Implication of Microsatellite Instability in Chinese Cohort of Human Cancers

Microsatellite instability (MSI) has been a hot topic in cancer research. Determining MSI status greatly aids tumor prognosis and treatment plans. However, MSI data for Asian cancer patients with prognostic information are scarce. Here, our aim was to clarify MSI status and its prognostic value in a large Chinese cohort with different tumors.

Tissue samples from 600 Chinese cases, including 150 endometrial cancers, 150 colorectal cancers, 150 liver cancers and 150 gastric cancers, were used for IHC and MSI examinations. Two mononucleotide and three dinucleotide markers were used to analyze MSI status.

In total,17.3% (26/150) of endometrial cancer patients showed positive MSI,10.0% (15/150) in colorectal cancer, 2.7% (4/150) in liver cancer, and 2.7% (4/150) in gastric cancer. Tumor location (P < 0.001 for colorectal cancer) and clinical stage (P =0.038 for gastric cancer) showed significant correlations with MSI status in gastrointestinal carcinogenesis. The mismatch repair (MMR) deficiency was observed in 20 colorectal cases (13.3%) and was significantly more frequent in the MSI-positive group (P < 0.001). Interestingly, the prevalence of MSI-H was mostly occurred in early-stage tumors, and none was in late stage (stage IV). Meanwhile, low clinicopathological stage had significant correlation with longer survival in multiple cancers here.

The incidence of microsatellite instability varies among different cancer types. And the prevalence of MSI-H mostly occurred early clinicopathological stage. In addition, our study provided a large Asian cohort screened by five loci PCR method and significantly increased knowledge on the prognostic significance of MSI in Asia.