Evaluation of pancreatic cancer specimens for comprehensive genomic profiling

Inadequate specimen quality or quantity hinders comprehensive genomic profiling in identifying actionable mutations and guiding treatment strategies. We investigated the optimal conditions for pancreatic cancer specimen selection for comprehensive genomic profiling. We retrospectively analyzed 213 pancreatic cancer cases ordered for comprehensive genomic profiling and compared results from pancreatic biopsy, liver biopsy of pancreatic cancer metastases, pancreatectomy, liquid, and nonliver metastatic organ specimens. We examined preanalytical conditions, including cellularity (tumor cell count/size). The successfully tested cases were those that underwent comprehensive genomic profiling tests without any issues. The successfully tested case ratio was 72.8%. Pancreatic biopsy had the highest successfully tested case ratio (87%), with a high tumor cell percentage, despite the small number of cells (median, 3425). Pancreatic biopsy, liver biopsy of pancreatic cancer metastases, and non-liver metastatic organ had higher successfully tested case ratios than that for pancreatectomy. Liver biopsy of pancreatic cancer metastases and pancreatectomy cases with tumor size (mm2) x tumor ratio (%) > 150 and >3000, respectively, had high successfully tested case ratios. The success of comprehensive genomic profiling is significantly influenced by the tumor cell ratio, and pancreatic biopsy is a potentially suitable specimen for comprehensive genomic profiling.