Hsieh, James J.

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most common renal cell carcinoma subtype, and metastatic ccRCC is associated with 5-year survival rates of 10% to 20%. Genetically, ccRCC originates from sequential losses of multiple tumor suppressor genes. Remarkably, chromosome 3p loss occurs in more than 90% of sporadic ccRCCs. This results in concurrent one-copy loss of four tumor suppressor genes that are also mutated individually at high frequency in ccRCC (ie, VHL, 80%; PBRM1, 29% to 46%; BAP1, 6% to 19%; and SETD2, 8% to 30%). Pathogenically, 3p loss probably represents the first genetic event that occurs in sporadic ccRCC and the second genetic event in VHL-mutated hereditary ccRCC. VHL constitutes the substrate recognition module of the VCB-Cul2 E3 ligase that degrades HIF1/2α, whereas PBRM1, BAP1, and SETD2 are epigenetic modulators that regulate gene transcription. Because 3p loss and VHL inactivation are nearly universal truncal events in ccRCC, the resulting HIF1/2 signaling overdrive and accompanied tumor hypervascularization probably underlie the therapeutic benefits observed with vascular endothelial growth factor receptor inhibitors, including sorafenib, sunitinib, pazopanib, axitinib, bevacizumab, cabozantinib, and lenvatinib. Furthermore, recent marked advances in ccRCC genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, molecular mechanisms, mouse models, prognostic and predictive biomarkers, and clinical trials have rendered invaluable translational insights concerning precision kidney cancer therapeutics. With an armamentarium encompassing 13 drugs that exploit seven unique therapeutic mechanisms (ie, cytokines, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor, mTORC1, cMET/AXL, fibroblast growth factor receptor, programmed cell death-1 and programmed death-ligand 1, and cytotoxic T-cell lymphocyte associated-4) to treat metastatic renal cell carcinoma, one of the imminent clinical questions concerning care of patients with metastatic ccRCC is how a personalized treatment strategy, through rationally combining and sequencing different therapeutic modalities, can be formulated to offer the best clinical outcome for individual patients. Here, we attempt to integrate recent discoveries of immediate translational impacts and discuss future translational challenges and opportunities.

Chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (chRCC) typically shows ~7 chromosome losses (1, 2, 6, 10, 13, 17, and 21) and ~31 exonic somatic mutations, yet carries ~5%–10% metastatic incidence. Since extensive chromosomal losses can generate proteotoxic stress and compromise cellular proliferation, it is intriguing how chRCC, a tumor with extensive chromosome losses and a low number of somatic mutations, can develop lethal metastases. Genomic features distinguishing metastatic from nonmetastatic chRCC are unknown. An integrated approach, including whole-genome sequencing (WGS), targeted ultradeep cancer gene sequencing, and chromosome analyses (FACETS, OncoScan, and FISH), was performed on 79 chRCC patients including 38 metastatic (M-chRCC) cases. We demonstrate that TP53 mutations (58%), PTEN mutations (24%), and imbalanced chromosome duplication (ICD, duplication of ≥ 3 chromosomes) (25%) were enriched in M-chRCC. Reconstruction of the subclonal composition of paired primary-metastatic chRCC tumors supports the role of TP53 , PTEN , and ICD in metastatic evolution. Finally, the presence of these 3 genomic features in primary tumors of both The Cancer Genome Atlas kidney chromophobe (KICH) ( n = 64) and M-chRCC ( n = 35) cohorts was associated with worse survival. In summary, our study provides genomic insights into the metastatic progression of chRCC and identifies TP53 mutations, PTEN mutations, and ICD as high-risk features.

513 Background: Chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (chRCC) is the third most common histologic subtype of kidney cancer. While most of these tumors have an indolent behavior, 7% of patients with chRCC develop metastases, with no currently available standard of care. The Cancer Genome Atlas characterized chRCC, highlighting pathognomonic single copy chromosomal losses of 1, 2, 6, 10, 13 and 17, as well as a minimal mutation burden distinguishing it from all other cancer types. However, only 15% of the analyzed patients had advanced disease. We analyzed metastatic chRCC to further characterize these tumors and elucidate mechanisms leading to aggressive disease using a variety of next generation and whole genome sequencing. Methods: Our cohort of metastatic chRCC consisted of 40 patients with available clinical and pathologic data. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) was performed on 6 patients (4 primary tumors and 2 metastases), 42 additional samples from 33 patients were analyzed using targeted next-generation sequencing (MSK-IMPACT). Notably, we were able to collect and analyze matched primary and metastatic tumors from 7 patients. As control cohort 27 non-metastatic chRCC tumors were sequenced with MSK-IMPACT. Copy number patterns were computed with OncoSNP seq and FACETS. Results: The most commonly mutated genes in the aggressive chRCC tumors were TP53 and PTEN (WGS: TP53 67 %, PTEN 33%; MSK-IMPACT: TP53 61%, PTEN 27%). No other genes were mutated frequently. Primary tumor samples of chRCC did show the typical pattern of chromosomal losses in 1, 2, 6, 10, 13 and 17. Interestingly, these canonical losses could not be detected in the metastases even when accounting for tumor purity. Conclusions: TP53 and PTEN mutations are highly enriched in both primary and metastatic tumors of aggressive chRCC compared to the non-aggressive tumors and likely play a critical role in disease progression. More intriguingly, the observation of differential copy numbers in matched primary and metastatic tumors suggest whole genome or whole chromosome events in these samples. We are currently employing different bioinformatic and cytogenetic platforms to validate our novel hypothesis of chromosomal events as driver for metastatic development in chRCC.