Genetic Determinants of Cisplatin Resistance in Patients With Advanced Germ Cell Tumors.

Purpose Owing to its exquisite chemotherapy sensitivity, most patients with metastatic germ cell tumors (GCTs) are cured with cisplatin-based chemotherapy. However, up to 30% of patients with advanced GCT exhibit cisplatin resistance, which requires intensive salvage treatment, and have a 50% risk of cancer-related death. To identify a genetic basis for cisplatin resistance, we performed whole-exome and targeted sequencing of cisplatin-sensitive and cisplatin-resistant GCTs.

Genomic characterization of response to chemoradiation in urothelial bladder cancer.

Background: The authors characterized the genetic landscape of chemoradiation-treated urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (UCB) with the objective of identifying potential correlates of response.

Methods: Primary tumors with (n = 8) or without (n = 40) matched recurrent tumors from 48 patients who had non-metastatic, high-grade UCB and received treatment primarily with chemoradiation were analyzed using a next-generation sequencing assay enriched for cancer-related and canonical DNA damage response (DDR) genes. Protein expression of meiotic recombination 11 homolog (MRE11), a previously suggested biomarker, was assessed in 44 patients.

Frequent somatic CDH1 loss-of-function mutations in plasmacytoid variant bladder cancer.

Plasmacytoid bladder cancer is an aggressive histologic variant with a high risk of disease-specific mortality. Using whole-exome and targeted sequencing, we find that truncating somatic alterations in the CDH1 gene occur in 84% of plasmacytoid carcinomas and are specific to this histologic variant. Consistent with the aggressive clinical behavior of plasmacytoid carcinomas, which frequently recur locally, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout of CDH1 in bladder cancer cells enhanced cell migration.