Table 1.
Clinico-pathological characteristics of BRAF-CRCs based on MMR status and on CD8+ TIL infiltrate.
| Variable | All Cases § (n = 89) | MSI CRC (n = 43) | MSS CRC (n = 46) | p Value | CD8+ CRC # (n = 39) | CD8- CRC #
(n = 49) |
p Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MMR (MSI) | 43 (48%) | - | - | - | 27 (69%) | 15 (31%) | 0.0001 |
| CD8+ (n = 88) | 39 (44%) | 27 (64%) | 12 (26%) | 0.0001 | - | - | - |
| Age, y (mean ± SD) | 69.8 ± 10.1 | 72.1 ± 8.6 | 67.7 ± 11.1 | 0.0311 | 72.1 ± 8.8 | 68.1 ± 11 | ns (0.07) |
| Female sex | 54 (61%) | 28 (65%) | 26 (57%) | ns | 22 (56%) | 31 (63%) | ns |
| Right tumor site | 64 (73%) | 39 (91%) | 25 (56%) | <0.0001 | 31 (79%) | 32 (67%) | ns |
| Histologic type | 0.004 | 0.005 | |||||
| Tubular | 38 (43%) | 12 (28%) | 26 (57%) | 10 (26%) | 27 (55%) | ||
| Mucinous/signet ring cells | 33 (37%) | 21 (49%) | 12 (25%) | 20 (51%) | 13 (27%) | ||
| Medullary/undifferentiated | 12 (13%) | 9 (21%) | 3 (7%) | 8 (21%) | 4 (8%) | ||
| MANEC | 6 (7%) | 1 (2%) | 5 (11%) | 1 (3%) | 5 (10%) | ||
| High Grade | 43 (48%) | 27 (63%) | 16 (35%) | 0.008 | 23 (59%) | 19 (39%) | ns (0.08) |
| Stage at diagnosis (I-III) | 44 (49%) | 27 (63%) | 17 (37%) | 0.015 | 22 (56%) | 21 (43%) | ns |
| Distant Metastases (n = 79) | 0.0013 | 0.0291 | |||||
| Presence * | 77 (86,5%) | 32 (74%) | 45 (98%) | 30 (77%) | 46 (94%) | ||
| Absence | 12 (13,5%) | 11 (26%) | 1 (2%) | 9 (23%) | 3 (6%) | ||
| Infiltrative Growth pattern (n = 83) | 64 (77%) | 30 (70%) | 40 (87%) | ns | 27 (69%) | 42 (86%) | ns |
| Stroma ≥ 20% (n = 87) | 52 (60%) | 18 (43%) | 34 (76%) | 0.0023 | 13 (34%) | 21 (44%) | ns |
| Synaptophysin ≥ 1 (n = 77) | 16 (21%) | 1 (3%) | 15 (39%) | 0.0001 | 1 (3%) | 15 (33%) | 0.001 |
| p53 ≥ 50 (n = 67) | 22 (34%) | 2 (7%) | 20 (51%) | 0.0002 | 3 (14%) | 19 (43%) | 0.0255 |
| PD-L1 ≥ 1 (n = 65) | 17 (26%) | 16 (94%) | 1 (6%) | <0.0001 | 14 (82%) | 3 (18%) | <0.0001 |
Legend: § one patient had two distinct BRAF-CRCs, one was MSI (ID 54), and one was MSS (ID 75; # CD8 analysis was possible on 88 out of 89 cases; ns = not significant; * 40 patients showed multiple sites of metastasis. CRC = colorectal cancer; MMR = DNA mismatch repair; MSI = Microsatellite instability; MSS = Microsatellite Stable; CD8 + = cytotoxic T lymphocytes; MANEC = Mixed adeno-neuroendocrine carcinoma; PD-L1 = Programmed Death-Ligand 1. The bold is for significant p-values.