Genomic and Transcriptomic Characterisation of Response to Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy in Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer.

ABSTRACT: Standard treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) is neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NACRT), followed by surgical resection. However, >70% of patients do not achieve a complete pathological response and have higher rates of relapse and death. There are no validated pre- or on-treatment factors that predict response to NACRT besides tumour stage and size. We characterised the response of 33 LARC patients to NACRT, collected tumour samples from patients prior to, during and after NACRT, and performed whole exome, transcriptome and high-depth targeted sequencing. The pre-treatment LARC genome was not predictive of response to NACRT. However, in line with the increasing recognition of microbial influence in cancer, RNA analysis of pre-treatment tumours suggested a greater abundance o

SUBMITTER: Toomey S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7408989 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature