence: (A.S.); (C.L.); Tel.: +39-045-812-7458 (A.S.); +39-045-812-4835 (C.L.)
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