Patients with colorectal cancer in different stages show variable outcomes/therapeutic responses due to their distinct tumoral biomarkers and biological features. In this sense, this study aimed to explore the prognostic utility of BRAF, programmed death-1 (PD1), and its ligand (PDL1) protein signatures in colon adenocarcinoma. The selected protein markers were explored in 64 archived primary colon adenocarcinomas in relation to clinicopathological features. BRAF overexpression was found in 39% of the cases and was significantly associated with grade 3, N1, advanced Dukes stage, presence of relapse, and shorter overall survival (OS). PD1 expression in the infiltrating immune cells (IICs) exhibited significant association with T2/T3, N0/M0, early Dukes stage, and absence of relapse. PDL1 expression in IICs is significantly associated with advanced nodal stage/distant metastasis, advanced Dukes stage, and shorter OS. Meanwhile, PDL1 expression in neoplastic cells (NC) was associated with the advanced lymph node/Dukes stage. A positive combined expression pattern of PDL1 in NC/IICs was associated with poor prognostic indices. Tumor PDL1 expression can be an independent predictor of OS and DFS. The multivariate analyses revealed that short OS was independently associated with the RT side location of the tumor, PD1 expression in stromal IICs, and PDL1 expression in NC. In conclusion, overexpression of BRAF in colon adenocarcinoma is considered a poor prognostic pathological marker. In addition, PDL1 expression in NC is considered an independent prognostic factor for DFS/OS. Combined immunohistochemical assessment for BRAF and PD1/PDL1 protein expressions in colon adenocarcinoma might be beneficial for selecting patients for future targeted therapy.
Keywords: BRAF; PD1; PDL1; colorectal cancer; prognosis; protein expression; survival.