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Genomic and transcriptomic characterization of heterogeneous immune subgroups of microsatellite instability-high colorectal cancers

Authors
 Jung Ho Kim  ;  Mi-Kyoung Seo  ;  Ji Ae Lee  ;  Seung-Yeon Yoo  ;  Hyeon Jeong Oh  ;  Hyundeok Kang  ;  Nam-Yun Cho  ;  Jeong Mo Bae  ;  Gyeong Hoon Kang  ;  Sangwoo Kim 
Citation
 JOURNAL FOR IMMUNOTHERAPY OF CANCER, Vol.9(12) : e003414, 2021-12 
Journal Title
JOURNAL FOR IMMUNOTHERAPY OF CANCER
Issue Date
2021-12
Keywords
gastrointestinal neoplasms ; gene expression profiling ; immunohistochemistry ; lymphocytes ; tumor microenvironment ; tumor-infiltrating
Abstract
Background: Colorectal cancers (CRCs) with microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) are hypermutated tumors and are generally regarded as immunogenic. However, their heterogeneous immune responses and underlying molecular characteristics remain largely unexplained.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 73 primary MSI-H CRC tissues to characterize heterogeneous immune subgroups. Based on combined tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) immunoscore and tertiary lymphoid structure (TLS) activity, MSI-H CRCs were classified into immune-high, immune-intermediate, and immune-low subgroups. Of these, the immune-high and immune-low subgroups were further analyzed using whole-exome and transcriptome sequencing.

Results: We found considerable variations in immune parameters between MSI-H CRCs, and immune subgrouping of MSI-H CRCs was performed accordingly. The TIL densities and TLS activities of immune-low MSI-H CRCs were comparable to those of an immune-low or immune-intermediate subgroup of microsatellite-stable CRCs. There were remarkable differences between immune-high and immune-low MSI-H CRCs, including their pathological features (medullary vs mucinous), genomic alterations (tyrosine kinase fusions vs KRAS mutations), and activated signaling pathways (immune-related vs Wnt and Notch signaling), whereas no significant differences were found in tumor mutational burden (TMB) and neoantigen load. The immune-low MSI-H CRCs were subdivided by the consensus molecular subtype (CMS1 vs CMS3) with different gene expression signatures (mesenchymal/stem-like vs epithelial/goblet-like), suggesting distinct immune evasion mechanisms. Angiogenesis and CD200 were identified as potential therapeutic targets in immune-low CMS1 and CMS3 MSI-H CRCs, respectively.

Conclusions: MSI-H CRCs are immunologically heterogeneous, regardless of TMB. The unusual immune-low MSI-H CRCs are characterized by mucinous histology, KRAS mutations, and Wnt/Notch activation, and can be further divided into distinct gene expression subtypes, including CMS4-like CMS1 and CMS3. Our data provide novel insights into precise immunotherapeutic strategies for subtypes of MSI-H tumors.
Files in This Item:
T202124657.pdf Download
DOI
10.1136/jitc-2021-003414
Appears in Collections:
1. College of Medicine (의과대학) > Dept. of Biomedical Systems Informatics (의생명시스템정보학교실) > 1. Journal Papers
Yonsei Authors
Kim, Sangwoo(김상우) ORCID logo https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5356-0827
URI
https://ir.ymlib.yonsei.ac.kr/handle/22282913/187499
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