Abstract 4078: KRAS mutation status is associated with stromal inactivation in colorectal cancer and predicts poor response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy
Authors: Pelossof Raphael , Elkatebts Moshe , Chow Oliver , Fairchild Lauren , O’Rourke Kevin , Smith Jesse J. , Chen Chin-Tung , Brook Samuel , Scaltriti Maurizio , Shia Jinru , Paty Philip , Leslie Christina , Lowe Scott , Baselga Jose , Garcia-Aguilar Julio 
Published: July 2016

Background: Treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) consists of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) followed by radical excision. Patients with tumors carrying a mutant KRAS are less likely to respond to NCRT compared to KRAS wild type tumors. We hypothesized that an RNA-based signature differentiating KRAS mutant and wild type patients could serve as an indicator of the biological process associated with response to NCRT. We found that the RNA-based signature is enriched for stromal and immune genes. Furthermore, the stromal component of the signature is a predictor of response to NCRT.

Methods: Tumors from 120 LARC patients enrolled in a multicenter phase 2 trial studying response to NCRT were tested for KRAS status by Sanger Sequencing or Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK)-IMPACT assay and gene expression was quantified by sequencing. Colorectal cancer (CRC) patients from MSK (n = 95) and TCGA (n = 261), previously annotated for KRAS mutation status and gene expression, were used for validation. A KRAS-inducible mouse model and CRC patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) were utilized to determine the cell of origin for the gene expression signature. Stromal enrichment was assessed with the ESTIMATE stromal gene signature. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was completed for Periostin (POSTN), a stromal marker from the RNA-signature. Variant Allele Frequency (VAF) was used to measure the abundance of KRAS, TP53 and Adenomatous Polyposis Coli (APC) mutant alleles in tumors, and was quantified by targeted exome sequencing with the MSK-IMPACT assay.

Results: Analysis of the KRAS-associated gene signature showed significant stromal inactivation in KRAS mutant patients. The signature was validated in the MSK and TCGA cohorts. The stromal signature was recapitulated in a KRAS inducible mouse model. Human CRC PDXs in mouse indicated that the signature arose from murine stroma and not human epithelium. Consistent with the stromal signature, IHC for POSTN, a stromal marker, was significantly lower in the KRAS mutant tumors compared with the KRAS wild type tumors (p&lt;0.05) and was absent from the epithelium. The stromal enrichment in mutant KRAS tumors was inversely correlated with the KRAS VAF (p&lt;0.01). This finding was not observed for TP53 or APC VAF indicating specificity for stromal inactivation in KRAS mutant tumors. Furthermore, the stromal component of the signature is associated with poor response to NCRT in LARC.

Conclusions: This study shows that a KRAS mutation in CRC is associated with a lower expression of a stromal signature and that this signature is derived from the tumor microenvironment. This study indicates that CRC KRAS mutant tumors and a stromal subtype are closely related. Understanding this relationship may play a key role in elucidating the mechanism by which a KRAS mutant tumor is resistant to standard therapy.

Citation Format: Raphael Pelossof, Moshe Elkatebts, Oliver Chow, Lauren Fairchild, Kevin O’Rourke, Jesse J. Smith, Chin-Tung Chen, Samuel Brook, Maurizio Scaltriti, Jinru Shia, Philip Paty, Christina Leslie, Scott Lowe, Jose Baselga, Julio Garcia-Aguilar. KRAS mutation status is associated with stromal inactivation in colorectal cancer and predicts poor response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 4078.