Dr. Chen on Rapid Research Autopsy in Rare Cancer

Hui-Zi Chen, MD, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center—The James, discusses the use of rapid research autopsy in metastatic ultra-hypermutated interdigitating dendritic cell sarcoma (IDCS), an extremely rare cancer of dendritic origin that lacks a standardized treatment approach.

It was through rapid research autopsy that investigators were able to procure multiple metastatic tumor samples from a patient with metastatic ultra-hypermutated IDCS, a very rare cancer type, says Chen. What is also unique about this patient’s cancer, in addition to the rare histology, is that he had an ultra-high mutated phenotype and a very high tumor mutational burden. An analysis of tumor tissues revealed that the patient did not have classic drivers leading to this ultra-hypermutation. Investigators hypothesized that this hypermutation may have occurred through changes or mutations in the APOBEC, adds Chen.

The important takeaway from that particular study is that different mechanisms lead to ultra-hypermutation. The goal of the study was to see how this cancer evolved in response to the multiple therapies that the patient received and investigators were able to do that through this work, concludes Chen.