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Eickelschulte S, Riediger AL, Angeles AK, Janke F, Duensing S, Sültmann H, Görtz M. Biomarkers for the Detection and Risk Stratification of Aggressive Prostate Cancer. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14246094. [PMID: 36551580 PMCID: PMC9777028 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14246094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2022] [Revised: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 12/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Current strategies for the clinical management of prostate cancer are inadequate for a precise risk stratification between indolent and aggressive tumors. Recently developed tissue-based molecular biomarkers have refined the risk assessment of the disease. The characterization of tissue biopsy components and subsequent identification of relevant tissue-based molecular alterations have the potential to improve the clinical decision making and patient outcomes. However, tissue biopsies are invasive and spatially restricted due to tumor heterogeneity. Therefore, there is an urgent need for complementary diagnostic and prognostic options. Liquid biopsy approaches are minimally invasive with potential utility for the early detection, risk stratification, and monitoring of tumors. In this review, we focus on tissue and liquid biopsy biomarkers for early diagnosis and risk stratification of prostate cancer, including modifications on the genomic, epigenomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic levels. High-risk molecular alterations combined with orthogonal clinical parameters can improve the identification of aggressive tumors and increase patient survival.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samaneh Eickelschulte
- Junior Clinical Cooperation Unit, Multiparametric Methods for Early Detection of Prostate Cancer, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Urology, University Hospital Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Cancer Genome Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Anja Lisa Riediger
- Junior Clinical Cooperation Unit, Multiparametric Methods for Early Detection of Prostate Cancer, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Urology, University Hospital Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Cancer Genome Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Arlou Kristina Angeles
- Division of Cancer Genome Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Florian Janke
- Division of Cancer Genome Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Stefan Duensing
- Molecular Urooncology, Department of Urology, University Hospital Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Holger Sültmann
- Division of Cancer Genome Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Magdalena Görtz
- Junior Clinical Cooperation Unit, Multiparametric Methods for Early Detection of Prostate Cancer, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Urology, University Hospital Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +49-6221-42-2603
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Janke F, Angeles AK, Riediger AL, Bauer S, Reck M, Stenzinger A, Schneider MA, Muley T, Thomas M, Christopoulos P, Sültmann H. Longitudinal monitoring of cell-free DNA methylation in ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer patients. Clin Epigenetics 2022; 14:163. [PMID: 36461127 PMCID: PMC9719130 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-022-01387-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2022] [Accepted: 11/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND DNA methylation (5-mC) signals in cell-free DNA (cfDNA) of cancer patients represent promising biomarkers for minimally invasive tumor detection. The high abundance of cancer-associated 5-mC alterations permits parallel and highly sensitive assessment of multiple 5-mC biomarkers. Here, we performed genome-wide 5-mC profiling in the plasma of metastatic ALK-rearranged non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients receiving tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy. We established a strategy to identify ALK-specific 5-mC changes from cfDNA and demonstrated the suitability of the identified markers for cancer detection, prognosis, and therapy monitoring. METHODS Longitudinal plasma samples (n = 79) of 21 ALK-positive NSCLC patients and 13 healthy donors were collected alongside 15 ALK-positive tumor tissue and 10 healthy lung tissue specimens. All plasma and tissue samples were analyzed by cell-free DNA methylation immunoprecipitation sequencing to generate genome-wide 5-mC profiles. Information on genomic alterations (i.e., somatic mutations/fusions and copy number alterations) determined in matched plasma samples was available from previous studies. RESULTS We devised a strategy that identified tumor-specific 5-mC biomarkers by reducing 5-mC background signals derived from hematopoietic cells. This was followed by differential methylation analysis (cases vs. controls) and biomarker validation using 5-mC profiles of ALK-positive tumor tissues. The resulting 245 differentially methylated regions were enriched for lung adenocarcinoma-specific 5-mC patterns in TCGA data and indicated transcriptional repression of several genes described to be silenced in NSCLC (e.g., PCDH10, TBX2, CDO1, and HOXA9). Additionally, 5-mC-based tumor DNA (5-mC score) was highly correlated with other genomic alterations in cell-free DNA (Spearman, ρ > 0.6), while samples with high 5-mC scores showed significantly shorter overall survival (log-rank p = 0.025). Longitudinal 5-mC scores reflected radiologic disease assessments and were significantly elevated at disease progression compared to the therapy start (p = 0.0023). In 7 out of 8 instances, rising 5-mC scores preceded imaging-based evaluation of disease progression. CONCLUSION We demonstrated a strategy to identify 5-mC biomarkers from the plasma of cancer patients and integrated them into a quantitative measure of cancer-associated 5-mC alterations. Using longitudinal plasma samples of ALK-positive NSCLC patients, we highlighted the suitability of cfDNA methylation for prognosis and therapy monitoring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florian Janke
- grid.5253.10000 0001 0328 4908Division of Cancer Genome Research, German Cancer Research Center, National Center for Tumor Diseases, Heidelberg, Germany ,grid.452624.3German Center for Lung Research (DZL), TLRC Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Arlou Kristina Angeles
- grid.5253.10000 0001 0328 4908Division of Cancer Genome Research, German Cancer Research Center, National Center for Tumor Diseases, Heidelberg, Germany ,grid.452624.3German Center for Lung Research (DZL), TLRC Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Anja Lisa Riediger
- grid.5253.10000 0001 0328 4908Division of Cancer Genome Research, German Cancer Research Center, National Center for Tumor Diseases, Heidelberg, Germany ,grid.7497.d0000 0004 0492 0584Helmholtz Young Investigator Group, Multiparametric Methods for Early Detection of Prostate Cancer, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany ,grid.5253.10000 0001 0328 4908Department of Urology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany ,grid.7700.00000 0001 2190 4373Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Simone Bauer
- grid.5253.10000 0001 0328 4908Division of Cancer Genome Research, German Cancer Research Center, National Center for Tumor Diseases, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Martin Reck
- grid.452624.3Lung Clinic Grosshansdorf, Airway Research Center North, German Center for Lung Research, Grosshansdorf, Germany
| | - Albrecht Stenzinger
- grid.452624.3German Center for Lung Research (DZL), TLRC Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany ,grid.5253.10000 0001 0328 4908Institute of Pathology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany ,grid.7497.d0000 0004 0492 0584German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Marc A. Schneider
- grid.452624.3German Center for Lung Research (DZL), TLRC Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany ,grid.5253.10000 0001 0328 4908Translational Research Unit, Thoraxklinik at University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Thomas Muley
- grid.452624.3German Center for Lung Research (DZL), TLRC Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany ,grid.5253.10000 0001 0328 4908Translational Research Unit, Thoraxklinik at University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Michael Thomas
- grid.452624.3German Center for Lung Research (DZL), TLRC Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany ,grid.5253.10000 0001 0328 4908Department of Oncology, Thoraxklinik and National Center for Tumor Disease (NCT) at Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Petros Christopoulos
- grid.452624.3German Center for Lung Research (DZL), TLRC Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany ,grid.5253.10000 0001 0328 4908Department of Oncology, Thoraxklinik and National Center for Tumor Disease (NCT) at Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Holger Sültmann
- grid.5253.10000 0001 0328 4908Division of Cancer Genome Research, German Cancer Research Center, National Center for Tumor Diseases, Heidelberg, Germany ,grid.452624.3German Center for Lung Research (DZL), TLRC Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany ,grid.7497.d0000 0004 0492 0584German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
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Angeles AK, Janke F, Bauer S, Christopoulos P, Riediger AL, Sültmann H. Liquid Biopsies beyond Mutation Calling: Genomic and Epigenomic Features of Cell-Free DNA in Cancer. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:5615. [PMID: 34830770 PMCID: PMC8616179 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13225615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2021] [Revised: 11/08/2021] [Accepted: 11/09/2021] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) analysis using liquid biopsies is a non-invasive method to gain insights into the biology, therapy response, mechanisms of acquired resistance and therapy escape of various tumors. While it is well established that individual cancer treatment options can be adjusted by panel next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based evaluation of driver mutations in cfDNA, emerging research additionally explores the value of deep characterization of tumor cfDNA genomics and fragmentomics as well as nucleosome modifications (chromatin structure), and methylation patterns (epigenomics) for comprehensive and multi-modal assessment of cfDNA. These tools have the potential to improve disease monitoring, increase the sensitivity of minimal residual disease identification, and detection of cancers at earlier stages. Recent progress in emerging technologies of cfDNA analysis is summarized, the added potential clinical value is highlighted, strengths and limitations are identified and compared with conventional targeted NGS analysis, and current challenges and future directions are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arlou Kristina Angeles
- Division of Cancer Genome Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; (A.K.A.); (F.J.); (S.B.)
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany;
- Translational Lung Research Center, German Center for Lung Research (DZL) at Heidelberg University Hospital, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Florian Janke
- Division of Cancer Genome Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; (A.K.A.); (F.J.); (S.B.)
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany;
- Translational Lung Research Center, German Center for Lung Research (DZL) at Heidelberg University Hospital, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Medical Faculty, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Simone Bauer
- Division of Cancer Genome Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; (A.K.A.); (F.J.); (S.B.)
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany;
- Translational Lung Research Center, German Center for Lung Research (DZL) at Heidelberg University Hospital, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Petros Christopoulos
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany;
- Translational Lung Research Center, German Center for Lung Research (DZL) at Heidelberg University Hospital, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Oncology, Thoraxklinik at Heidelberg University Hospital, 69126 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Anja Lisa Riediger
- Helmholtz Young Investigator Group, Multiparametric Methods for Early Detection of Prostate Cancer, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany;
- Department of Urology, Heidelberg University Hospital, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Holger Sültmann
- Division of Cancer Genome Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; (A.K.A.); (F.J.); (S.B.)
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany;
- Translational Lung Research Center, German Center for Lung Research (DZL) at Heidelberg University Hospital, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
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Dietz S, Sültmann H, Du Y, Reisinger E, Riediger AL, Volckmar AL, Stenzinger A, Schlesner M, Jäger D, Hohenfellner M, Duensing S, Grüllich C, Pahernik S. Patient-specific molecular alterations are associated with metastatic clear cell renal cell cancer progressing under tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy. Oncotarget 2017; 8:74049-74057. [PMID: 29088767 PMCID: PMC5650322 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.18200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2017] [Accepted: 05/12/2017] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The availability of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) during the past ten years has led to improved response and overall survival of patients suffering from metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). However, most of these tumors will eventually progress due to resistance evolving under therapy. The objective of this pilot study was to determine whether molecular alterations in ccRCC tissues sampled over the course of the disease might be suggestive of potential therapies. We performed whole exome sequencing of nine samples from four patients in the MORE (Molecular Renal Cancer Evolution) trial. We analyzed the mutational patterns in the tissues at baseline and compared them to those detectable in biopsy samples after progression under TKI therapy. We found limited genetic concordance between primary and secondary tumor sites with private mutations in FLT4, MTOR, ITGA5, SETD2, PBRM1, and BRCA1 on progression. One patient who showed an increased mutational load in the metastasis responded to nivolumab treatment. Our data provide evidence for clonal evolution and diverse pathways leading to acquired TKI resistance of ccRCC. Acquired resistance to TKI in metastatic ccRCC is due to intra-tumor heterogeneity and clonal evolution of resistant subclones. Mutations occurring under progression might be informative for alternative targeted therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steffen Dietz
- Cancer Genome Research Group, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Holger Sültmann
- Cancer Genome Research Group, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - YueJun Du
- Department of Urology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Urology, Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Eva Reisinger
- Data Management Group, Division of Theoretical Bioinformatics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), and Heidelberg Center for Personalized Oncology (DKFZ-HIPO), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Anja Lisa Riediger
- Department of Medical Oncology, National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Anna-Lena Volckmar
- Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Heidelberg, and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Albrecht Stenzinger
- Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Heidelberg, and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Matthias Schlesner
- Division of Theoretical Bioinformatics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Dirk Jäger
- Department of Medical Oncology, National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | | | - Stefan Duensing
- Section of Molecular Urooncology, Department of Urology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Carsten Grüllich
- Department of Medical Oncology, National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Sascha Pahernik
- Department of Urology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Urology, Nuremberg General Hospital, Paracelsus Medical University, Nuremberg, Germany
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