Cited by 256Cancer Immunotherapy and BiomarkersHepatocellular Carcinoma Treatment and PrognosisCancer Genomics and Diagnostics

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 47 of the 49 references it cites were found in a registry or an index, and 1 are not checked yet.

Inflamed and non-inflamed classes of HCC: a revised immunogenomic classification

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Abstract

Objective: We previously reported a characterisation of the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) immune contexture and described an immune-specific class. We now aim to further delineate the immunogenomic classification of HCC to incorporate features that explain responses/resistance to immunotherapy. Design: We performed RNA and whole-exome sequencing, T-cell receptor (TCR)-sequencing, multiplex immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry in a novel cohort of 240 HCC patients and validated our results in other cohorts comprising 660 patients. Results: Our integrative analysis led to define: (1) the inflamed class of HCC (37%), which includes the previously reported immune subclass (22%) and a new immune-like subclass (15%) with high interferon signalling, cytolytic activity, expression of immune-effector cytokines and a more diverse T-cell repertoire. A 20-gene signature was able to capture ~90% of these tumours and is associated with response to immunotherapy. Proteins identified in liquid biopsies recapitulated the inflamed class with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.91; (2) The intermediate class, enriched in TP53 mutations (49% vs 29%, p=0.035), and chromosomal losses involving immune-related genes and; (3) the excluded class, enriched in CTNNB1 mutations (93% vs 27%, p<0.001) and PTK2 overexpression due to gene amplification and promoter hypomethylation. CTNNB1 mutations outside the excluded class led to weak activation of the Wnt-βcatenin pathway or occurred in HCCs dominated by high interferon signalling and type I antigen presenting genes. Conclusion: We have characterised the immunogenomic contexture of HCC and defined inflamed and non-inflamed tumours. Two distinct CTNNB1 patterns associated with a differential role in immune evasion are described. These features may help predict immune response in HCC.

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Crossref · 10.1136/gutjnl-2021-325918

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  1. Esteban-Fabró R , Willoughby CE , Piqué‐Gili M . Data from: cabozantinib enhances anti-PD1 efficacy and elicits a neutrophil-based immune response in murine models: implications for human HCC. gene expression Omnibus. Available: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/query/acc.cgi?acc=GSE174570
  2. Hsu, 2021, Exploring markers of exhausted CD8 T cells to predict response to immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma, Liver Cancer, 10, 346, 10.1159/000515305 · DOI

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Metadata

Authors
Montironi, C., Castet, F., Haber, P. K., Pinyol, R., Torres-Martin, M., Torrens, L., Mesropian, A., Wang, H., Puigvehi, M., Maeda, M., Leow, W. Q., Harrod, E., Taik, P., Chinburen, J., Taivanbaatar, E., Chinbold, E., Solé Arqués, M., Donovan, M., Thung, S., Neely, J., Mazzaferro, V., Anderson, J., Roayaie, S., Schwartz, M., Villanueva, A., Friedman, S. L., Uzilov, A., Sia, D., & Llovet, J. M.
Affiliations
  • Hospital Clínic de Barcelona (ES)
  • Tisch Cancer Institute (US)
  • Translational Research in Hepatic Oncology, Liver Unit, IDIBAPS, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
  • Sema4 (United States) (US)
  • Mount Sinai Liver Cancer Program, Division of Liver Diseases, Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
  • Singapore General Hospital (SG)
  • Royal Surrey County Hospital (GB)
  • Hepato-Pancreatico-Biliary Surgery Department, National Cancer Center, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
  • Bristol-Myers Squibb (United States) (US)
  • Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori (IT)
  • White Plains Hospital (US)
  • Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ES)
Corresponding author
Llovet, Josep M
Venue
Gut
Publisher
BMJ
Published
2022-02-23
Volume
72
Issue
1
Pages
129-140
ISSN
  • 0017-5749 (ISSN-L)
  • 1468-3288
OpenAlex
W4213062169
Cited by
253
References
49
Citations by year
2026: 48 · 2025: 52 · 2024: 66 · 2023: 67 · 2022: 19
FWCI
21.60
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Gut (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Archivio Istituzionale della Ricerca (Universita Degli Studi Di Milano) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • Dr. Franklin M. Klion Young Scientist Research Award (N/A)
  • Generalitat de Catalunya (PERIS (SLT017/20/000206))
  • National Cancer Institute (P30-CA196521)
  • PhD Scientist Innovative Research Award (N/A)
  • Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Rio Hortega grant (CM19/00039))
  • Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation (N/A)
  • Acadèmia de Ciències Mèdiques i de la Salut de Catalunya i de Balears (N/A)
  • Cancer Research UK (HUNTER, Ref. C9380/A26813)
  • Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro (HUNTER, Ref. C9380/A26813)
  • U.S. Department of Defense (CA150272P3)
  • Tisch Cancer Institute (N/A)
  • Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (HEPCAR, Ref. 667273-2)
  • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG: HA 8754/1-1)
  • Fundación Científica Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (CLJUN20007CAST, HUNTER, Ref. C9380/A26813)
  • Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (SAF2016-76390)
  • Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (SGR-1358)
  • Bristol-Myers Squibb (N/A)
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01 DK128289, R01-128289, R01-56621)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Hepatology › Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treatment and Prognosis
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cancer Research › Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics
Keywords
hepatocellular carcinoma, immune evasion, immunotherapy response prediction, interferon signaling, T cell receptor repertoire, TP53 mutation, CTNNB1 mutation, Wnt/β-catenin signaling, promoter hypomethylation, liquid biopsy, gene expression signatures, immune-related genes
MeSH terms
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular, Humans, Interferons, Liver Neoplasms, Mutation, DNA Methylation, Wnt Signaling Pathway

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