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Updated: Jul 25, 2026

Testing Targeted Therapies in Cancer using Structural DNA Alteration Analysis and Patient-Derived Xenografts
Published on: July 25, 2020
Precise microdissection of gastric mixed adeno-neuroendocrine carcinoma dissects its genomic landscape and
Miao-Zhen Qiu1, Qingjian Chen2, Dan-Yang Zheng3
1Department of Medical Oncology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510060, P.R. China.
Abstract:
Gastric mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinoma (MANEC) is a clinically aggressive and heterogeneous tumor composed of adenocarcinoma (ACA) and neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC). The genomic properties and evolutionary clonal origins of MANEC remain unclear. We conduct whole-exome and multiregional sequencing on 101 samples from 33 patients to elucidate their evolutionary paths. We identify four significantly mutated genes, TP53, RB1, APC, and CTNNB1. MANEC resembles chromosomal instability stomach adenocarcinoma in that whole-genome doubling in MANEC is predominant and occurs earlier than most copy-number losses. All tumors are of monoclonal origin, and NEC components show more aggressive genomic properties than their ACA counterparts. The phylogenetic trees show two tumor divergence patterns, including sequential and parallel divergence. Furthermore, ACA-to-NEC rather than NEC-to-ACA transition is confirmed by immunohistochemistry on 6 biomarkers in ACA- and NEC-dominant regions. These results provide insights into the clonal origin and tumor differentiation of MANEC.

