Distinct molecular profiles and shared drug vulnerabilities in pancreatic metastases of renal cell carcinoma

Abstract Clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most common origin of pancreatic metastases (PM). Distinct genomic aberrations, favorable prognosis, and clinical observations on high angiogenesis, and succeeding tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) sensitivity have been reported in PM-ccRCC. However, no functional or single-cell studies have been conducted thus far. We recruited five PM-ccRCC patients and investigated the genomic, single-cell transcriptomic, and drug sensitivity profiles of their patient-derived cells (PDCs). The PM depicted both expected and novel genomic alterations. Further, the transcriptomics differed from both primary and metastatic ccRCC, with upregulations of the PI3K/mTOR and – supporting the clinical observations – angiogenesis pathways. Data integration at pathway level showed that transcriptomics explained drug sensitivities the best. Accordingly, PM-ccRCC PDCs shared sensitivity to many PI3K/mTOR inhibitors. Altogether, we show distinct genomic and transcriptomic signatures in PM-ccRCC, highlight the superiority of transcriptomics in interpreting drug sensitivities, and encourage the use of TKIs and PI3K/mTOR inhibitors in PM-ccRCC.