Abstract 1129: Interrogating the molecular profile of pancreatic cancer tumors in Hispanics living in Puerto Rico

Abstract Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is projected to become the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the U.S. by 2040. With a low survival rate at advanced stages and an increasing number of patients, PDAC poses a significant public health challenge. The five-year survival rate for localized PDAC is 44%, but it drops to 15% for regional and just 3% for distant disease. There are clear disparities in PDAC outcomes based on race and ethnicity; however, published data often lack racial and ethnic diversity, particularly regarding non-black minority groups like Hispanics. To address this gap, we evaluated the mutational profiles of PDAC tumors from 48 Hispanic patients living in Puerto Rico (PRH) who underwent next-generation sequencing (NGS) testing between 2015 and 2020. Data were provided by the Precision Oncology Alliance (POA) using the CARIS Life Sciences NGS platform. We estimated the prevalence of somatic mutations in PRH PDAC tumors and compared these profiles with those from the TCGA Pan-Cancer Atlas and the AACR Project GENIE, both accessible via the cBioPortal for Cancer Genomics. Notable differences were observed when compared to TCGA and GENIE. For instance, PRH samples exhibited higher mutational frequencies of BRCA1/2, which are actionable genes that could make these patients candidates for targeted therapies such as PARP inhibitors. Additionally, elevated frequencies of mutations in ARID1A and TP53 in PRH suggest a distinct mutational landscape not typically represented in non-Hispanic populations. These findings underscore the need for population-specific molecular profiling to uncover optimal targeted therapeutic approaches for Hispanic patients. Citation Format: Ingrid M. Montes-Rodriguez, Veroushka Ballester-Vargas, Sol Perez-Martir, Hilamaris Centeno-Girona, Marcia Cruz-Correa, Julie Dutil. Interrogating the molecular profile of pancreatic cancer tumors in Hispanics living in Puerto Rico [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2025; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2025 Apr 25-30; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2025;85(8_Suppl_1):Abstract nr 1129.