Nishihara, Reiko

INTRODUCTION: Early-onset colorectal cancer diagnosed before the age of 50 years has been increasing. Likely reflecting the pathogenic role of the intestinal microbiome, which gradually changes across the entire colorectal length, the prevalence of certain tumor molecular characteristics gradually changes along colorectal subsites. Understanding how colorectal tumor molecular features differ by age and tumor location is important in personalized patient management. METHODS: Using 14,004 cases with colorectal cancer including 3,089 early-onset cases, we examined microsatellite instability (MSI), CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP), and KRAS and BRAF mutations in carcinomas of the cecum, ascending colon, transverse colon, descending colon, sigmoid colon, and rectum and compared early-onset cases with later-onset cases. RESULTS: The proportions of MSI-high, CIMP-high, and BRAF -mutated early-onset tumors were lowest in the rectum (8.8%, 3.4%, and 3.5%, respectively) and highest in the ascending colon (46% MSI-high; 15% CIMP-high) or transverse colon (8.6% BRAF -mutated) (all P trend <0.001 across the rectum to ascending colon). Compared with later-onset tumors, early-onset tumors showed a higher prevalence of MSI-high status and a lower prevalence of CIMP-high status and BRAF mutations in most subsites. KRAS mutation prevalence was higher in the cecum compared with that in the other subsites in both early-onset and later-onset tumors ( P < 0.001). Notably, later-onset MSI-high tumors showed a continuous decrease in KRAS mutation prevalence from the rectum (36%) to ascending colon (9%; P trend <0.001), followed by an increase in the cecum (14%), while early-onset MSI-high cancers showed no such trend. DISCUSSION: Our findings support biogeographical and pathogenic heterogeneity of colorectal carcinomas in different colorectal subsites and age groups.

Abstract Background: Fusobacterium nucleatum (F. nucleatum) activates oncogenic signaling pathways and induces inflammation to promote colorectal carcinogenesis. Methods: We characterized F. nucleatum and its subspecies in colorectal tumors and examined associations with tumor characteristics and colorectal cancer–specific survival. We conducted deep sequencing of nusA, nusG, and bacterial 16s rRNA genes in tumors from 1,994 patients with colorectal cancer and assessed associations between F. nucleatum presence and clinical characteristics, colorectal cancer–specific mortality, and somatic mutations. Results: F. nucleatum, which was present in 10.3% of tumors, was detected in a higher proportion of right-sided and advanced-stage tumors, particularly subspecies animalis. Presence of F. nucleatum was associated with higher colorectal cancer–specific mortality (HR, 1.97; P = 0.0004). This association was restricted to nonhypermutated, microsatellite-stable tumors (HR, 2.13; P = 0.0002) and those who received chemotherapy [HR, 1.92; confidence interval (CI), 1.07–3.45; P = 0.029). Only F. nucleatum subspecies animalis, the main subspecies detected (65.8%), was associated with colorectal cancer–specific mortality (HR, 2.16; P = 0.0016), subspecies vincentii and nucleatum were not (HR, 1.07; P = 0.86). Additional adjustment for tumor stage suggests that the effect of F. nucleatum on mortality is partly driven by a stage shift. Presence of F. nucleatum was associated with microsatellite instable tumors, tumors with POLE exonuclease domain mutations, and ERBB3 mutations, and suggestively associated with TP53 mutations. Conclusions: F. nucleatum, and particularly subspecies animalis, was associated with a higher colorectal cancer–specific mortality and specific somatic mutated genes. Impact: Our findings identify the F. nucleatum subspecies animalis as negatively impacting colorectal cancer mortality, which may occur through a stage shift and its effect on chemoresistance.

Abstract Background Smoking is associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk. Previous studies suggested this association may be restricted to certain molecular subtypes of CRC, but large-scale comprehensive analysis is lacking. Methods A total of 9789 CRC cases and 11 231 controls of European ancestry from 11 observational studies were included. We harmonized smoking variables across studies and derived sex study–specific quartiles of pack-years of smoking for analysis. Four somatic colorectal tumor markers were assessed individually and in combination, including BRAF mutation, KRAS mutation, CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP), and microsatellite instability (MSI) status. A multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association between smoking and risk of CRC subtypes by molecular characteristics, adjusting for age, sex, and study. All statistical tests were 2-sided and adjusted for Bonferroni correction. Results Heavier smoking was associated with higher risk of CRC overall and stratified by individual markers (Ptrend &lt; .001). The associations differed statistically significantly between all molecular subtypes, which was the most statistically significant for CIMP and BRAF. Compared with never-smokers, smokers in the fourth quartile of pack-years had a 90% higher risk of CIMP-positive CRC (odds ratio = 1.90, 95% confidence interval = 1.60 to 2.26) but only 35% higher risk for CIMP-negative CRC (odds ratio = 1.35, 95% confidence interval = 1.22 to 1.49; Pdifference = 2.1 x 10-6). The association was also stronger in tumors that were CIMP positive, MSI high, or KRAS wild type when combined (Pdifference &lt; .001). Conclusion Smoking was associated with differential risk of CRC subtypes defined by molecular characteristics. Heavier smokers had particularly higher risk of CRC subtypes that were CIMP positive and MSI high in combination, suggesting that smoking may be involved in the development of colorectal tumors via the serrated pathway.

Abstract Protective associations of fruits, vegetables, and fiber intake with colorectal cancer risk have been shown in many, but not all epidemiologic studies. One possible reason for study heterogeneity is that dietary factors may have distinct effects by colorectal cancer molecular subtypes. Here, we investigate the association of fruit, vegetables, and fiber intake with four well-established colorectal cancer molecular subtypes separately and in combination. Nine observational studies including 9,592 cases with molecular subtypes for microsatellite instability (MSI), CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP), and somatic mutations in BRAF and KRAS genes, and 7,869 controls were analyzed. Both case-only logistic regression analyses and polytomous logistic regression analyses (with one control set and multiple case groups) were used. Higher fruit intake was associated with a trend toward decreased risk of BRAF-mutated tumors [OR 4th vs. 1st quartile = 0.82 (95% confidence interval, 0.65–1.04)] but not BRAF-wildtype tumors [1.09 (0.97–1.22); P difference as shown in case-only analysis = 0.02]. This difference was observed in case–control studies and not in cohort studies. Compared with controls, higher fiber intake showed negative association with colorectal cancer risk for cases with microsatellite stable/MSI-low, CIMP-negative, BRAF-wildtype, and KRAS-wildtype tumors (Ptrend range from 0.03 to 3.4e-03), which is consistent with the traditional adenoma-colorectal cancer pathway. These negative associations were stronger compared with MSI-high, CIMP-positive, BRAF-mutated, or KRAS-mutated tumors, but the differences were not statistically significant. These inverse associations for fruit and fiber intake may explain, in part, inconsistent findings between fruit or fiber intake and colorectal cancer risk that have previously been reported. Significance: These analyses by colorectal cancer molecular subtypes potentially explain the inconsistent findings between dietary fruit or fiber intake and overall colorectal cancer risk that have previously been reported.

Abstract Background: Smoking has been associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk; but limited evidence has shown the association between smoking and molecular subtypes of CRC. Methods: We analyzed 9,422 CRC cases and 9,950 controls from 10 observational studies. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the association between sex-study-specific quartiles of pack years of smoking and risk of CRC molecular subtypes, using non-smokers as reference group, adjusting for age, sex, and study. Known oncogenic mutations in four somatic colorectal tumor markers were assessed individually and in combination, including BRAF mutations, KRAS mutations, CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP), and microsatellite instability (MSI) status. Case-only analysis was also performed to estimate heterogeneity in risk of molecular subtypes of CRC. Results: Compared with controls, higher pack years of smoking were statistically significantly associated with increased CRC risk when stratified, individually, by all four markers, and the associations got stronger with higher quartiles pack years (p-trend&lt;0.001). Associations between smoking and CRC risk also differed significantly among molecular subtypes. Compared to nonsmokers, the risk of BRAFmut CRC was 83% higher for smokers within the highest quartile of pack-years (OR=1.83; 95% CI: 1.50, 2.25), and 29% higher for BRAFwt CRC (OR=1.29; 95% CI: 1.17, 1.43; Ratio of ORs (ROR)=1.45; 95% CI: 1.18, 1.17; p=3.45x10-4). Similarly, heavy pack-years of smoking was associated with almost two times higher risk of CIMP-high CRC (OR=1.93; 95% CI: 1.60, 2.31), but only 33% higher risk of CIMP-low/negative CRC (OR=1.33; 95% CI: 1.19, 1.48; ROR=1.49; 95% CI: 1.24, 1.79; p=1.72x10-5). The association between smoking and CRC was also stronger in MSI-high tumors (ORMSI-H=1.65; 95% CI: 1.36, 2.00; ORMSI-L/MSS=1.37; 95% CI: 1.23, 1.52; ROR=1.22; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.48; p=0.046). In contrast, the association between smoking and CRC risk was stronger for KRASwt (OR=1.43; 95% CI: 1.27, 1.60), than KRASmut tumors (OR=1.18; 95% CI: 1.02, 1.37; ROR=0.83; 95% CI: 0.71, 0.97; p =0.016). When combining tumor markers, smoking was found to be significantly associated with higher risk of colorectal tumors from the serrated pathway. Conclusion: In this largest study with a total of 19,372 subjects, we found that heavier pack years of smoking was associated with increased risk of all CRC molecular subtypes. Smokers with heavier pack-years of smoking had particularly higher risk of CRC subtypes with BRAF mutation and CIMP-high, suggesting smoking may be particularly involved in the development of these subtypes of colorectal tumor. Citation Format: Xiaoliang Wang, Efrat Amitay, Barbara L. Banbury, Hermann Brenner, Daniel D. Buchanan, Peter T. Campbell, Jenny Chang-Claude, Steven J. Gallinger, Graham G. Giles, Tabitha A. Harrison, John L. Hopper, Mark A. Jenkins, Yi Lin, Reiko Nishihara, Polly A. Newcomb, Shuji Ogino, Lori C. Sakoda, Robert E. Schoen, Martha L. Slattery, Steven N. Thibodeau, Bethany Van Guelpen, Michael O. Woods, Li Hsu, Michael Hoffmeister, Ulrike Peters. Smoking is associated with risks of molecular subtypes of colorectal cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 630.

Abstract Over 50 genetic variants have been associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk through genome-wide association studies (GWAS), yet these variants represent only a fraction of the total estimated heritability. CRC is a heterogenous disease with diverse tumor etiology. Assessing genetic risk in molecular subtypes may help to identify novel loci and characterize genetic risk among tumor subtypes. We used microsatellite instability (MSI), an established CRC classifier with etiological and therapeutic relevance, to define CRC subtypes for GWAS analyses. We conducted a case-case analysis to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for association of genome-wide variants with microsatellite stable (MSS) versus unstable (MSI) carcinomas. We ran an inverse-variance weighted fixed-effects meta-analysis across GWAS in a discovery set of 4,163 population-based CRC cases with harmonized microsatellite instability (MSI) marker and imputed genotype data. For each analysis, we used log-additive logistic regression, adjusting for age, sex, and principal components to account for population substructure. We then followed up with replication of 102 SNPs that reached p-values less than 5x10-6 in 1,698 cases. A total of 845 (20.3%) cancer cases were microsatellite unstable in the discovery population and 174 (10.2%) were unstable in the replication population. No variants reached the genome-wide significance level of 5x10-8 in the discovery set. However, we identified two variants that reached a Bonferroni corrected p-value of 4.0x10-4 in the replication set. This included one variant in MLH1 (Replication: OR=1.74, 95% CI=1.53-1.98, p=1.63x10-5; Discovery+Replication: OR=1.45, 95% CI=1.37-1.54, p=9.76x10-11) and one variant in LOC105377645 (Replication: OR=1.70, 95% CI=1.49-1.94, p=5.13x10-5; Discovery+Replication: OR=1.45, 95% CI=1.37-1.54, p=9.76 x 10-11). The MLH1 gene is a DNA mismatch repair gene implicated in Lynch Syndrome, the hallmark of which is microsatellite instability. This is the first genome-wide scan to identify a common variant in MLH1 that is associated with CRC. This variant (minor allele frequency, MAF = 23% in this all European ancestry population) is located in the 5'-untranslated region of MLH1 and is thought to act as a long-range regulator of DCLK3, a potential tumor driver gene. The second variant, located in LOC105377645 with an MAF of 22%, is in an uncharacterized region of the genome and has not previously been implicated in cancer development. These findings suggest that accounting for molecular heterogeneity is important for discovery and characterization of genetic variants associated with CRC risk. We plan to run polytomous regression analyses, increase our sample size, and further investigate CRC subtypes by CIMP, BRAF mutation, KRAS mutation status. Citation Format: Tabitha A. Harrison, Yiwen Lu, Chenjie Zeng, Flora Qu, Kristin Anderson, Hermann Brenner, Daniel D. Buchanan, Peter T. Campbell, Andrew T. Chan, Jenny Chang-Claude, Graham G. Giles, Bethany Van Guelpen, Michael Hoffmeister, Mark A. Jenkins, Noralane M. Lindor, Roger L. Milne, Polly A. Newcomb, Reiko Nishihara, Michael O. Woods, Shuji Ogino, John D. Potter, Martha L. Slattery, Wei Sun, Stephen N. Thibodeau, Li Hsu, Ulrike Peters. Genome-wide association study by colorectal carcinoma subtype [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 229.