Implications of EGFR expression on EGFR signaling dependency and adaptive immunity against EGFR-mutated lung adenocarcinoma

Abstract

Background: In EGFR-mutated lung adenocarcinoma (EGFRm LUAD), EGFR mutations do not necessarily result in increased EGFR expression (EGFR-exp), which differs among patients. However, the factors influencing EGFR-exp and the impact of EGFR-exp on tumor characteristics in patients with EGFRm LUAD remain unclear.

Patients and methods: Whole-exome and RNA sequencing were performed for patients with early- and advanced-stage EGFRm LUAD. The patients were classified into low or high EGFR-exp groups based on the median transcripts per million. We retrospectively examined the association between EGFR-exp, genomic characteristics, downstream EGFR signaling activity, tumor microenvironment (TME) status, and clinical outcomes.

Results: This study included 450 and 45 patients in the early- and advanced-stage cohorts, respectively. In both cohorts, the EGFR-exp low group exhibited a lower incidence of TP53 co-mutations and EGFR amplification and a higher incidence of EGFR subclonal mutations than the EGFR-exp high group. Furthermore, downstream EGFR signaling pathways, such as the MAPK signaling, were less activated in the EGFR-exp low group. However, this group showed significantly enriched adaptive immune response pathways (Q < 0.0001) and an immune-inflamed TME. Additionally, a low EGFR-exp was a significantly favorable factor for postoperative relapse (odds ratio [OR], 0.6; P = 0.04). However, in the advanced-stage cohort, a low EGFR-exp was a significant risk factor for non-responders to osimertinib (OR, 17.5; P = 0.03).

Conclusions: In EGFRm LUAD, significant associations were observed between EGFR-exp levels and both EGFR signaling pathways and adaptive immune status, which in turn influence clinical outcomes. This large-scale multi-omics analysis highlights the heterogeneity among patients with EGFRm LUAD and emphasizes the need to assess EGFR-exp levels alongside mutation status for optimal treatment strategies in EGFRm LUAD.

Keywords: Adenocarcinoma; EGFR; RNA sequencing; Whole-exome sequencing.