Genetic landscape of colorectal cancer patients manifesting tumor shrinkage during SARS-Cov-2 infection

• Published in: Therapeutic advances in medical oncology Vol. 14; p. 17588359221138388
• Main Authors: Ottaiano, Alessandro, Santorsola, Mariachiara, Circelli, Luisa, Cascella, Marco, Petrillo, Nadia, Perri, Francesco, Casillo, Marika, Granata, Vincenza, Ianniello, Monica, Izzo, Francesco, Picone, Carmine, Correra, Marco, Petrillo, Antonella, Sirica, Roberto, Misso, Gabriella, Delrio, Paolo, Nasti, Guglielmo, Savarese, Giovanni, Caraglia, Michele
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.01.2022; Sage Publications Ltd; SAGE Publishing
• Subjects: Cancer; Case Report; Colorectal cancer; Colorectal carcinoma; Coronaviruses; Immune response; Immunoglobulin G; Infections; Metastases; Next-generation sequencing; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Tumors; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; colorectal cancer; genetics; next generation sequencing
• ISSN: 1758-8359; 1758-8340; 1758-8359
• DOI: 10.1177/17588359221138388

We previously described three patients affected by metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) who experienced spontaneous tumour shrinkage during severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Thereafter, the patients were closely monitored and no systemic treatments were applied. Here, we report follow-up clinical information about these patients as well as genetic characterization of their primary tumours through the TruSigt™Oncology 500 Next Generation Sequencing test targeting 523 cancer-relevant genes. An Illumina NovaSeq 6000 platform was used to perform sequencing. Time-to-progression was 23 and 2 months, respectively, in Patients 2 and 3 while it was not reached in Patient 1. Patients 1 and 2 had the greatest anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG titres. Assessment of genetic landscapes evidenced common mutation in BARD1 gene (p.Val507Met) in Patients 1 and 2. Although our report is descriptive in its nature, we suggest that complex and unexplored interactions between genetic background and components of the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection could be responsible of unexpected rare mCRC shrinkage.