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144 1 UPPER GASTROINTESTINAL CANCER
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Marabelle, A., Le D.T., Ascierto P.A et al. (2020). Efficacy of Pembrolizumab
in patients with Noncolorectal high microsatellite instability/Mismatch repair-deficient cancer: results from the Phase II KEYNOTE-158 study. J Clin Oncol 38: 1–10.
Mazlom, H., Teuwen, L.-A., and Peeters, M. (2021). Management of small
bowel adenocarcinoma: making the most of the available evidence to inform routine practice. Curr Opin Oncol 33: 368–371.
McWilliams, R.R. et al. (2017). North Central Cancer Treatment Group
N0543 (Alliance): a phase 2 trial of pharmacogenetic-based dosing of irinotecan, oxaliplatin, and capecitabine as first-line therapy for patients with advanced small bowel adenocarcinoma. Cancer 123: 3494–3501.
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Intestinal cancer risk and mortality in patients with Crohn’s disease. Gastroenterology 105: 1716–1723.
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treatment strategies for small bowel Adenocarcinoma in Advanced­stage cases. Anticancer Res 35: 4135–4138.
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of capecitabine and oxaliplatin for advanced adenocarcinoma of the small bowel and ampulla of Vater. J Clin Oncol 27: 2598–2603.
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small bowel cancer. Curr Treat Options Oncol 19: 69.
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of Small-Bowel Adenocarcinoma. JAMA Oncol 3: 1546–1553.
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neuroendocrine tumors. Surg Oncol Clin N Am 29: 223–241.
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Section II Colorectal and Anal Cancer
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9 Epidemiology, Microbiome, and Risk
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Factors Involved in Carcinogenesis of Colorectal Cancer
Paul Moayyedi1 & Janusz A.Z. Jankowski
1
McMaster University, Canada
2
Comprehensive Clinical Trials Unit, Institute of Clinical Trials & Methodology, University College London, London, UK
[Elements of Colorectal Cancer Epidemiology, Risk Factors, and Microbiome as also discussed in Chapter 1]
[Aspects of Nutrition in cancer and cancer prevention are also discussed in Chapter 1 and Chapter 29]
Epidemiology
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the fourth commonest cancer­related death. Colorectal cancer accounts for approximately 10% of cancer mortality in the West, making it the second deadliest malignancy in the UK, the USA, and Australasia, after lung cancer. Furthermore, at a global level there is evi­dence the mortality has increased globally by approximately 25% over the last two decades. The reasons for this are in part due increased ageing in the population, decline of healthy diets and exercise with concomitant increases in obesity as well as consumption of more alcohol and cigarette use. This is partic­ularly the case in Eastern Europe, South America, South Eastern and Central Asia where red meat consumption remains high. There is considerable heterogeneity of incidence, as pop­ulations with a high human development index (HDA), have CRC rates, which are decreasing from the very high levels in some select countries. There is considerable debate as to the factors for this variation, but CRC screening programs and pol­ypectomy, may be in part responsible.
Even in hereditary cancer syndromes, such as Lynch syn­drome, with multisite lesions, colorectal cancer is now the main site of presentation. This is a major change to the presentation of Lynch syndrome where 50 years ago gastric cancer predomi­nated. Despite the transformation of the therapeutic landscape for both primary and metastatic colorectal cancer, there has been only a limited increase in cure rates and long-term survival (Dekker et al. 2019, Patel et al. 2022, Sinicrope 2022).
There is a slight predominance of cancers in males with a female/male ratio of 0.9/1. In addition, 75% of rectal cancer and 80% of colonic cancer occurs > 60 years of age. There is also a predominance in more-developed countries such as North America, Europe, and Australasia compared with less
Gastrointestinal Oncology: A Critical Multidisciplinary Team Approach,
Second Edition. Edited by Janusz A. Z. Jankowski. © 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Published 2024 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
2
developed countries of Africa, most of Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific islands.
There has been an increase in the number of early-onset CRC (CRC occurring before 50 years) especially in the Australia, Europe, Japan, Taiwan, and the USA.
Microbiome
It is estimated that for every human cell there is at least one bac­terial cell. In the colon the microbiota is approximately 10
14
10
microbes and approximately 50–60% of the dry weight of stool is from the microbiota (Wong and Yu 2019). Organisms are present throughout the alimentary tract, but the greatest variety and number are found in the colon. Normal microbiota is essen­tially for digestion of food through fermentation, provision of key nutrients and energy, stimulating colonic contraction, suppress­ing growth of parasites, maintaining immunity, and hostile organ­isms as well as secreting factors and short chain Fatty acids that enhance mucosal growth. Conversely dysbiosis is associated with many gastrointestinal diseases ranging from bloating predom­inant irritable bowel disease, initiation of inflammatory bowel disease, and most importantly the catalysis of colorectal cancer. Several organisms in particular are linked with colorectal cancer including Streptococcus bovis (S. bovis), Streptococcus gallolyti- cus (S. Gallolyticus), Escherichia coli (E. Coli), Enterococcus faec a- lis (E. faecalis), Enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragiles (ETBF), and oral Fusobacterium nucleatum (F. nucleatum). It is thought that these organisms cause inflammation which then acts to increase cell turnover, damage cells especially the DNA in stem cells and drive the growth of aberrant crypts in the hospital environment.
The key issue with microbiota is to have as diverse a spectrum of bacteria, fungi, and viruses as possible, as this favors colorectal health. There is evidence that highly variable vegetarian diets or mixed vegetarian and pescatarian diets are strongly correlated with the widest spectrum of microbiota. Conversely, chronic inflam­mation such as occurs in inflammatory bowel disease decreases microbiotic diversity resulting in procarcinogenetic dysbiosis.
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Risk Factors
There are major contributions from both genetic and environmental factors to the aetiology of colorectal cancer (Song et al. 2015).
5–10% of colorectal cancer incidence in the west can be attrib­uted to those who have classical hereditary colorectal cancer syn­dromes. The commonest of these are, the Lynch syndrome, Familial Adenomatosis Polyposis syndrome, MUTYH syndrome, Peutz Jeghers syndrome, serrated polyposis, and juvenile polyposis.
1% of colorectal cancer is associated with chronic colitis due to either ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s Disease.
The remaining ~ 90% of colorectal cancer can be attributed at least in part to modifiable risk, many of the predisposing environmental factors are mentioned above. These cancers are very amenable to screening and surveillance programs as they arise from the adenoma-carcinoma sequence.
There are also protective factors including whole grains, fresh fruits, vegetables, calcium in milk, and vitamin D pre­dominantly from cruciferous vegetable and oily fish. In addition, 30 mins of daily moderate exercise also mitigates risk. Low dose aspirin intake is associated with a 20–45% reduced incidence depending on the duration of salicylate therapy. Statins and hormone replacement therapy in women seem to have a more modest chemo preventive effect.
These modifiable factors are thought to change the risk of colorectal cancer by a relative risk of 1.8 to 0.5.
Key Take Home Messages
1 Most colorectal cancers can be delayed or even prevented with adherence to healthy lifestyle factors with zero tolerance of cigarette smoke.
2
Obesity showed be handled by progressive escalation of
interactions.
3
Maintenance of healthy microbiota is essential for colonic
health.
4
Low dose aspirin is useful as an adjunct in a proportion of
those with known diseases that predispose colorectal cancer.
Areas Needing Further Research
1 The optimal microbiota regimen to ingest to prevent colo­rectal cancer.
2
The long-term value of low dose aspirin in primary prevention. Capsule endoscopy sampling technology.
3
Trusted Websites for Further Reading
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/new-tool-
developed-predict-colorectal-cancer-risk
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/conditions-and-diseases/
cancer/colorectal-cancer
References
Dekker, E., Tanis, P.J., Vleugels, J.L.A. et al. (2019 October 19). Colorectal
cancer. Lancet 394 (10207): 1467–1480.
Patel, S.G., Karlitz, J.J., Yen, T. et al. (2022 March). The rising tide of early-
onset colorectal cancer: a comprehensive review of epidemiology, clinical features, biology, risk factors, prevention, and early detection. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol 7 (3): 262–274.
Sinicrope, F.A. (2022 April 21). Increasing incidence of Early-Onset
colorectal cancer. N Engl J Med 386 (16): 1547–1558.
Song, M., Garrett, W.S., and Chan, A.T. (2015 May). Nutrients, foods, and
colorectal cancer prevention. Gastroenterology 148 (6): 1244–1260.
Wong, S.H. and Yu, J. (2019 November). Gut microbiota in colorectal
cancer: mechanisms of action and clinical applications. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 16 (11): 690–704.
10 Genomics, Histopathology, and
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Molecular Pathology of Sporadic and Hereditary Colorectal Cancer
Iannish Sadien, Betania Mahler-Araujo & Justin Davies
Cambridge Colorectal Unit, Department of Pathology, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
Introduction
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third commonest cancer (after lung and breast), and is the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality (Bray etal. 2018). Advances in our understanding of pathophysiology and the adoption of modern detection and treatment modalities have led to con­tinuous improvement in outcomes in the Western world (Arnold etal. 2017). Worryingly however, these gains look set to be overtaken by the rising incidence of CRC in devel­oping countries. The growing incidence of CRC in young patients is also likely to add further complexity to screening and treatment decisions (Gandhi etal. 2017). The majority of CRC cases are sporadic, with only 5–10% linked to a hereditary predisposition syndrome (Syngal et al. 2015). However, these rare syndromes have helped us understand the molecular mechanisms of CRC initiation and progres­sion. In the past few years, considerable effort has been invested to understand the genetic and transcriptomic pro­files of CRC, adding to our current knowledge of this het­erogeneous disease. Three main pathways have been implicated, namely chromosomal instability (CIN), micro­satellite instability (MSI), and the serrated neoplasia pathway. In this chapter, we will begin by reviewing the colonic microarchitecture in homeostasis. We will then see how this fine balance gets affected by the pathways men­tioned above and highlight how these tumors lend them­selves to specific therapeutic options.
Role of Intestinal Stem Cells in Tumor Formation
The intestinal lining is a rapidly self-renewing epithelial monolayer whose growth is fueled by intestinal stem cells (ISCs) that reside at the bottom of the crypts, which are
Gastrointestinal Oncology: A Critical Multidisciplinary Team Approach,
Second Edition. Edited by Janusz A. Z. Jankowski. © 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Published 2024 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
invaginations of the epithelial layer (Figure1) (Radtke and Clevers 2005). In health, these long-lived ISCs give rise to transit-amplifying cells, which produce the short-lived dif­ferentiated cells of the epithelium. ISCs that populate a crypt compete with each other for space (Snippert et al. 2014). Through a process of neutral drift, over time, a particular ISC will dominate the whole stem cell compartment (becomes fixed). This process is greatly speeded in the presence of a mutation conferring a competitive advantage (Vermeulen et al. 2013) or through other non-mutagenic modulators such as diet and ageing (Bruens et al. 2020; Nalapareddy etal. 2017).
As they are long-lived and display high levels of Wnt activation (like CRC cells), ISCs have been postulated to be the cell of origin of intestinal tumors. Indeed, using a genetically engineered mouse model, Barker and colleagues showed that targeted deletion of the Adenomatous Polyposis Coli (APC) gene in ISCs led to tumor formation within days (Barker etal. 2009), demonstrating that loss of this tumor suppressor gene and Wnt-regulator in ISCs was sufficient for tumor initiation. Similarly, activating mutations in CTNNB1 (ß-catenin, an important activator of the Wnt pathway) in ISCs were found to lead to tumorigenesis (Sangiorgi and Capecchi 2008; Zhu etal. 2009).
In spite of this, some evidence in humans points away from this “bottom up” model. When sporadic adenomas were micro-dissected, the areas of dysplasia were found mostly to be on the luminal surface of the colon with normal crypt mor­phology underneath and only cells at the top of the crypts had mutations in APC (Shih etal. 2001). More recently, a mul­tiomics approach has begun to shed light on this debate. Using a combination of histology, sequencing, and transcriptomic profiling, Chen and colleagues identified at least two different transcriptional pathways for human colorectal polyp formation and suggested that conventional adenomas originate from ISCs (bottom-up pathway) while serrated polyps originate from more differentiated cells (top-down pathway) (Chen etal. 2021).
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Figure1 On edge view of a small intestinal crypt. Colonic architecture is similar with two exceptions, which are the absence of villi and Paneth cells. TA: transit-amplifying.
Conventional (Or Chromosomal Instability) Pathway
The majority (70–90%) of CRC arise from the conventional adenoma-carcinoma pathway. This involves the stepwise accumulation of mutations, typically starting with loss of function mutations in APC (Fearon and Vogelstein 1990).
APC is a Key Regulator of Wnt Signaling
The product of the tumor suppressor gene APC is 2,843 amino acid long. It is a key regulator of the Wnt pathway, which is cru­cial for cellular proliferation and organ development (Cadigan and Nusse 1997). In the absence of Wnt ligands, APC forms a destruction complex with Axin, Casein-kinase I and GSK-3ß, which targets the effector ß-catenin for proteasomal degrada­tion by phosphorylating it (Figure2) (Aberle etal. 1997; Orford et al. 1997). In contrast, in the presence of Wnt ligands, ß-catenin is able to translocate to the nucleus, where it binds to members of the T-cell factor (TCF)-lymphoid enhancer factor (LEF) family of transcription factors, which regulate several crucial genes such as the proto-oncogene c-myc and the cell cycle regular cyclin-D1 (He etal. 1998; Tetsu and McCormick
1999). Therefore, overactivation of the Wnt pathway and epi­thelial hyperproliferation result from loss of function muta­tions in APC or gain of function mutations in CTNNB1.
APC Contributes to Chromosomal Stability
As well as single nucleotide variations and small insertions and deletions (indels), large scale chromosomal rearrangements and copy number changes are common in CRC. This chromo­somal instability is thought to result from defective cell division during mitosis, and a role for APC in this process has been
Figure2 Schematic representation of Wnt signaling pathway.
suggested. Fodde and colleagues showed that APC-mutant mouse embryonic stem cells containing the Min (multiple intestinal neoplasia) or Apc1638T alleles showed extensive chromosome and spindle aberrations (Fodde et al. 2001). Subsequent work has shown that APC localizes to the ends of microtubules in kinetochores during mitosis, shedding light on the mechanism of chromosomal instability following the loss of APC (Kaplan etal. 2001).
Sequence of Events in CIN
The multistep model of colorectal carcinogenesis proposes that mutations in APC occur early in the development of colo­rectal polyps (Figure3) (Fearon and Vogelstein 1990; Jones etal. 2008). Indeed, 60–80% of sporadic CRCs have somatic mutations in APC (Figure4) (Narayan and Roy 2003). These
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Figure3 Proposed sequence of events in the conventional adenoma-carcinoma sequence.
Figure4 Top 20 cancer driver mutations in colorectal adenocarcinoma, ranked in order of decreasing frequency. Data extracted from 11 published studies comprising 3619 samples (Source: cBioportal).
mutations in APC tend to cluster between codons 1286 and 1513, in a region called the mutational cluster region (MCR) (Mori etal. 1992).
This is followed by mutations in KRAS, which is an impor­tant activator of the RAF/MAPK, JNK and PI3-K pathways. Mutations in KRAS occur in up to 68% of sporadic CRCs and activating mutations lead to constitutive activation of the downstream pathways, promoting cell proliferation, and survival independent of the EGFR receptor (Armaghany etal. 2012; McLellan etal. 1993). Interestingly, most activating muta­tions in KRAS are point mutations at codons 12, 13, and 35, which has led to much effort in finding specific KRAS inhibi­tors (Jiri etal. 2022).
Mutations in TP53, which is a protein that induces G1 cell­cycle arrest and induces cell death (apoptosis) in the presence of DNA damage, are thought to occur during the transition from adenoma to invasive cancer (Armaghany et al. 2012). TP53 mutated CRCs have been shown to have a worse prog­nosis compared to those with wild-type CRC, and is associated with resistance to radiotherapy in patients with rectal cancer (Munro etal. 2005).
Up to 70% of CRCs demonstrate loss of chromosome 18q and these are associated with a poorer prognosis (Popat and Houlston 2005). This has led to the suggestion that there might
be tumor suppressor genes at that locus which strongly influence survival. SMAD4, which is coded by a gene located at chromosome 18q21.1, is an important tumor suppressor which mediates the intracellular signaling of the TGF-beta pathway (Zhou etal. 1998). Tanaka and colleagues demonstrated that 18q loss and SMAD4 expression were correlated, and hypothe­sized that SMAD4 is the tumor suppressor gene whose loss is critical during 18q loss (Tanaka et al. 2006). Indeed, loss of SMAD4 is associated with more aggressive disease and with resistance to chemotherapy (Wasserman etal. 2019).
Familial Adenomatous Polyposis Syndrome
Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) syndrome is an auto­somal dominant inherited condition that predisposes to CRC. Although it only contributes about 1% of all CRC cases, studies of FAP have shed considerable light on the process of tumor formation in colonic epithelium. FAP occurs in 1 in 8,300 to 14 000 patients, with 50% of those developing colorectal ade­nomas by the age of 16 years (Kim and Bodmer 2021). The lifetime risk of CRC in patients with FAP exceeds 90% if left untreated and there are also increased risks of duodenal can­cer, pancreatic cancer, medulloblastoma, papillary thyroid cancer, and hepatoblastoma (Stoffel and Boland 2015).
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Patients with FAP carry germline mutations in APC. In spite of its autosomal dominant inheritance, 30% of patients with germline APC mutations have no family history and are pre­sumed to have de novo APC mutations (Bisgaard etal. 1994). Benign extracolonic manifestations of FAP include epider­moid cysts, congenital hypertrophy of the retinal pigment epi­thelium (CHRPE) and osteomas (Kim and Bodmer 2021; Morton etal. 2005).
The phenotype displayed (age of onset, type, and number of intestinal polyps and extracolonic polyps) has been shown to correlate with the type and location of APC mutation incurred. Mutations located towards the proximal portion of the protein (before codon 1249) are associated with fewer than 1000 polyps (sparse polyposis), while those between codon 1250 and 1330 with >5000 polyps (profuse polyposis) (Friedl et al. 2001; Lal and Gallinger 2000; Leppert et al.
1990). Similarly, mutations that are located very close to the N-terminus of the protein or distal to codon 1578 lead to a milder phenotype with a reduced number of polyps (less than 100) and an age of onset that is 10–15 years later than in classical FAP, in a condition called attenuated FAP (AFAP) (Spirio etal. 1992).
The diagnosis of FAP relies primarily on the number and his­tory of colorectal adenomas. Patients with 100 or more polyps, or with fewer than 100 polyps but with a family history of FAP are clinically diagnosed with FAP. A clinical diagnosis of FAP is usually followed by sequencing of APC to identify the patho­genic variant. As they are at risk for duodenal polyposis and cancer, patients with confirmed FAP are also recommended a screening gastroscopy from the age of 25 years, and then at reg­ular intervals according to the Spigelman classification (Spigelman et al. 1989). Patients with a first-degree relative with a clinical diagnosis of FAP are considered at risk and are offered regular surveillance colonoscopies starting at 12–14 years of age (Monahan etal. 2020).
The management of FAP is mainly surgical, with prophy­lactic surgery being the treatment of choice. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as sulindac have been shown to induce polyp regression in some patients but this effect was not sustained following treatment cessation (Giardiello etal. 1993). Due to the high penetrance of colo­rectal cancer in patients with FAP, prophylactic surgery is rec­ommended shortly after diagnosis. The principles of surgery in these patients are the removal of all at-risk colorectal mucosa and restoration of bowel continuity if it is safe to do so (Setti-Carraro and Nicholls 1996). Surgical options include total colectomy and ileorectal anastomosis (in patients with limited rectal polyp burden and willing for regular endo­scopic surveillance), proctocolectomy and ileal pouch-anal anastomosis, total proctocolectomy and end ileostomy or proctocolectomy and continent ileostomy (Lal and Gallinger
2000).
Microsatellite Instability Pathway
In contrast to the CIN pathway, there is a distinct group of CRCs that does not show large chromosomal abnormalities. These diploid tumors have a different type of genetic instability in which the abnormalities lie at the nucleotide level. The pro­pensity for deletion or gain of short DNA sequences in these tumors has been termed microsatellite instability (MSI).
Changes in Microsatellites Can Alter Downstream Genes
Microsatellites are short sequences in genomic DNA that com­prise repetition of one to four nucleotides. These mono/di/tri or tetranucleotides can be repeated ten to hundreds of times in the sequence. The most common microsatellite in humans is the repetition of cytosine-adenine dinucleotide (CACACACA … or [CA] they are prone to errors during DNA replication. Under normal conditions, these mistakes are corrected by highly conserved DNA repair mechanisms during cell replication. However, if the repair process is defective (such as in Lynch syndrome), microsatellite sequences can be altered, leading to microsatel­lite instability (MSI). A change in the length of a microsatellite can lead to a frameshift mutation in genes downstream to the microsatellite sequence, which shifts the reading frame of RNA polymerase, with the end result being a change in the amino acid sequence of the gene product.
Thibodeau and colleagues identified a subset of CRCs with highly variable microsatellites, and identified that 89% of these MSI tumors were in the proximal colon and that patients with MSI CRCs had a better prognosis (Thibodeau et al. 1993). Therefore, they hypothesized that the MSI pathway could rep­resent an alternative pathway to CRC formation.
Lynch Syndrome
It became clear in the mid-1990s that Lynch syndrome, for­merly known as hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) and originally described by Warthin in 1913 and further characterized by Lynch in the mid-1960s, is associated with MSI (Lynch and Lynch 1985; Peltomäki etal. 1993). Lynch syndrome is responsible for up to 2–6% of CRCs (Aaltonen etal. 1998; Lamberti etal. 2006). The syndrome is character­ized by increased risk of carcinogenesis in the gastrointestinal tract, endometrium, and ovary, and rarely in the urogenital tract, hepatobiliary tract, and pancreas (Aarnio et al. 1999). The lifetime 5–6% risk of developing CRC that is seen in the normal population is increased to 70–80% in Lynch syndrome (Aarnio etal. 1999; Chung and Rustgi 2003). As a result of this, regular colonoscopic surveillance is recommended and has been shown to reduce CRC-related mortality from 22% to 8%
). Due to the repetitive nature of these sequences,
n
10 GENOMICS, HISTOPATHOLOGY, AND MOLECULAR PATHOLOGY OF SPORADIC AND HEREDITARY COLORECTAL CANCER 153
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(Monahan etal. 2020). The CAPP2 randomized control trial has shown that chemoprophylaxis with aspirin can reduce the risk of CRC formation in this group of patients (hazard ratio
0.41, 95% confidence interval 0.19–0.86, p 0.02) (Burn et al.
2011). Just like FAP, Lynch syndrome has an autosomal dominant
inheritance. The underlying cause is usually a germline muta­tion in one of the DNA mismatch repair genes. The most com­monly mutated genes are human MutL homologue 1 (MLH1) found on chromosome 3p and human MutS homologue 2 (MSH2) located on chromosome 2p. Other less commonly involved genes in Lynch syndrome are human MutS homo­logue (MSH6), and human postmeiotic segregation increased 2 (PMS2) and 1 (PMS1). Tumors which are deficient in these mismatch repair mechanisms (MMR-d) have high levels of MSI (MSI-H) and show loss of the corresponding DNA mis­match repair protein by immunohistochemistry (Valle et al.
2019). Deletions affecting the polyadenylation site located in
exon 9 of the Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule (EPCAM) gene located upstream of MSH2 are associated with 2–3% of Lynch syndrome cases (Huth etal. 2012). Deletions in EPCAM lead to a transcriptional read-through, best regarded as epigenetic silencing of MSH2.
Unlike polyposis syndromes, Lynch syndrome usually pres-
ents with sparse colorectal tumors which cannot usually be dis­tinguished clinically from sporadic tumors. Therefore, clinical criteria have been defined to identify these patients and those at risk. The Amsterdam and Bethesda Criteria (Table1) help identify patients based on family history and the characteristics of the index tumor (Umar etal. 2004; Vasen etal. 1999).
Further testing for mutations in microsatellites is recom­mended in those individuals who fulfill any of the Bethesda criteria (Burt and Neklason 2005; Kaz and Brentnall 2006).
Two methods are available to detect dMMR/MSI phenotype: (i) expression of MMR proteins (MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, and PMS2) in tumor tissue by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and (ii) DNA MSI testing by PCR fragment analysis (Figure 5). MMR immunohistochemistry presents a sensitivity between 85% and 98% and specificity between 85% and 100% whereas the sensi­tivity of MSI testing by PCR ranges between 67% and 100%, with a specificity between 61% and 98% depending on the panel used (Guyot D’Asnières De Salins etal. 2021; Snowsill etal. 2017). The terminology used in MMR immunohistochemistry can be con­fusing as a pathological finding implies a loss of the normal nuclear staining, in which the tumor should be referred to as MMR deficient. The terminology negative and positive may be misleading and should be avoided.
The PCR-based method demonstrates increased sensitivity and accuracy when tumor tissue and germline DNA (the lat­ter can be extracted from adjacent normal tissue) are pro­cessed separately and then compared. Tumors that show instability in at least 30% of the examined microsatellites are termed microsatellite instability high (MSI-H), those with less than 30% are microsatellite instability low (MSI-L), and those with no mutation are microsatellite stable (MSS) tumors (C. R. Boland etal. 1998). Since usually five microsatellites are used for testing, in practice this means that a tumor is called MSI-H if at least two out of five microsatellites are unstable. Traditionally, two PCR fragment analysis-based DNA micro­satellite analysis panels have been established: the Bethesda
Table 1 Amsterdam and Bethesda criteria for the identification of patients with Lynch syndrome.
Amsterdam II criteria (1999)
All criteria must be met:
• Three or more relatives with histologically confirmed colorectal cancer or cancer of the endometrium, small bowel, ureter, or renal pelvis, one
affected relative being a first-degree relative of the other two; FAP should be excluded.
• Two or more successive generations are affected.
• At least one relative was diagnosed before the age of 50 years.
Revised Bethesda guidelines (2004)
One or more of the following criteria must be met:
• Colorectal cancer before the age of 50 years
• Synchronous or metachronous colorectal cancer or other Lynch syndrome-related tumors,
• Colorectal cancer with MSI-H morphology
• Colorectal cancer (regardless of age) and a first-degree relative with colorectal cancer or a Lynch syndrome-related tumor before the age of 50 years.
• Colorectal cancer (regardless of age) and two or more first- or second-degree relatives diagnosed with colorectal cancer or an Lynch syndrome-
related tumor (regardless of age).
1
Lynch syndrome-related tumors include colorectal, endometrial, stomach, ovarian, pancreas, ureter and renal pelvis, biliary tract, and brain (usually
glioblastoma) tumors, sebaceous gland adenomas and keratoacanthomas, and carcinoma of the small bowel.
2
Presence of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, Crohn’s-like lymphocytic reaction, mucinous/signet ring cell differentiation or medullary growth pattern.
2
before the age of 60 years.
1
regardless of age.
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Figure5 Example of a colorectal adenocarcinoma with loss of expression of MLH1. The immunohistochemistry reaction shows negative neoplastic glands within a positive background stroma.
panel, which assesses DNA mismatches in two mononucleo­tide repeats (BAT-25 and BAT-26) and three dinucleotide repeats (D5S346, DS123 and D17S250), and the modified MSI panel which assesses five mononucleotide repeats (BAT-25, BAT-26, NR-21, NR-24, and MONO-27). Both panels show overlapping performance in terms of MSI-H calling (Murphy et al. 2006). The sensitivity of the PCR-based diagnosis increases when the percentage of tumor cells in the tissue analyzed exceeds 30%.
Progress in technology and in particular the use of large tar­geted next generation sequencing (NGS) panels now allows the establishment of the diagnosis of MSI-H cancer (NGS-MSI). This methodology has shown high diagnostic concordance with traditional PCR fragment analysis (Vanderwalde et al.
2018).
It is worth noting that MSI can be also seen in about 15% of sporadic CRCs, and therefore an MSI-H tumor itself is not diagnostic for Lynch syndrome.
Hereditary CRC with MMR/MSI Discrepancy
About half of CRC families that meet the Amsterdam criteria have no identifiable germline mutations in the MMR genes. These families also have a lower lifetime CRC risk than families with Lynch syndrome and there is no increased risk of extraco­lonic tumors (Lindor et al. 2005). Analysis of these MMR­proficient tumors has failed to identify other genes that could explain these inherited forms of CRC, with the only candidate gene that has shown an association being RPS20 (ribosomal protein S20) (Nieminen et al. 2014). In addition to this, rare germline MLH1 promoter hypermethylation has been identi­fied as a potential cause (Hitchins etal. 2005).
Sporadic MSI-Associated Colorectal Cancer
The vast majority of CRCs are sporadic, and most of these follow the conventional/chromosomal instability pathway. However, as mentioned before, about 15% of sporadic CRCs are associated with deficiency in the DNA mismatch repair machinery leading to DNA microsatellite instability. In con­trast to Lynch syndrome, which relates to germline patho­genic variants in the genes encoding DNA mismatch repair proteins, these tumors show sporadic somatic inactivation of MMR genes. In the vast majority of cases, MSI in sporadic CRCs relates to epigenetic downregulation of MLH1. These epigenetic changes usually involve the methylation of cyto­sine residues in cytosine and guanine-rich regions (called CpG islands) in promoter sequences of the genes involved. As a consequence, there is no transcription of the gene. The majority (approximately 80%) of sporadic dMMR cases are caused by methylation of the MLH1 gene promoter, whereas more than 70% of hereditary cases are associated with germ­line mutations in the MLH1 and MSH2 genes (Koopman etal. 2009; Latham etal. 2019).
Classification of sporadic CRCs based on microsatellite insta­bility has profound clinical implications. MSI-H CRCs have consistently been shown to have a better prognosis compared to those with intact mismatch repair mechanisms. A systematic review of 32 studies comprising a total of 7,642 cases showed a combined hazard ratio for overall survival of 0.65 (95% confidence interval 0.59 to 0.71) for MSI-H compared to MSS CRCs (S Popat etal. 2005). One of the potential mechanisms for this appears to be the higher expression of neo tumor-specific peptides in MSI-H tumors (Linnebacher etal. 2001). These neo­antigens are displayed by the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) on the surface of tumor cells, which in turn triggers a T-cell mediated cytotoxic anti-tumor immune response (Schumacher and Schreiber 2015). As well as its use in prognos­tication, MSI status impacts treatment strategy. For example, Jover and colleagues demonstrated that dMMR tumors do not respond to 5-fluorouracil based chemotherapy (Jover et al.
2009). Likewise, the immune checkpoint inhibitors nivolumab and pembrolizumab which block the programmed death (PD-
1) receptor have been approved for the treatment of colorectal cancer with MSI-H or deficient MMR status (Le et al. 2015; Overman etal. 2017).
Serrated Neoplasia Pathway
More recently, a serrated neoplasia pathway to colorectal carci­nogenesis has been described. The precursor lesion in this pathway is the serrated polyp. Although they represent a het­erogeneous group, the characteristic feature of serrated polyps is the saw-toothed infolding of the crypt epithelium (Leggett