Background: Patients with stage II deficient mismatch repair (dMMR) show a better prognosis than patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) with proficient mismatch repair (pMMR). However, this beneficial effect is decreased in advanced stages of the disease. This study was conducted to investigate the prognostic value of dMMR in different stage and alterations in the tumor microenvironment.
Methods: This was a matched retrospective cohort study. Thirty-two patients with stage III&IV dMMR matched with 32 patients with stage I&II dMMR and 64 patients with pMMR were evaluated. Immunohistochemistry analysis was performed for the 64 patients with dMMR to explore the expression and prognostic effect of CD3, CD4, CD8, and PD-L1.
Results: Patients with stage III-IV dMMR showed no advantage in overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) compared to patients with pMMR (P = 0.244, P = 0.667). No expression differences in CD3, CD4, CD8, and PD-L1 at the center of the tumor (CT) or invasive margin (IM) were found between patients with stage I&II and stage III&IV dMMR. High CD3 expression at the CT and high CD3 an CD4 expression at the IM improved both OS and DFS. High CD8 expression showed opposite prognostic value in patients with stage I&II and III&IV dMMR. A similar tendency was observed for PD-L1 expression.
Conclusion: Patients with stage III-IV dMMR showed no prognostic advantage over patients with pMMR. Expression of CD3, CD4, CD8, and PD-L1 was similar between stage I&II and III&IV dMMR CRC. High CD3 expression at the CT and high CD3 and CD4 expression at the IM can significantly improve patient prognosis. The opposite prognostic tendency of CD8 and PD-L1 for patients with stage I&II and III&IV dMMR may be relevant to CD8+T cell exhaustion and functional changes at inhibitory immune checkpoints.
Keywords: Colorectal cancer; Deficient mismatch repair; PD-L1; Prognosis; Tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte.