Landscape of somatic single nucleotide variants and indels in colorectal cancer and impact on survival

Nat Commun. 2020 Jul 20;11(1):3644. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-17386-z.

Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a biologically heterogeneous disease. To characterize its mutational profile, we conduct targeted sequencing of 205 genes for 2,105 CRC cases with survival data. Our data shows several findings in addition to enhancing the existing knowledge of CRC. We identify PRKCI, SPZ1, MUTYH, MAP2K4, FETUB, and TGFBR2 as additional genes significantly mutated in CRC. We find that among hypermutated tumors, an increased mutation burden is associated with improved CRC-specific survival (HR = 0.42, 95% CI: 0.21-0.82). Mutations in TP53 are associated with poorer CRC-specific survival, which is most pronounced in cases carrying TP53 mutations with predicted 0% transcriptional activity (HR = 1.53, 95% CI: 1.21-1.94). Furthermore, we observe differences in mutational frequency of several genes and pathways by tumor location, stage, and sex. Overall, this large study provides deep insights into somatic mutations in CRC, and their potential relationships with survival and tumor features.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Colonic Neoplasms / genetics
  • Colorectal Neoplasms / genetics*
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing
  • Humans
  • INDEL Mutation
  • Mutation
  • Neoplasm Proteins / genetics*
  • Prognosis
  • Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / genetics

Substances

  • Neoplasm Proteins
  • Tumor Suppressor Protein p53