Altered B cell immunoglobulin signature exhibits potential diagnostic values in human colorectal cancer

Rui-Xian Liu; Chuangyu Wen; Weibiao Ye; Yewei Li; Junxiong Chen; Qian Zhang; Weiqian Li; Wanfei Liang; Lili Wei; Jingdan Zhang; Ka-Wo Chan; Xueqin Wang; Xiangling Yang; Huanliang Liu

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.106140

Altered B cell immunoglobulin signature exhibits potential diagnostic values in human colorectal cancer

iScience. 2023 Feb 3;26(3):106140. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106140. eCollection 2023 Mar 17.

Authors

Rui-Xian Liu^{1

2

3}, Chuangyu Wen⁴, Weibiao Ye⁴, Yewei Li⁵, Junxiong Chen², Qian Zhang², Weiqian Li², Wanfei Liang⁶, Lili Wei¹, Jingdan Zhang¹, Ka-Wo Chan², Xueqin Wang⁷, Xiangling Yang^{2

3}, Huanliang Liu^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510655, China.
² Guangdong Institute of Gastroenterology, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510655, China.
³ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Colorectal and Pelvic Floor Diseases, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510655, China.
⁴ Affiliated Dongguan Hospital, Southern Medical University, Dongguan, Guangdong 523059, China.
⁵ Department of Statistical Science, School of Mathematics, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510275, China.
⁶ Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China.
⁷ International Institute of Finance, School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.

Abstract

Antibody-secreting B cells have long been considered the central element of gut homeostasis; however, tumor-associated B cells in human colorectal cancer (CRC) have not been well characterized. Here, we show that the clonotype, phenotype, and immunoglobulin subclasses of tumor-infiltrating B cells have changed compared to adjacent normal tissue B cells. Remarkably, the tumor-associated B cell immunoglobulin signature alteration can also be detected in the plasma of patients with CRC, suggesting that a distinct B cell response was also evoked in CRC. We compared the altered plasma immunoglobulin signature with the existing method of CRC diagnosis. Our diagnostic model exhibits improved sensitivity compared to the traditional biomarkers, CEA and CA19-9. These findings disclose the altered B cell immunoglobulin signature in human CRC and highlight the potential of using the plasma immunoglobulin signature as a non-invasive method for the assessment of CRC.

Keywords: Cancer; Diagnostics; Immunology.