Integrating genomics into clinical pediatric oncology using the molecular tumor board at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Abstract

BackgroundPediatric oncologists have begun to leverage tumor genetic profiling to match patients with targeted therapies. At the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), we developed the Pediatric Molecular Tumor Board (PMTB) to track, integrate, and interpret clinical genomic profiling and potential targeted therapeutic recommendations.\n\nProcedureThis retrospective case series includes all patients reviewed by the MSKCC PMTB from July 2014 to June 2015. Cases were submitted by treating oncologists and potential treatment recommendations were based upon the modified guidelines of the Oxford Centre for Evidence Based Medicine.\n\nResultsThere were 41 presentations of 39 individual patients during the study period. Gliomas, acute myeloid leukemia, and neuroblastoma were the most commonly reviewed cases. Thirty nine (87%) of the 45 molecular sequencing profiles utilized hybrid-capture targeted genome sequencing. In 30 (73%) of the 41 presentations, the PMTB provided therapeutic recommendations, of which 19 (46%) were implemented. Twenty-one (70%) of the recommendations involved targeted therapies. Three (14%) targeted therapy recommendations had published evidence to support the proposed recommendations (evidence levels 1-2), 8 (36%) recommendations had preclinical evidence (level 3), and 11 (50%) recommendations were based upon hypothetical biological rationales (level 4).\n\nConclusionsThe MSKCC PMTB enabled a clinically relevant interpretation of genomic profiling. Effective use of clinical genomics is anticipated to require new and improved tools to ascribe pathogenic significance and therapeutic actionability. Development of specific rule-driven clinical protocols will be needed for the incorporation and evaluation of genomic and molecular profiling in interventional prospective clinical trials.