Circulating Cell-Free DNA-Based Comprehensive Molecular Analysis of Biliary Tract Cancers Using Next-Generation Sequencing

Abstract

Biliary tract cancer (BTC) is a rare malignancy with a long disease course and an overall poor prognosis. Despite multiple chemotherapy agents, there is no defined second-line treatment opportunity for advanced BTCs. In the era of precision oncology, NGS plays an important role in identifying mutations that may predict the molecular pathomechanism and manage the BTC therapy. The peripheral blood liquid biopsy (LB) of cancer patients represents variable amounts of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) released from tumor foci of any anatomical location. Our study aimed to identify somatic mutations and tumor variant burden (TVB) in cell-free and matched tumor DNA. We found a positive correlation between the estimated tumor volume and cfDNA yield (r = 0.9326, p < 0.0001). Comparing tissue and LB results, similar TVB was observed. SNVs were proven in 84% of the cases, while in two cases, only the LB sample was informative for molecular analysis. The most important aberrations in BTCs, such as FGFR2, IDH1, IDH2, KRAS, and TP53, could be detected in matched LB samples. Our prospective study demonstrates a minimally invasive testing approach to identify molecular genetic alterations in cholangiocarcinoma and gallbladder cancers. Clinical applications of cfDNA reflect by capturing the outstanding spatial tumor heterogeneity and guarantee novel aspects for the precision oncology treatment.