Undifferentiated Sarcomas in Children Harbor Clinically Relevant Oncogenic Fusions and Gene Copy-Number Alterations: A Report from the Children's Oncology Group.

Abstract

<b>Purpose:</b> A comprehensive analysis of the genomics of undifferentiated sarcomas (UDS) is lacking. We analyzed copy-number alterations and fusion status in patients with UDS prospectively treated on Children's Oncology Group protocol ARST0332.<b>Experimental Design:</b> Copy-number alterations were assessed by OncoScan FFPE Express on 32 UDS. Whole-exome and transcriptome libraries from eight tumors with sufficient archived material were sequenced on HiSeq (2 × 100 bp). Targeted RNA-sequencing using Archer chemistry was performed on two additional cases.<b>Results:</b> Five-year overall survival for patients with UDS was 83% (95% CI, 69%-97%) with risk-adapted therapy (surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy). Both focal and arm-level copy-number alterations were common including gain of 1q (8/32, 25%) and loss of 1p (7/32, 22%), both of which occurred more often in clinically defined high-risk tumors. Tumors with both loss of 1p and gain of 1q carried an especially poor prognosis with a 5-year event-free survival of 20%. GISTIC analysis identified recurrent amplification of FGF1 on 5q31.3 (<i>q</i> = 0.03) and loss of <i>CDKN2A</i> and <i>CDKN2B</i> on 9p21.3 (<i>q</i> = 0.07). Known oncogenic fusions were identified in eight of 10 cases analyzed by next-generation sequencing.<b>Conclusions:</b> Pediatric UDS generally has a good outcome with risk-adapted therapy. A high-risk subset of patients whose tumors have copy-number loss of 1p and gain of 1q was identified with only 20% survival. Oncogenic fusions are common in UDS, and next-generation sequencing should be considered for children with UDS to refine the diagnosis and identify potentially targetable drivers. <i>Clin Cancer Res; 24(16); 3888-97. ©2018 AACR</i>.