Table 1.
Clinical, pathological, and molecular characteristics of colorectal cancer cases according to tumor stromal immune cell densities
| Stromal immune cell density (cells / mm2) Median (25th - 75th percentile) |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic* | Total N | Lymphocyte | Plasma cell | Neutrophil | Eosinophil |
| All cases | 934 | 413 (212–785) | 15 (4.5–41) | 46 (20–93) | 15 (4.8–40) |
| Sex | |||||
| Female (NHS) | 521 (56%) | 446 (234–804) | 17 (5.2–43) | 51 (22–106) | 13 (4.5–37) |
| Male (HPFS) | 413 (44%) | 366 (196–726) | 13 (3.6–39) | 39 (18–78) | 16 (5.2–42) |
| Age (years) | |||||
| < 65 | 289 (31%) | 412 (221–766) | 17 (5.3–39) | 49 (23–93) | 17 (5.2–42) |
| ≥ 65 | 645 (69%) | 414 (210–790) | 15 (4.4–42) | 45 (19–93) | 14 (4.6–38) |
| Year of diagnosis | |||||
| 1995 or before | 308 (33%) | 435 (189–869) | 14 (3.7–41) | 45 (21–99) | 15 (4.8–41) |
| 1996–2000 | 306 (33%) | 398 (206–745) | 15 (5.6–45) | 46 (20–95) | 14 (4.9–34) |
| 2001–2008 | 320 (34%) | 423 (241–763) | 16 (4.6–37) | 46 (19–88) | 15 (4.6–43) |
| Family history of colorectal cancer in first-degree relative(s) | |||||
| Absent | 735 (79%) | 394 (212–765) | 14 (4.1–38) | 45 (20–92) | 14 (4.9–38) |
| Present | 194 (21%) | 499 (234–916) | 19 (6.4–62) | 49 (20–97) | 16 (4.7–44) |
| History of inflammatory bowel disease | |||||
| Absent | 920 (98%) | 413 (212–782) | 15 (4.5–41) | 46 (20–93) | 15 (4.7–40) |
| Present | 13 (1.4%) | 400 (270–982) | 14 (5.0–35) | 38 (22–65) | 18 (10–59) |
| Tumor location | |||||
| Cecum | 163 (18%) | 435 (224–846) | 16 (5.4–43) | 45 (20–99) | 15 (5.6–39) |
| Ascending to transverse colon | 306 (33%) | 443 (212–820) | 17 (4.6–44) | 46 (20–93) | 12 (4.6–35) |
| Splenic flexure to sigmoid colon | 280 (30%) | 395 (198–770) | 15 (4.3–38) | 45 (20–92) | 17 (5.6–43) |
| Rectum | 181 (19%) | 407 (212–726) | 14 (3.6–40) | 46 (20–90) | 15 (3.6–41) |
| Tumor differentiation | |||||
| Well to moderate | 843 (90%) | 407 (212–758) | 15 (4.4–40) | 45 (20–91) | 15 (4.9–42) |
| Poor | 89 (9.6%) | 569 (223–1019) | 20 (7.3–45) | 55 (24–123) | 11 (4.7–33) |
| Extent of signet ring cells (%) | |||||
| 0 | 814 (87%) | 413 (212–785) | 15 (4.5–42) | 46 (20–92) | 15 (4.8–40) |
| 1–50 | 108 (12%) | 456 (224–779) | 16 (4.4–38) | 44 (20–100) | 12 (4.1–34) |
| ≥ 51 | 12 (1.3%) | 281 (162–980) | 13 (4.4–48) | 46 (25–79) | 34 (12–81) |
| Extent of extracellular mucin (%) | |||||
| 0 | 550 (59%) | 413 (215–767) | 15 (5.2–41) | 46 (21–91) | 14 (4.6–38) |
| 1–50 | 274 (29%) | 436 (217–850) | 16 (3.7–43) | 47 (20–91) | 16 (5.4–43) |
| ≥ 51 | 110 (12%) | 364 (192–777) | 14 (3.7–37) | 40 (19–112) | 13 (4.0–41) |
| AJCC disease stage | |||||
| I | 198 (23%) | 558 (306–986) | 23 (8.5–62) | 49 (26–97) | 27 (8.5–65) |
| II | 285 (33%) | 411 (224–798) | 13 (4.1–39) | 51 (23–101) | 13 (4.6–33) |
| III | 249 (29%) | 355 (189–668) | 14 (4.1–33) | 44 (19–83) | 11 (3.4–33) |
| IV | 135 (16%) | 280 (160–590) | 10 (4.1–25) | 32 (12–75) | 10 (3.7–29) |
| MSI status | |||||
| Non-MSI-high | 754 (83%) | 385 (196–732) | 14 (4.3–39) | 44 (19–89) | 15 (4.5–40) |
| MSI-high | 153 (17%) | 596 (311–966) | 21 (7.1–48) | 59 (30–117) | 13 (5.2–31) |
| CIMP status | |||||
| Low/negative | 707 (82%) | 397 (198–736) | 15 (4.3–39) | 44 (19–90) | 15 (4.5–40) |
| High | 157 (18%) | 559 (282–976) | 20 (7.6–48) | 55 (29–127) | 12 (4.8–30) |
| Mean LINE-1 methylation level | |||||
| ≥ 60% | 571 (63%) | 436 (225–814) | 15 (4.3–41) | 46 (21–98) | 15 (4.7–39) |
| < 60% | 335 (37%) | 376 (184–717) | 15 (4.9–41) | 44 (18–84) | 14 (4.6–40) |
| KRAS mutation | |||||
| Wild-type | 538 (59%) | 433 (217–820) | 17 (5.2–43) | 47 (22–94) | 13 (4.8–37) |
| Mutant | 368 (41%) | 381 (206–738) | 14 (3.3–38) | 44 (18–93) | 16 (4.5–43) |
| BRAF mutation | |||||
| Wild-type | 775 (85%) | 406 (208–773) | 15 (4.3–41) | 45 (20–90) | 15 (4.5–41) |
| Mutant | 138 (15%) | 471 (223–882) | 17 (6.0–43) | 52 (23–126) | 11 (5.2–33) |
| PIK3CA mutation | |||||
| Wild-type | 709 (83%) | 394 (202–743) | 14 (4.2–39) | 44 (20–94) | 14 (4.4–38) |
| Mutant | 141 (17%) | 522 (264–945) | 20 (5.6–51) | 54 (23–104) | 15 (6.1–40) |
| Neoantigen load | |||||
| Q1 (lowest) | 105 (25%) | 394 (234–743) | 19 (4.6–48) | 48 (21–78) | 18 (6.2–48) |
| Q2 | 104 (25%) | 335 (186–602) | 15 (4.8–32) | 43 (18–88) | 13 (4.7–42) |
| Q3 | 105 (25%) | 421 (185–783) | 14 (3.3–39) | 45 (20–101) | 14 (6.1–38) |
| Q4 (highest) | 103 (25%) | 463 (278–886) | 18 (7.6–45) | 53 (20–113) | 13 (5.1–34) |
*
Percentage indicates the proportion of patients with a specific clinical, pathologic, or molecular characteristic among all patients.
Abbreviations: AJCC, American Joint Committee on Cancer; CIMP, CpG island methylator phenotype; HPFS, Health Professionals Follow-up Study; LINE-1, long-interspersed nucleotide element-1; MSI, microsatellite instability; NHS, Nurses’ Health Study; SD, standard deviation.