Identification of a gene expression signature associated with brain metastasis in colorectal cancer

• Marlies Michl ^[1] ; Volker Heinemann ^[1] ; Michael von Bergwelt Baildon ^[1] ; Tobias Marcus Herold ^[1] ; Frederick Klauschen ^[2] ; Francesco Taverna ^[3] ; Christine Woischke ^[3] ; Pan Li ^[3] ; Thomas Kirchner ^[3] ; Jörg Kumbrink ^[3] ; Jens Neumann ^[3] ; Arndt Stahler ^[4] ; Vindi Jurinovic ^[5] ; Jutta Engel ^[6]
  1. [1] Department of Medicine III, University Hospital, Ludwig- Maximilian-University of Munich, Munich, Germany
  2. [2] Department of Haematology and Oncology, Comprehensive Cancer Center Munich, Ludwig-Maximilian-University of Munich, Munich, Germany
  3. [3] Institute of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilian-University of Munich, Munich, Germany
  4. [4] Department of Hematology, Oncology, and Tumorimmunology, Corporate Member of Freie Universitaet Berlin and Humbolt-Universitaet zu Berlin, Charité – Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
  5. [5] Institute for Medical Information Processing, Biometry and Epidemiology, Ludwig-Maximilian-University of Munich, Munich, Germany
  6. [6] Munich Cancer Registry (MCR), Ludwig-Maximilian-University of Munich, Munich, Germany

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• Localización: Clinical & translational oncology, ISSN 1699-048X, Vol. 26, Nº. 8, 2024, págs. 1886-1895
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Purpose Brain metastasis (BM) in colorectal cancer (CRC) is a rare event with poor prognosis. Apart from (K)RAS status and lung and bone metastasis no biomarkers exist to identify patients at risk. This study aimed to identify a gene expression signature associated with colorectal BM.

    Methods Three patient groups were formed: 1. CRC with brain metastasis (BRA), 2. exclusive liver metastasis (HEP) and, 3. non-metastatic disease (M0). RNA was extracted from primary tumors and mRNA expression was measured using a NanoString Panel (770 genes). Expression was confirmed by qPCR in a validation cohort. Statistical analyses including multivariate logistic regression followed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis were performed.

    Results EMILIN3, MTA1, SV2B, TMPRSS6, ACVR1C, NFAT5 and SMC3 were differentially expressed in BRA and HEP/ M0 groups. In the validation cohort, differential NFAT5, ACVR1C and SMC3 expressions were confirmed. BRA patients showed highest NFAT5 levels compared to HEP/M0 groups (global p = 0.02). High ACVR1C expression was observed more frequently in the BRA group (42.9%) than in HEP (0%) and M0 (7.1%) groups (global p = 0.01). High SMC3 expressions were only detectable in the BRA group (global p = 0.003). Only patients with BM showed a combined high expression of NFAT5, ACVR1C or SMC3 as well as of all three genes. ROC analysis revealed a good prediction of brain metastasis by the three genes (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.78).

    Conclusions The NFAT5, ACVR1C and SMC3 gene expression signature is associated with colorectal BM. Future studies should further investigate the importance of this biomarker signature.