Actionable gene alterations in an Asian population with triple-negative breast cancer

It has been suggested that the biological characteristics of breast cancer may differ among different geographic or ethnic populations. Indeed, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), the most lethal breast cancer subgroup, has been reported to show a higher incidence in Japan than in the US. However, most genomic studies of these tumors are from Western countries and the genomic landscape of TNBC in an Asian population has not been thoroughly investigated. Here, we sought to elucidate the geographic and ethnic diversity of breast cancer by examining actionable driver alterations in TNBC tumors from Japanese patients and comparing them with The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, which gather data primarily from non-Asian patients.

We performed comprehensive genomic profiling, including an analysis of 435 known cancer genes on Japanese TNBC patients (N=53) and compared the results to independent data obtained from TCGA (N=123).

Driver alterations were identified in 51 out of 53 Japanese patients (96%). Although the overall alteration spectrum of Japanese patients was similar to that of the TCGA, we found significant differences in the frequencies of alterations in MYC and PTK2. We identified three patients (5.7%) with a high tumor mutation burden, although no microsatellite instability was observed in any of the Japanese patients. Importantly, pathway analysis revealed that 66.0% (35/53) of Japanese patients, as well as 66.7% (82/123) of the TCGA cohort, had alterations in at least one actionable gene targetable by an FDA-approved drug.

Our study identified actionable driver alterations in Japanese patients with TNBC, revealing new opportunities for targeted therapies in Asian patients.