Nationwide evaluation of mutation-tailored treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumors in daily clinical practice

• Published in: Gastric cancer : official journal of the International Gastric Cancer Association and the Japanese Gastric Cancer Association Vol. 24; no. 5; pp. 990 - 1002
• Main Authors: Steeghs, Elisabeth M. P., Gelderblom, Hans, Ho, Vincent K. Y., Voorham, Quirinus J. M., Willems, Stefan M., Grünberg, Katrien, Ligtenberg, Marjolijn J. L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Springer Singapore 01.09.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Abdominal Surgery; Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; Cancer Research; Clinical medicine; Dosage; Enzyme inhibitors; Gastric cancer; Gastroenterology; Gastrointestinal cancer; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors - drug therapy; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors - genetics; Humans; Imatinib; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metastases; Metastasis; Mutation; Oncology; Original; Original Article; Patients; Protein-tyrosine kinase; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit - genetics; Receptor, Platelet-Derived Growth Factor alpha - genetics; Stomach Neoplasms; Surgical Oncology; Targeted cancer therapy; Tumors; Molecular targeted therapy; PDGFRA; Imatinib; Predictive genetic testing; KIT; Gastrointestinal stromal tumor; Guidelines
• ISSN: 1436-3291; 1436-3305
• DOI: 10.1007/s10120-021-01190-9

Background Molecular analysis of KIT and PDGFRA is critical for tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment selection of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) and hence recommended by international guidelines. We performed a nationwide study into the application of predictive mutation testing in GIST patients and its impact on targeted treatment decisions in clinical practice. Methods Real-world clinical and pathology information was obtained from GIST patients with initial diagnosis in 2017–2018 through database linkage between the Netherlands Cancer Registry and the nationwide Dutch Pathology Registry. Results Predictive mutation analysis was performed in 89% of the patients with high risk or metastatic disease. Molecular testing rates were higher for patients treated in expertise centers (96%) compared to non-expertise centers (75%, P  < 0.01). Imatinib therapy was applied in 81% of the patients with high risk or metastatic disease without patient’s refusal or adverse characteristics, e.g., comorbidities or resistance mutations. Mutation analysis that was performed in 97% of these imatinib-treated cases, did not guarantee mutation-tailored treatment: 2% of these patients had the PDGFRA p.D842V resistance mutation and 7% initiated imatinib therapy at the normal instead of high dose despite of having a KIT exon 9 mutation. Conclusion In conclusion, nationwide real-world data show that over 81% of the eligible high risk or metastatic disease patients receive targeted therapy, which was tailored to the mutation status as recommended in guidelines in 88% of cases. Therefore, still 27% of these GIST patients misses out on mutation-tailored treatment. The reasons for suboptimal uptake of testing and treatment require further study.