International Validation of the Immunoscore Biopsy in Patients With Rectal Cancer Managed by a Watch-and-Wait Strategy.

Abstract

No biomarker capable of improving selection and monitoring of patients with rectal cancer managed by watch-and-wait (W&W) strategy is currently available. Prognostic performance of the Immunoscore biopsy (IS_B) was recently suggested in a preliminary study. This international validation study included 249 patients with clinical complete response (cCR) managed by W&W strategy. Intratumoral CD3+ and CD8+ T cells were quantified on pretreatment rectal biopsies by digital pathology and converted to IS_B. The primary end point was time to recurrence (TTR; the time from the end of neoadjuvant treatment to the date of local regrowth or distant metastasis). Associations between IS_B and outcomes were analyzed by stratified Cox regression adjusted for confounders. Immune status of tumor-draining lymph nodes (n = 161) of 17 additional patients treated by neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and surgery was investigated by 3'RNA-Seq and immunofluorescence. Recurrence-free rates at 5 years were 91.3% (82.4%-100.0%), 62.5% (53.2%-73.3%), and 53.1% (42.4%-66.5%) with IS_B High, IS_B Intermediate, and IS_B Low, respectively (hazard ratio [HR; Low <i>v</i> High], 6.51; 95% CI, 1.99 to 21.28; log-rank <i>P</i> = .0004). IS_B was also significantly associated with disease-free survival (log-rank <i>P</i> = .0002), and predicted both local regrowth and distant metastasis. In multivariate analysis, IS_B was independent of patient age, sex, tumor location, cT stage (T, primary tumor; c, clinical), cN stage (N, regional lymph node; c, clinical), and was the strongest predictor for TTR (HR [IS_B High <i>v</i> Low], 6.93; 95% CI, 2.08 to 23.15; <i>P</i> = .0017). The addition of IS_B to a clinical-based model significantly improved the prediction of recurrence. Finally, B-cell proliferation and memory in draining lymph nodes was evidenced in the draining lymph nodes of patients with cCR. The IS_B is validated as a biomarker to predict both local regrowth and distant metastasis, with a gradual scaling of the risk of pejorative outcome.