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Battaglin F, Baca Y, Millstein J, Yang Y, Xiu J, Arai H, Wang J, Ou FS, Innocenti F, Mumenthaler SM, Jayachandran P, Kawanishi N, Lenz A, Soni S, Algaze S, Zhang W, Khoukaz T, Roussos Torres E, Seeber A, Abraham JP, Lou E, Philip PA, Weinberg BA, Shields AF, Goldberg RM, Marshall JL, Venook AP, Korn WM, Lenz HJ. CCR5 and CCL5 gene expression in colorectal cancer: comprehensive profiling and clinical value. J Immunother Cancer 2024; 12:e007939. [PMID: 38212126 PMCID: PMC10806545 DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2023-007939] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 01/13/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The C-C motif chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5)/C-C motif chemokine ligand 5 (CCL5) axis plays a major role in colorectal cancer (CRC). We aimed to characterize the molecular features associated with CCR5/CCL5 expression in CRC and to determine whether CCR5/CCL5 levels could impact treatment outcomes. METHODS 7604 CRCs tested with NextGen Sequencing on DNA and RNA were analyzed. Molecular features were evaluated according to CCR5 and CCL5 tumor gene expression quartiles. The impact on treatment outcomes was assessed in two cohorts, including 6341 real-world patients and 429 patients from the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB)/SWOG 80405 trial. RESULTS CCR5/CCL5 expression was higher in right-sided versus left-sided tumors, and positively associated with consensus molecular subtypes 1 and 4. Higher CCR5/CCL5 expression was associated with higher tumor mutational burden, deficiency in mismatch repair and programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) levels. Additionally, high CCR5/CCL5 were associated with higher immune cell infiltration in the tumor microenvironment (TME) of MMR proficient tumors. Ingenuity pathway analysis revealed upregulation of the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/PD-L1 cancer immunotherapy pathway, phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR) signaling, and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) signaling in cytotoxic T lymphocytes, whereas several inflammation-related pathways were downregulated. Low CCR5/CCL5 expression was associated with increased benefit from cetuximab-FOLFOX treatment in the CALGB/SWOG 80405 trial, where significant treatment interaction was observed with biologic agents and chemotherapy backbone. CONCLUSIONS Our data show a strong association between CCR5/CCL5 gene expression and distinct molecular features, gene expression profiles, TME cell infiltration, and treatment benefit in CRC. Targeting the CCR5/CCL5 axis may have clinical applications in selected CRC subgroups and may play a key role in developing and deploying strategies to modulate the immune TME for CRC treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Battaglin
- University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | | | - Joshua Millstein
- Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Yan Yang
- Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Joanne Xiu
- Caris Life Sciences, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
| | - Hiroyuki Arai
- University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Jingyuan Wang
- University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Fang-Shu Ou
- Alliance Statistics and Data Management Center, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA
| | - Federico Innocenti
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Shannon M Mumenthaler
- University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Lawrence J Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Priya Jayachandran
- University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Natsuko Kawanishi
- University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Annika Lenz
- University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Shivani Soni
- University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Sandra Algaze
- University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Wu Zhang
- University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Taline Khoukaz
- University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Evanthia Roussos Torres
- University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Andreas Seeber
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Comprehensive Cancer Center Innsbruck, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Tirol, Austria
| | | | - Emil Lou
- Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Philip A Philip
- Department of Oncology and Pharmacology, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA
| | - Benjamin A Weinberg
- Ruesch Center for the Cure of Gastrointestinal Cancers, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - Anthony F Shields
- Department of Oncology, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA
| | - Richard M Goldberg
- West Virginia University Cancer Institute, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA
| | - John L Marshall
- Ruesch Center for the Cure of Gastrointestinal Cancers, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - Alan P Venook
- University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
| | | | - Heinz-Josef Lenz
- University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
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