Actionable molecular alterations in newly diagnosed and recurrent IDH1/2 wild-type glioblastoma patients and therapeutic implications: a large mono-institutional experience using extensive next-generation sequencing analysis

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) panels enable the identification of alterations in cancer-related genes. This may guide a molecularly targeted strategy for the treatment of glioblastoma (GBM). We retrospectively analysed data obtained using FoundationOne®CDx in a large cohort of IDH1/2 wild-type GBM. We aimed to 1) identify potentially actionable molecular alterations at diagnosis and/or recurrence based on ESMO Scale for Clinical Actionability of Molecular Targets (ESCAT) defined categories of targetability, 2) understand the clinical implications of NGS in terms of access to and activity of targeted therapies. In 442 samples, an NGS profile was available in 98.2%. The median time from diagnosis to NGS profiling was 7.4 months (interquartile range (IQR): 3.4–13.2). Although about half of the patients had at least one actionable molecular alteration, only 3.4% of them were classified as ESCAT IB–IC and 6.7% as ESCAT IIB. Only 36 patients (10.5%) received personalised treatment in clinical trials or as off-label/compassionate use from second-line (median line 3). Most patients did not receive targeted therapy due to clinical deterioration/death (49.6%). Patients treated with dabrafenib/trametinib (9 patients) had the highest disease control rate of 77% and an objective response rate of 22%, with a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 5.2 months. No complete/partial responses were seen with the other regimens. 4/9 (44.4%) patients on anti-BRAF/anti-MEK, 2/4 patients (50%) on erdafitinib and 1/1 patient on capmatinib had a PFS ratio > 1.3. One recurrent GBM patient with ROS1-GOCP fusion maintained a complete response for 11.3 months on entrectinib. Our study demonstrated the feasibility of NGS in GBM samples. As the number of clinically relevant targets was limited and only a small group of GBM patients were treated with targeted therapy, NGS testing should be performed in the context of clinical trials. Our results support the activity of anti-BRAF/anti-MEK, while for the other agents prospective study results are needed to draw solid conclusions. •NGS may be a viable tool in GBM patients.•There were limited clinically relevant targets.•Only a small number of patients received targeted therapy.•We confirmed the activity of anti-BRAF/anti-MEK in BRAF V600E mutant GBM.•Prospective clinical trials or registries are needed to obtain results for other agents.