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. 2020 Dec;69(12):2623-2634.
doi: 10.1007/s00262-020-02632-6. Epub 2020 Jun 29.

Histopathological growth patterns correlate with the immunoscore in colorectal cancer liver metastasis patients after hepatectomy

Jie-Ying Liang  1   2 , Shao-Yan Xi  1   3 , Qiong Shao  1   4 , Yun-Fei Yuan  1   5 , Bin-Kui Li  1   5 , Yun Zheng  1   5 , De-Shen Wang  1   2 , Xiao-Jun Wu  1   6 , Pei-Rong Ding  1   6 , Gong Chen  1   6 , Li-Ren Li  1   6 , Feng-Hua Wang  1   2 , Zhi-Qiang Wang  1   2 , Zhi-Zhong Pan  1   6 , Rui-Hua Xu  7   8 , Yu-Hong Li  9   10
Affiliations

Histopathological growth patterns correlate with the immunoscore in colorectal cancer liver metastasis patients after hepatectomy

Jie-Ying Liang et al. Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2020 Dec.

Abstract

Various scoring systems have been proposed to predict the postoperative prognosis of colorectal liver metastasis (CRLM), including the clinical risk score (CRS), the immunoscore and so on. Recently, histopathological growth patterns (HGPs) have been recognized. However, the correlation between HGPs and the immunoscore, and their prognostic values in patients with CRLM after liver resection remain undetermined. In this study, HGPs were retrospectively evaluated in H&E-stained slides from 166 CRLM patients. The immunoscore was calculated according to the densities of immunostained CD3 + and CD8 + cells. A risk score combining HGPs, the immunoscore and the CRS was defined and divided patients into the low-, medium- and high-risk group. Our results showed that the densities of CD3 + and CD8 + cells were higher in the desmoplastic HGP (dHGP) group than in the non-dHGP group, and the proportion of high immunoscores was also higher in the dHGP group (51.9% vs. 33.0%, respectively, P = 0.020). Patients with the dHGP had significantly longer relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) than those with the non-HGP. The low-risk group showed significantly higher 2-year RFS and 5-year OS rates than the other two groups (RFS: 76.2%, 43.7% and 33.1%, respectively; P < 0.001; OS: 89.7%, 54.4% and 33.3%, respectively; P < 0.001). In conclusion, the dHGP correlates with relatively high immunoscores, predicting a favorable prognosis independent of the immunoscore and CRS. A novel risk score combining HGPs, the immunoscore and the CRS may be used for the stratification of CRLM patients' survival.

Keywords: Colorectal cancer liver metastasis; Histopathological growth patterns; Immunoscore.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
H&E images of three common histopatholgical growth patterns. a, b low and high magnification images of the dHGP. c, d Low and high magnification images of the rHGP. e, f Low and high magnification images of the pHGP. T tumor, N normal liver parenchyma
Fig.2
Fig.2
Representative CD3 + and CD8 + IHC images in the center tumor (CT) and the invasive margin (IM)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Comparisons of the CD3 + , CD8 + cells infiltration in different HGP subgroups. Quantification of the CD3 + immune cells in the CT (a) and the IM (b). Quantification of the CD8 + immune cells in the CT (c) and the IM (d). Statistical significance was calculated with Mann–Whitney U test. e The Chi-squared test of the rates of five immunoscore levels between the dHGP group and the non-HGP group. f The Chi-squared test of rates of the immunoscore subgroup between the dHGP group and non-HGP group
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Kaplan–Meier curves depicting RFS (a) and OS (b) of CRLM after liver metastasectomy, stratified by 100% HGP (dHGP) and non-dHGP (n = 166)
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Kaplan–Meier curves of RFS (a) and OS (b) for different risk groups stratified by the risk score combining HGPs, the immunoscore and the CRS
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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