Molecular and functional landscape of malignant serous effusions for precision oncology [MSE_baseline]

Personalized treatment for patients with advanced solid tumors critically depends on the deep characterization of tumor cells. These patients frequently develop malignant serous effusions (MSE). The value of MSE-based tumor cell characterization for guiding precision oncology is, however, currently unclear. Here, we present a comprehensive characterization of a pan-cancer cohort of 150 MSE samples at the cellular, molecular, and functional level. Our integrative analysis reveals dynamic cellular heterogeneity in MSE, and uncovers links between tumor driver mutations and ex vivo growth patterns. Strong concordance between genomic and transcriptional profiles of MSE and their corresponding solid tumors validates their use as a model system for solid tumor biology. We link baseline gene expression patterns to global ex vivo drug sensitivity, and demonstrate that drug-induced transcriptional changes in MSE are highly indicative of compound mode of action. Two case studies exemplify the utility of our approach in investigating acquired resistance to targeted therapy and identifying treatment options for relapsed solid tumors. In summary, our study provides a functional multi-omics view on a pan-cancer MSE cohort and underlines the utility of MSE-based precision oncology.