Clinical next-generation sequencing reveals aggressive cancer biology in adolescent and young adult patients

BACKGROUND: The aggressive biology of cancers arising in adolescent and young adult (AYA; ages 15–39 years) patients is thought to contribute to poor survival outcomes. METHODS: We used clinical next-generation sequencing (NGS) results to examine the molecular alterations and diverse biology of cancer in AYA patients referred to the Phase 1 program at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. RESULTS: Among the 28 patients analyzed (14 female and 14 male), 12 had pediatric-type cancers, six had adult-type cancers, and ten had orphan cancers. Unique, hitherto unreported aberrations were identified in all types of cancers. Aberrations in TP53, NKX2-1, KRAS, CDKN2A, MDM4, MCL1, MYC, BCL2L2, and RB1 were demonstrated across all tumor types. Five patients harbored TP53 aberrations; three patients harbored MYC, MCL1, and CDKN2A aberrations; and two patients harbored NKX2-1, KRAS, MDM4, BCL2L2, and RB1 alterations. Several patients had multiple aberrations; a patient with wild-type gastrointestinal stromal tumor harbored five alterations (MDM4, MCL1, KIT, AKT3, and PDGRFA). CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary report of NGS of cancer in AYA patients reveals diverse and unique aberrations. Further molecular profiling and a deeper understanding of the biology of these unique aberrations are warranted and may lead to targeted therapeutic interventions.