High prevalence of unusual KRAS, NRAS, and BRAF mutations in POLE-hypermutated colorectal cancers

Exonucleasic domain POLE (edPOLE) mutations, which are responsible for a hypermutated tumor phenotype, occur in 1-2% of colorectal cancer (CRC) cases. These alterations represent an emerging biomarker for response to immune checkpoint blockade. This study aimed to assess the molecular characteristics of edPOLE-mutated tumors to facilitate patient screening. Based on opensource data analysis, we compared the prevalence of edPOLE mutations in a control group of unselected CRC patients (n = 222) vs a group enriched for unusual BRAF/RAS mutations (n = 198). Tumor mutational burden (TMB) and immune infiltrate of tumors harboring edPOLE mutations were then analyzed. In total, 420 CRC patients were analyzed: 11 edPOLE-mutated tumors were identified, most frequently in microsatellite (MMR)-proficient young (< 70 years) male patients, with left-sided tumors harboring noncodon 12 KRAS mutation. The prevalence of edPOLE-mutated tumors in the control vs the experimental screening group was, respectively, 0.45% (n = 1) vs 5.0% (n = 10). Among the 11 edPOLE-mutated cases, two had a low TMB, three were hypermutated, and six were ultramutated. EdPOLE-mutated cases had a high CD8(+) tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) infiltration. These clinicopathological and molecular criteria may help to identify edPOLE mutations associated with a high TMB in CRC, and improve the selection of patients who could benefit from immunotherapy.