Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Microsatellite instability or mismatch repair deficiency occurs in 20% of CRC, and is predominantly found in non-metastatic tumors. The success of the CheckMate 142 and KEYNOTE-177 clinical trials has shifted the treatment paradigm of the MSI/dMMR CRC, which has led to the adoption of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) by international treatment standards. However, despite the encouraging effects of ICI, up to 30% of patients are resistant to treatment and exhibit rapid disease progression shortly after starting ICI. On the other hand, around 30% of patients treated with ICI demonstrate prolonged responses to the treatment with a duration of response of over 40 months. Furthermore, for \~10% of patients, treatment with ICI results in pseudo-progression - a phenomenon of a short-term increase followed by the decrease of the tumor volume. Currently, the mechanisms and biomarkers associated with the response or resistance to ICI in MSI-positive CRC are largely unknown. Select studies suggest that BRAF mutations (specifically, BRAF p.V600E) might negatively affect the patients' progression-free survival following ICI, however, these data are premature. The primary hypothesis is that the clonal heterogeneity and the evolution of MSI status of MSI-positive CRC will play a role in the development of ICI treatment resistance. The primary objective of the study is to investigate the dynamics of MSI status in serial liquid biopsy samples from patients with MSI-positive tumors receiving ICI.
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Concordance of NGS and routine methods (PCR, IHC) for MSI analysis
Timeframe: Through study completion, an average of 3 years