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Improved markers of prognosis are needed to stratify patients with early-stage colorectal cancer to refine selection of adjuvant therapy. The aim of the present study was to develop a biomarker of patient outcome after primary colorectal cancer resection by directly analysing scanned conventional haematoxylin and eosin stained sections using deep learning. More than 12 000 000 image tiles from patients with a distinctly good or poor disease outcome from four cohorts were used to train a total of ten convolutional neural networks, purpose-built for classifying supersized heterogeneous images. A prognostic biomarker integrating the ten networks was determined using patients with a non-distinct outcome. The marker was tested on 920 patients with slides prepared in the UK, and then independently validated according to a predefined protocol in 1122 patients treated with single-agent capecitabine using slides prepared in Norway. All cohorts included only patients with resectable tumours, and a formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumour tissue block available for analysis. The primary outcome was cancer-specific survival. 828 patients from four cohorts had a distinct outcome and were used as a training cohort to obtain clear ground truth. 1645 patients had a non-distinct outcome and were used for tuning. The biomarker provided a hazard ratio for poor versus good prognosis of 3·84 (95% CI 2·72–5·43; p<0·0001) in the primary analysis of the validation cohort, and 3·04 (2·07–4·47; p<0·0001) after adjusting for established prognostic markers significant in univariable analyses of the same cohort, which were pN stage, pT stage, lymphatic invasion, and venous vascular invasion. A clinically useful prognostic marker was developed using deep learning allied to digital scanning of conventional haematoxylin and eosin stained tumour tissue sections. The assay has been extensively evaluated in large, independent patient populations, correlates with and outperforms established molecular and morphological prognostic markers, and gives consistent results across tumour and nodal stage. The biomarker stratified stage II and III patients into sufficiently distinct prognostic groups that potentially could be used to guide selection of adjuvant treatment by avoiding therapy in very low risk groups and identifying patients who would benefit from more intensive treatment regimes. The Research Council of Norway.

The DoMore-v1-CRC marker was recently developed using deep learning and conventional haematoxylin and eosin-stained tissue sections, and was observed to outperform established molecular and morphological markers of patient outcome after primary colorectal cancer resection. The aim of the present study was to develop a clinical decision support system based on DoMore-v1-CRC and pathological staging markers to facilitate individualised selection of adjuvant treatment. We estimated cancer-specific survival in subgroups formed by pathological tumour stage (pT<4 or pT4), pathological nodal stage (pN0, pN1, or pN2), number of lymph nodes sampled (≤12 or >12) if not pN2, and DoMore-v1-CRC classification (good, uncertain, or poor prognosis) in 997 patients with stage II or III colorectal cancer considered to have no residual tumour (R0) from two community-based cohorts in Norway and the UK, and used these data to define three risk groups. An external cohort of 1075 patients with stage II or III R0 colorectal cancer from the QUASAR 2 trial was used for validation; these patients were treated with single-agent capecitabine. The proposed risk stratification system was evaluated using Cox regression analysis. We similarly evaluated a risk stratification system intended to reflect current guidelines and clinical practice. The primary outcome was cancer-specific survival. The new risk stratification system provided a hazard ratio of 10·71 (95% CI 6·39–17·93; p<0·0001) for high-risk versus low-risk patients and 3·06 (1·73–5·42; p=0·0001) for intermediate versus low risk in the primary analysis of the validation cohort. Estimated 3-year cancer-specific survival was 97·2% (95% CI 95·1–98·4; n=445 [41%]) for the low-risk group, 94·8% (91·7–96·7; n=339 [32%]) for the intermediate-risk group, and 77·6% (72·1–82·1; n=291 [27%]) for the high-risk group. The guideline-based risk grouping was observed to be less prognostic and informative (the low-risk group comprised only 142 [13%] of the 1075 patients). Integrating DoMore-v1-CRC and pathological staging markers provided a clinical decision support system that risk stratifies more accurately than its constituent elements, and identifies substantially more patients with stage II and III colorectal cancer with similarly good prognosis as the low-risk group in current guidelines. Avoiding adjuvant chemotherapy in these patients might be safe, and could reduce morbidity, mortality, and treatment costs. The Research Council of Norway.

Chromatin organisation affects gene expression and regional mutation frequencies and contributes to carcinogenesis. Aberrant organisation of DNA has been correlated with cancer prognosis in analyses of the chromatin component of tumour cell nuclei using image texture analysis. As yet, the methodology has not been sufficiently validated to permit its clinical application. We aimed to define and validate a novel prognostic biomarker for the automatic detection of heterogeneous chromatin organisation. Machine learning algorithms analysed the chromatin organisation in 461 000 images of tumour cell nuclei stained for DNA from 390 patients (discovery cohort) treated for stage I or II colorectal cancer at the Aker University Hospital (Oslo, Norway). The resulting marker of chromatin heterogeneity, termed Nucleotyping, was subsequently independently validated in six patient cohorts: 442 patients with stage I or II colorectal cancer in the Gloucester Colorectal Cancer Study (UK); 391 patients with stage II colorectal cancer in the QUASAR 2 trial; 246 patients with stage I ovarian carcinoma; 354 patients with uterine sarcoma; 307 patients with prostate carcinoma; and 791 patients with endometrial carcinoma. The primary outcome was cancer-specific survival. In all patient cohorts, patients with chromatin heterogeneous tumours had worse cancer-specific survival than patients with chromatin homogeneous tumours (univariable analysis hazard ratio [HR] 1·7, 95% CI 1·2–2·5, in the discovery cohort; 1·8, 1·0–3·0, in the Gloucester validation cohort; 2·2, 1·1–4·5, in the QUASAR 2 validation cohort; 3·1, 1·9–5·0, in the ovarian carcinoma cohort; 2·5, 1·8–3·4, in the uterine sarcoma cohort; 2·3, 1·2–4·6, in the prostate carcinoma cohort; and 4·3, 2·8–6·8, in the endometrial carcinoma cohort). After adjusting for established prognostic patient characteristics in multivariable analyses, Nucleotyping was prognostic in all cohorts except for the prostate carcinoma cohort (HR 1·7, 95% CI 1·1–2·5, in the discovery cohort; 1·9, 1·1–3·2, in the Gloucester validation cohort; 2·6, 1·2–5·6, in the QUASAR 2 cohort; 1·8, 1·1–3·0, for ovarian carcinoma; 1·6, 1·0–2·4, for uterine sarcoma; 1·43, 0·68–2·99, for prostate carcinoma; and 1·9, 1·1–3·1, for endometrial carcinoma). Chromatin heterogeneity was a significant predictor of cancer-specific survival in microsatellite unstable (HR 2·9, 95% CI 1·0–8·4) and microsatellite stable (1·8, 1·2–2·7) stage II colorectal cancer, but microsatellite instability was not a significant predictor of outcome in chromatin homogeneous (1·3, 0·7–2·4) or chromatin heterogeneous (0·8, 0·3–2·0) stage II colorectal cancer. The consistent prognostic prediction of Nucleotyping in different biological and technical circumstances suggests that the marker of chromatin heterogeneity can be reliably assessed in routine clinical practice and could be used to objectively assist decision making in a range of clinical settings. An immediate application would be to identify high-risk patients with stage II colorectal cancer who might have greater absolute benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy. Clinical trials are warranted to evaluate the survival benefit and cost-effectiveness of using Nucleotyping to guide treatment decisions in multiple clinical settings. The Research Council of Norway, the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority, the National Institute for Health Research, and the Wellcome Trust.

N-myc downstream-regulated gene 1 (NDRG1) is induced by cellular stress such as hypoxia and DNA damage, and in humans, germ line mutations cause Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. However, the cellular roles of NDRG1 are not fully understood. Previously, NDRG1 was shown to mediate doxorubicin resistance under hypoxia, suggesting a role for NDRG1 in cell survival under these conditions. We found decreased apoptosis in doxorubicin-treated cells expressing NDRG1 shRNAs under normoxia, demonstrating a requirement for NDRG1 in apoptosis in breast epithelial cells under normal oxygen pressure. Also, different cellular stress regimens, such as hypoxia and doxorubicin treatment, induced NDRG1 through different stress signalling pathways. We further compared expression profiles in human breast epithelial cells ectopically over-expressing NDRG1 with cells expressing NDRG1 shRNAs in order to identify biological pathways where NDRG1 is involved. The results suggest that NDRG1 may have roles connected to vesicle transport.

The tumor microenvironment consists of stromal cells and extracellular factors that evolve in parallel with carcinoma cells. To gain insights into the activities of stromal cell populations, we developed and applied multicolor imaging techniques to analyze the behavior of these cells within different tumor microenvironments in the same live mouse. We found that regulatory T-lymphocytes (Tregs) migrated in proximity to blood vessels. Dendritic-like cells, myeloid cells and carcinoma-associated fibroblasts all exhibited higher motility in the microenvironment at the tumor periphery than within the tumor mass. Since oxygen levels differ between tumor microenvironments, we tested if acute hypoxia could account for the differences in cell migration. Direct visualization revealed that Tregs ceased migration under acute systemic hypoxia, whereas myeloid cells continued migrating. In the same mouse and microenvironment, we experimentally subdivided the myeloid cell population and revealed that uptake of fluorescent dextran defined a low-motility subpopulation expressing markers of tumor-promoting, alternatively activated macrophages. In contrast, fluorescent anti-Gr1 antibodies marked myeloid cells patrolling inside tumor vessels and in the stroma. Our techniques allow real-time combinatorial analysis of cell populations based on spatial location, gene expression, behavior and cell surface molecules within intact tumors. The techniques are not limited to investigations in cancer, but could give new insights into cell behavior more broadly in development and disease.

Background Current risk stratification tools for prostate cancer patients under active surveillance (AS) may inadequately identify those needing treatment. We investigated DNA ploidy and PTEN as potential biomarkers to predict aggressive disease in AS patients. Methods We assessed DNA ploidy by image cytometry and PTEN protein expression by immunohistochemistry in 3197 tumour-containing tissue blocks from 558 patients followed in AS at a Norwegian local hospital. The primary endpoint was treatment, with treatment failure (biochemical recurrence or initiation of salvage therapy) as the secondary endpoint. Results The combined DNA ploidy and PTEN (DPP) status at diagnosis was associated with treatment-free survival in univariable- and multivariable analysis, with a HR for DPP-aberrant vs. DPP-normal tumours of 2.12 ( p  < 0.0001) and 1.94 ( p  < 0.0001), respectively. Integration of DNA ploidy and PTEN status with the Cancer of the Prostate Risk Assessment (CAPRA) score improved risk stratification (c-index difference = 0.025; p  = 0.0033). Among the treated patients, those with DPP-aberrant tumours exhibited a significantly higher likelihood of treatment failure (HR 2.01; p  = 0.027). Conclusions DNA ploidy and PTEN could serve as additional biomarkers to identify AS patients at increased risk of developing aggressive disease, enabling earlier intervention for nearly 50% of the patients that will eventually receive treatment with current protocol.

The mitotic checkpoint protein BUB3, cyclin B1 (CCNB1) and pituitary tumor-transforming 1 (PTTG1) regulates cell division, and are sparsely studied in prostate cancer. Deregulation of these genes can lead to genomic instability, a characteristic of more aggressive tumors. We aimed to determine the expression levels of BUB3, CCNB1, and PTTG1 as potential prognostic markers of recurrence after radical prostatectomy. Protein levels were determined by immunohistochemistry on three formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue sections from each of the 253 patients treated with radical prostatectomy. Immunohistochemistry scores were obtained by automated image analysis for CCNB1 and PTTG1. Recurrence, defined as locoregional recurrence, distant metastasis or death from prostate cancer, was used as endpoint for survival analysis. Tumors having both positive and negative tumor areas for cytoplasmic BUB3 (30%), CCNB1 (28%), or PTTG1 (35%) were considered heterogeneous. Patients with ≥1 positive tumor area had significantly increased risk of disease recurrence in univariable analysis compared with patients where all tumor areas were negative for cytoplasmic BUB3 (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.18, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.41–3.36), CCNB1 (HR = 2.98, 95% CI 1.93–4.61) and PTTG1 (HR = 1.91, 95% CI 1.23–2.97). Combining the scores of cytoplasmic BUB3 and CCNB1 improved risk stratification when integrated with the Cancer of the Prostate Risk Assessment post-Surgical (CAPRA-S) score (difference in concordance index = 0.024, 95% CI 0.001–0.05). In analysis of multiple tumor areas, prognostic value was observed for cytoplasmic BUB3, CCNB1, and PTTG1.

Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 13 (collagenase 3) is an extracellular matrix remodeling enzyme that is induced in myofibroblasts during the earliest invasive stages of human breast carcinoma, suggesting that it is involved in tumor progression. During progression of mammary carcinomas in the polyoma virus middle T oncogene mouse model (MMTV-PyMT), Mmp13 mRNA was strongly upregulated concurrently with the transition to invasive and metastatic carcinomas. As in human tumors, Mmp13 mRNA was found in myofibroblasts of invasive grade II and III carcinomas, but not in benign grade I and II mammary intraepithelial neoplasias. To determine if MMP13 plays a role in tumor progression, we crossed MMTV-PyMT mice with Mmp13 deficient mice. The absence of MMP13 did not influence tumor growth, vascularization, progression to more advanced tumor stages, or metastasis to the lungs, and the absence of MMP13 was not compensated for by expression of other MMPs or tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases. However, an increased fraction of thin collagen fibrils was identified in MMTV-PyMT;Mmp13(-/-) compared to MMTV-PyMT;Mmp13(+/+) tumors, showing that collagen metabolism was altered in the absence of MMP13. We conclude that the expression pattern of Mmp13 mRNA in myofibroblasts of invasive carcinomas in the MMTV-PyMT breast cancer model recapitulates the expression pattern observed in human breast cancer. Our results suggest that MMP13 is a marker of carcinoma-associated myofibroblasts of invasive carcinoma, even though it does not make a major contribution to tumor progression in the MMTV-PyMT breast cancer model.

Introduction/BackgroundThe role of molecular classification in patients with low/intermediate risk endometrial cancer (EC) is uncertain. Higher precision in diagnostics will inform the unsettled debate on optimal adjuvant treatment.MethodologyWe retrospectively included patients referred to The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway (2006–2017). Patients with low/intermediate risk EC were molecularly classified as pathogenic polymerase epsilon (POLE)-mutated, mismatch repair deficient (MMRd), p53 abnormal, or no specific molecular profile (NSMP). The main outcome was time to recurrence (TTR) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) within the molecular subgroups. We also studied patterns of recurrence in molecular groups.ResultsOf 626 patients, 610 could be molecularly classified and only 24 received adjuvant treatment. Molecular subgroup distribution was: 57 patients (9%) with POLE-mutated tumors, 202 (33%) with MMRd tumors, 34 (6%) with p53 abnormal tumors, and 317 (52%) with NSMP tumors. After a median follow-up time of 8.9 years (95% confidence interval (CI): 6.2–12.6 years), there was a statistically significant difference in TTR (p<0.001) and CSS (p<0.001) by molecular groups. Patients with p53 abnormal tumors had poor prognosis with a 5-year cumulative incidence for recurrence of 32.4% (95% CI: 17.6–48.0) and cancer-specific death (CSD) of 29.4% (95% CI: 15.4–44.9). The majority of these recurrences were para-aortic/distant metastases. Patients with POLE mutations had excellent prognosis with a 5-year cumulative incidence for recurrence of 3.5% (95% CI: 0.7–10.7%) and CSD of 0%. In the NSMP group, L1CAM expression was associated with shorter CSS (HR 12.52, 95% CI: 3.53–44.42, p<0.0001) but not TTR (HR 2.7, 95% CI: 0.95–7.7, p=0.053).ConclusionLarge differences in prognosis and localization of recurrence by molecular groups demand a higher precision in diagnostics, also in patients with low and intermediate risk EC. Tailored adjuvant treatment strategies need to consider systemic treatment for patients with p53 abnormal tumors and de-escalation of treatment in patients with POLE mutated tumors.DisclosuresKL: Receipt of grants/research supports: GSK, research funding paid toInstitution; Receipt of honoraria or consultation fees: Advisory board fees: Astra Zeneca, Nycode, GSK, EisaGK: Stockholder: Novo NordicAbstract 259 Figure 1

Introduction/BackgroundThere is scarce real-world evidence on patients with advanced endometrial cancer (EC) treated with platinum-based chemotherapy in the literature. This study described the oncological outcome in groups by molecular classification.MethodologyThis retrospective cohort study included patients referred to The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo University Hospital (OUH), Norway who were diagnosed or operated for EC at OUH between January 2006 and December 2017. Patients with Stage III/IV EC treated with platinum-based chemotherapy after hysterectomy and with sufficient tumor tissue available at the biobank were molecularly classified as pathogenic polymerase epsilon (POLE)-mutated, mismatch repair deficient (MMRd), p53 abnormal, or no specific molecular profile (NSMP).ResultsOf 264 patients, 263 were molecularly classified, 10 (4%) as POLE-mutated, 67 (26%) as MMRd, 117 (44%) as p53 abnormal and 69 (26%) as NSMP. One patient could not be molecularly characterized. Median age was 68 (61–74) years with a median follow up time of 5.3 (2.2–10.3) years. Patients with MMRd tumors had significantly longer time to recurrence (HR 0.43, 95% CI: 0.27–0.67, p=0.0001) and longer cancer-specific survival (HR 0.36, 95%CI: 0.22–0.58, p<0.0001) than patients with mismatch repair proficient (MMRp) tumors. Compared to patients with NSMP tumors, patients with p53 abnormal tumors had shorter cancer-specific survival (HR 1.78, 95% CI: 1.19–2.65) while patients with MMRd tumors had longer cancer-specific survival (HR 0.50, 95% CI: 0.29–0.87). Patients with POLE tumors had the longest cancer-specific survival (HR 0.32, 95% 0.08–1.32).ConclusionResults show that molecular classification is prognostic in patients with advanced-stage endometrial cancer. Based on the recently reported clinical trials of a checkpoint inhibitor added to platinum-based chemotherapy in advanced and recurrent EC, patients with MMRd, and maybe also p53 abnormal tumors, have a better clinical outcome when treated with this combination treatmentDisclosuresThis supported collaborative study was funded by GSK (SCS: 219026)KL: Receipt of grants/research supports: GSK, research funding paid toInstitution; Receipt of honoraria or consultation fees: Advisory board fees: Astra Zeneca, Nycode, GSK, EisaBM, DS: Stockholder: GSK, Other: Employee GSKHE: Other: Employee GSKGK: Stockholder: Novo Nordic