Abstract LB-351: Investigating the role immunogenomics in normal adjacent to tumor tissue (NAT) versus tumor in prognostication of stage matched colorectal cancer

• Published in: Cancer research (Chicago, Ill.) Ill.), 2020-08, Vol.80 (16_Supplement), p.LB-351-LB-351
• Main Authors: Ahluwalia, Pankaj Kumar, Mondal, Ashis, Ahluwalia, Meenakshi, Sahajpal, Nikhil, Njau, Allan, Okechukwu, Nwogbo, Kota, Vamsi, Kolhe, Ravindra
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0008-5472; 1538-7445
• DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.AM2020-LB-351

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common type of cancer affecting nearly 1.4 million individuals every year. In the past two decades, rapid advancements in genomics and transcriptomics have uncovered various molecular profiling methods that are assisting in the design of personalized treatment strategies for cancer patients. In this study, we attempted to identify differentially expressed genes in tumor and NAT for its clinical significance in CRC. We designed a novel 88 gene-expression panel consisting of immune and cancer driver genes based on literature. Under IRB approved protocol, 28 FFPE samples (tumor = 14, NAT = 14) were acquired from pathology archives. H&E slides were examined and by using macrodissection, regions with >95% of tumor or NAT region were identified by two expert pathologist. Total RNA was isolated from these tissue sections and quantified through Nanodrop method. The expression level of the genes was measured using NanoString digital quantification system. Pairwise comparisons by Wilcoxon rank-sum test identified significant gene perturbations in the NAT compared to the tumor. IL-15, GATA3, CCR4, CCL13 and IFNA1 genes were highly expressed in NAT (p