Molecular Differences With Therapeutic Implications in Early-Onset Compared With Average-Onset Biliary Tract Cancers

Early-onset biliary tract cancer (eoBTC) is among the fast-growing subset of early-onset cancers, yet little is known about its biology. We sought to identify novel molecular characteristics of eoBTC in relation to average-onset BTC (aoBTC) using a real-world multiomics data set.

The study comprised patients with BTC whose tumors underwent molecular analyses at Caris Life Sciences and were categorized by age (<50 years for eoBTC, ≥50 years for aoBTC). P values were adjusted for multiple testing and considered significant at Q < 0.05 (molecular comparisons) or Q < 0.25 (Gene Set Enrichment Analysis [GSEA]). Insurance claims data were used for survival analysis.

The study included 5,587 patients with BTC (453 eoBTC, median age = 44 years and 5,134 aoBTC, median age = 68 years). FGFR2 fusion (15.7% in eoBTC v 5.9% in aoBTC) and NIPBL fusion (1.1% v 0%) were significantly more prevalent in eoBTC (both Q < 0.001). The interferon gamma-IFG score (fold change [FC], 1.1; Q = 0.01) and T-cell inflammation score (FC, 17.3; Q = 0.03) were significantly higher in aoBTC. On GSEA, angiogenesis was enriched in eoBTC (normalized enrichment score [NES] = 1.51; Q = 0.16), whereas IFG (NES = -1.58; Q = 0.06) and inflammatory response (NES = -1.46; Q = 0.18) were enriched in aoBTC. The median overall survival (OS) was 16.5 (eoBTC) versus 13.3 months (aoBTC), hazard ratio = 0.86, P = .004. The median OS by FGFR2 fusion (with fusion v without) was 21.7 versus 15.0 months (P = .47) for eoBTC and 18.6 versus 12.2 months (P < .001) for aoBTC.

We identified crucial differences including higher prevalence of FGFR2 fusions in eoBTC and variations in immunotherapy-related markers. Better outcomes in eoBTC were affected by the FGFR2 fusion status. Our findings underscore the need for ensuring access to next-generation sequencing testing, including prompt identification of actionable targets.