Biomarkers and Biomarker Testing Flashcards
What are the Guideline Sources for Biomarker Testing?
Hint: CAN
College of American Pathologists/Intl. Assc. for the Study of Lung Cancer/Assc. for Molecular Pathology (CAP/IASLC/AMP)
American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)
What is a Diagnostic Biomarker?
Biomarker used to detect or confirm presence of a disease or condition of interest or to identify individuals with a subtype of the disease
Is there an illness? What type of disease is it?
What is a Monitoring Biomarker?
Biomarker measured serially for assessing status of a disease or medical condition or for evidence of exposure to (or effect of) a medical product or an environmental agent
What is the status or extent of a disease or medical condition?
What is a Predictive Biomarker?
Biomarker used to identify individuals who are more likely than similar individuals without the biomarker to experience a favorable or unfavorable effect from exposure to a medical product or an environmental agent
What is the likelihood of response to a treatment?
What is a Prognostic Biomarker?
Biomarker used to identify likelihood of a clinical event, disease recurrence, or progression in patients who have the disease or medical condition of interest
What is the likelihood of a particular clinical outcome?
What is the difference between an Actionable Biomarker and an Emerging Biomarker?
Actionable biomarkers can be targeted by FDA approved products whereas products targeting emerging biomarkers are still under investigation
Actionable Biomarker(s) for Targeted Therapy with TKIs?
Hint: RAMEN-R
RET ALK MET EGFR NTRK - ROS1
Actionable Biomarker(s) for Combined BRAF and MEK Inhibitors?
BRAF
Actionable Biomarker(s) for Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors?
PD-L1 Expression Levels (immune checkpoint protein that inhibits T-cell activation)
Emerging Biomarker(s) for NSCLC?
HINT: TEK
TMB
ERBB2 (HER2)
KRAS
True or False; the presence of a known activating mutation in KRAS identifies patients who are unlikely to benefit from further molecular testing?
True
What is the incidence of KRAS mutations in NSCLC patients?
25 - 35%
True or False; NCCN, CAP/IASLC/AMP, and ASCO recommend expanded testing of KRAS as an emerging biomarker
True
True or False; Adhering to guideline-recommended biomarker testing improves outcomes
True
11% decreased risk for all -cause mortality
22% decreased risk for all-cause mortality at 1 year for those with Stage IV initial diagnosis
8% increase in median OS
True or False; Many patients do not receive biomarker testing and targeted therapy
Hint: Academic and Government vs. Community
True; only 22% of patients are tested for all four guideline-recommended actionable biomarkers in community practices and 55% of patients with actionable mutations do not receive targeted therapy
What are the four guideline-recommended actionable biomarkers?
Hint: BEAR
BRAF
EGFR
ALK
ROS1
What are the seven biomarkers recommended by NCCN guidelines?
Hint BEAR REM
BRAF
EGFR
ALK
ROS1
MET
ERBB2
RET
Note: KRAS is not on this list
Name five biopsy methods
Sputum cytology, thoracentesis, needle biopsy, bronchoscopy, surgery
Under what situations does the NCCN recommend the use of a liquid biopsy?
Hint: Two
- The patient is not medically fit for invasive tissue sampling
- The is insufficient tissue for molecular analysis and follow-up tissue-based analysis will be done if a genetic abnormality is not identified by liquid biopsy
Name some of the Pros and Cons of Liquid Biopsy
Hint: Consider Method, Tumor Heterogeneity, Sample Collection, Sample Requirements, Sample Integrity
Pros: Minimally invasive blood sample, captures tumor heterogeneity
Cons: Helps when insufficient tissue is available or when patient is unfit for biopsy, not all tumors shed cfDNA, requires fast turnaround to maintain sample integrity
Name some of the Pros and Cons of Tissue Biopsy
Hint: Consider Method, Tumor Heterogeneity, Sample Collection, Sample Requirements, Sample Integrity
Pros: Tissue comes directly from the primary tumor or metastatic sites (Gold Standard)
Cons: Collecting adequate sample size, invasive with possible complications (esp. if tumor is inaccessible)
True or False; Tissue and liquid biopsy have reasonable concordance (agreement or consistency) across multiple biomarkers?
True
Name five methodologies used to assess NSCLC biomarkers
Hint: SNIP-F
Sanger sequencing NGS Immunohistochemistry (IHC) PCR - Flourescence in situ hybridization (FISH)
Immunohistochemistry (IHC) can detect ___ biomarker(s) at a time and (can / cannot) be used to assess for a KRAS mutation.
One
Cannot
Flourescence in situ hybridation (FISH) can detect ___ biomarker(s) at a time and (can / cannot) be used to assess for a KRAS mutation.
One
Cannot
PCR can detect ___ biomarker(s) at a time and (can / cannot) be used to assess for a KRAS mutation.
One; exception is multiplex PCR
Can
Sanger sequencing (can / cannot) be used for a KRAS mutation but requires ___% tumor cells to get accurate results.
Can
25 - 30%
NGS (does / does not) require selection of biomarkers of interest prior to testing and (can / cannot) be used to assess for a KRAS mutation.
Does not
Can
True or False; molecular tests (Sanger sequencing, NGS, PCR) can be used to assess for a KRAS mutation
True
Which of the following test(s) go through clinical trials for FDA approval to receive indications for specific therapies?
Lab-developed test (LDT) Companion Diagnostic (CDx)
Companion Diagnostic (CDx); may have a higher standard for analytical and clinical validity due to FDA regulation
True or False; there are a few CDx tests approved to test for KRAS in patients with NSCLC
False; however, some CDx’s are approved for KRAS testing in colorectal samples to include KRAS G12C.
Identify five formats for reporting of KRAS G12C results on a biomarker testing results form
Codon: 12 Exon: 2 Amino acid: NP_203524.1; pGly12Cys Nucleotide change: GGT -> TGT; c.34G>T Variant ID: COSM516
Which one of the following describes KRAS in its active state and which one describes KRAS in its inactive state.
KRAS G12C - GDP
KRAS G12C - GTP
GDP - Inactive
GTP - Active
Hint: Phosphorylation “activates” so tri-phosphate is active, and di-phosphate is inactive
KRAS G12C accounts for nearly ___ of all KRAS mutations, making it one of the most prevalent drivers of mutations in NSCLC
Half, or 44%
What is a truncal mutation?
Hint: Trunk
Mutation that is theoretically present in every cancer cell, or at the trunk of the cancer evolutionary tree
True or False; KRAS mutations occur in smokers (current and former) as well as non-smokers
True
True or False; KRAS G12C is mutually exclusive from other actionable and emerging mutations and patient status does not seem to change over time
True
Which payer type does not require Prior Authorization and no Patient Cost-Sharing?
Original Medicare
Medicare Advantage
Commercial
Original Medicare; but patients may be responsible for an office visit co-pay