Clonal evolution during metastatic spread in high-risk neuroblastoma

Patients with high-risk neuroblastoma generally present with widely metastatic disease and often relapse despite intensive therapy. As most studies to date focused on diagnosis-relapse pairs, our understanding of the genetic and clonal dynamics of metastatic spread and disease progression remain limited. Here, using genomic profiling of 470 sequential and spatially separated samples from 283 patients, we characterize subtype-specific genetic evolutionary trajectories from diagnosis through progression and end-stage metastatic disease. Clonal tracing timed disease initiation to embryogenesis. Continuous acquisition of structural variants at disease-defining loci (MYCN, TERT, MDM2-CDK4) followed by convergent evolution of mutations targeting shared pathways emerged as the predominant feature of progression. At diagnosis metastatic clones were already established at distant sites where they could stay dormant, only to cause relapses years later and spread via metastasis-to-metastasis and polyclonal seeding after therapy. Genomic and transcriptomic analysis of 470 mostly high-risk neuroblastomas collected from 283 patients delineates subtype-specific evolutionary patterns and progression-related convergent evolution and describes the clonal dynamics of metastases.

Automated summary

Patients with high-risk neuroblastoma often experience widely metastatic disease and relapse despite intensive therapy. Understanding the genetic and clonal dynamics of metastatic spread and disease progression has been limited. In this study, genomic profiling of sequential and spatially separated samples from 283 patients revealed subtype-specific genetic evolutionary trajectories and the clonal dynamics of metastases. Convergent evolution of mutations targeting shared pathways emerged as a predominant feature of disease progression.