Molecular analysis of ascitic fluid cytology reflects genetic changes of malignancies of the ovary equivalent to surgically resected specimens.

BACKGROUND

The objective of this study was to identify the clinical utility of genomic analysis of ascitic fluid cytology (AC) in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer.

METHODS

Targeted next-generation sequencing was used to analyze 66 samples from 33 patients who had ovarian (n = 23), fallopian tube (n = 2), and peritoneal (n = 8) carcinoma, and the concordance rate of molecular profiles was compared between surgically resected, formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues and AC samples.

RESULTS

In total, 159 mutations were identified (54 oncogenic mutations and 105 nononcogenic mutations) in 66 DNA samples (33 FFPE tissues and 33 AC samples) from 33 patients. Of the 159 mutations, 57 (35.8%) were shared between surgically resected FFPE tissues and AC samples. However, the concordance rate of the molecular profiles between the 2 was significantly higher for oncogenic mutations compared with nononcogenic mutations (85.1% vs 10.5%; P < .01). Indeed, the AC samples covered all oncogenic mutations (n = 46) that were detected in surgically resected specimens and identified additional mutations (n = 8).

CONCLUSIONS

The current results indicated that genomic analysis of AC can identify all of the genetic changes associated with epithelial ovarian cancer to understand tumor characteristics without interventional surgery or biopsy and may play an important role in developing personalized precision medicine.