RNF43 is associated with genomic features and clinical outcome in BRAF mutant colorectal cancer

Abstract

BackgroundColorectal cancer (CRC) patients with BRAF mutation have very poor prognosis. It is urgent to search for prognostic factors of BRAF mutant CRC. RNF43 is a ENF ubiquitin ligase of Wnt signaling. Mutation of RNF43 has been observed frequently in various types of human cancers. However, few studies have evaluated the role of RNF43 in CRC. The present study aimed to explore the impact of RNF43 mutations on molecular characteristics and prognosis in BRAF mutant CRC.MethodsSamples of 261 CRC patients with BRAF mutation were retrospectively analyzed. Tumor tissue and matched peripheral blood samples were collected and subjected to targeted sequencing with a panel of 1021 cancer-related genes. The association of molecular characteristics and survival in patients were then analyzed. 358 CRC patients with BRAF mutation from the cBioPortal dataset were used for further confirmation.ResultsThis study was inspired by a CRC patient with BRAF V600E and RNF43 co-mutation, who achieved a best remission of 70% and a progression free survival (PFS) of 13 months. Genomic analysis indicated that RNF43 mutation affected the genomic characteristics of patients with BRAF mutation, including microsatellite instability (MSI), tumor mutation burden (TMB) and the proportion of common gene mutations. Survival analysis showed that RNF43 mutation was a predictive biomarker for better PFS and OS in BRAF mutant CRC.ConclusionCollectively, we identified that RNF43 mutations were correlated with favorable genomic features, resulting in a better clinical outcome for BRAF mutant CRC patients.

Association of RNF43 Genetic Alterations With BRAFV600E and MSIhigh in Colorectal Cancer

“…The potential of RNF43 GAs as predictive biomarkers was subsequently confirmed in several real-world cohorts, with favorable progressionfree survival and overall survival in patients with MSS RNF43-mutant tumors compared with their respective RNF43 WT counterparts. [4][5][6] These data have the potential to prioritize treatment strategies in patients with BRAF V600E mCRC and help to identify a subgroup that is more likely to derive benefit versus those patients for whom alternative treatment approaches are needed.…”