Lung adenocarcinomas with mucinous histology: clinical, genomic, and immune microenvironment characterization and outcomes to immunotherapy-based treatments and KRAS G12C inhibitors

Menée à partir de données portant sur 4 082 patients atteints d'un adénocarcinome du poumon, cette étude examine les caractéristiques clinicopathologiques, génomiques, immunophénotypiques et transcriptionnelles d'un adénocarcinome pulmonaire mucineux

Annals of Oncology, sous presse, 2024, résumé

Résumé en anglais

Background : Approximately 10% of lung adenocarcinomas (LUAD) have mucinous histology (LUADMuc), which is associated to a light/absent smoking history and a high prevalence of KRAS mutations. We sought to characterize LUADMuc by comparing it to LUAD without mucinous histology (LUADnon-muc) and determine the relative benefit of current treatments.

Patients and Methods : Patients with LUAD from five institutions and TCGA PanCancer Atlas classified as LUADMuc or LUADnon-muc were included. Clinicopathologic, genomic, immunophenotypic, transcriptional features, and treatment outcomes were compared between LUADMuc and LUADnon-muc.

Results : Of 4,082 patients with LUAD, 9.9% had LUADMuc. Compared to LUADnon-muc, patients with LUADMuc had a lighter smoking history (median: 15 vs 20 pack-years, P=0.008), lower PD-L1 TPS (median: 0% vs 5%, P<0.0001), and lower tumor mutation burden (median: 6.8 vs 8.5 mutations/megabase, P<0.0001). Mutations in KRAS, NKX2-1 (TTF-1), STK11, SMARCA4, GNAS, and ALK rearrangements were enriched in LUADMuc, while TP53, EGFR, BRAF, and MET mutations were enriched in LUADnon-muc. At stage IV diagnosis, LUADMuc was more likely to have contralateral lung metastasis (55.2% vs 36.9%, P<0.0001) and less likely to have brain metastases (23.3% vs 41.9%, P<0.0001). Compared to LUADnon-muc, LUADMuc cases showed lower intratumor CD8+, PD-1+, CD8+PD-1+, and FOXP3+ cells. Among metastatic cases receiving ICIs, compared to LUADnon-muc (N=1,511), LUADMuc (N=112) had lower objective response rate (ORR, 8.4% vs 25.9%, P<0.0001), and shorter median progression-free survival (mPFS, 2.6 vs 3.9 months, P<0.0001) and overall survival (mOS, 9.9 vs 17.2 months, P<0.0001). Similarly, patients with LUADMuc had worse outcomes to chemo-immunotherapy. LUADMuc (N=18) and LUADnon-muc (N=150) had similar ORR (16.7% vs 34.9%, P=0.12) and mPFS (4.6 vs 5.6 months, P=0.17) to treatment with KRASG12C inhibitors, but LUADMuc had shorter mOS (6.8 vs 10.8 months, P=0.018).

Conclusion : LUADMuc represents a distinct LUAD subpopulation with unique clinicopathologic, genomic, immunophenotypic, and transcriptional features, achieving worse outcomes to standard immunotherapy-based treatments.