Whole genome sequencing reveals the independent clonal origin of multifocal ileal neuroendocrine tumors

BACKGROUND: Small intestinal neuroendocrine tumors (SI-NETs) are the most common neoplasms of the small bowel. The majority of tumors are located in the distal ileum with a high incidence of multiple synchronous primary tumors. Even though up to 50% of SI-NET patients are diagnosed with multifocal disease, the mechanisms underlying multiple synchronous lesions remain elusive. METHODS: We performed whole genome sequencing of 75 de-identified synchronous primary tumors, 15 metastases, and corresponding normal samples from 13 patients with multifocal ileal NETs to identify recurrent somatic genomic alterations, frequently affected signaling pathways, and shared mutation signatures among multifocal SI-NETs. Additionally, we carried out chromosome mapping of the most recurrent copy-number alterations identified to determine which parental allele had been affected in each tumor and assessed the clonal relationships of the tumors within each patient. RESULTS: Absence of shared somatic variation between the synchronous primary tumors within each patient was observed, indicating that these tumors develop independently. Although recurrent copy-number alterations were identified, additional chromosome mapping revealed that tumors from the same patient can gain or lose different parental alleles. In addition to the previously reported CDKN1B loss-of-function mutations, we observed potential loss-of-function gene alterations in TNRC6B, a candidate tumor suppressor gene in a small subset of ileal NETs. Furthermore, we show that multiple metastases in the same patient can originate from either one or several primary tumors. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates major genomic diversity among multifocal ileal NETs, highlighting the need to identify and remove all primary tumors, which have the potential to metastasize, and the need for optimized targeted treatments. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13073-022-01083-1.