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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="nlm-ta">OR</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>Oncology Reports</journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="ppub">1021-335X</issn>
<issn pub-type="epub">1791-2431</issn>
<publisher>
<publisher-name>D.A. Spandidos</publisher-name>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.3892/or.2020.7561</article-id>
<article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">or-43-06-1853</article-id>
<article-categories>
<subj-group>
<subject>Articles</subject>
</subj-group>
</article-categories>
<title-group>
<article-title><italic>RNF43</italic> mutation is associated with aggressive tumor biology along with <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E mutation in right-sided colorectal cancer</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group>
<contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Matsumoto</surname><given-names>Akio</given-names></name>
<xref rid="af1-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="aff">1</xref></contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Shimada</surname><given-names>Yoshifumi</given-names></name>
<xref rid="af1-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="aff">1</xref>
<xref rid="af2-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="aff">2</xref>
<xref rid="c1-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="corresp"/></contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Nakano</surname><given-names>Mae</given-names></name>
<xref rid="af1-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="aff">1</xref>
<xref rid="af2-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="aff">2</xref></contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Oyanagi</surname><given-names>Hidehito</given-names></name>
<xref rid="af1-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="aff">1</xref></contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Tajima</surname><given-names>Yosuke</given-names></name>
<xref rid="af1-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="aff">1</xref></contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Nakano</surname><given-names>Masato</given-names></name>
<xref rid="af1-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="aff">1</xref></contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Kameyama</surname><given-names>Hitoshi</given-names></name>
<xref rid="af1-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="aff">1</xref></contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Hirose</surname><given-names>Yuki</given-names></name>
<xref rid="af1-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="aff">1</xref></contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Ichikawa</surname><given-names>Hiroshi</given-names></name>
<xref rid="af1-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="aff">1</xref></contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Nagahashi</surname><given-names>Masayuki</given-names></name>
<xref rid="af1-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="aff">1</xref></contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Nogami</surname><given-names>Hitoshi</given-names></name>
<xref rid="af3-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="aff">3</xref></contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Maruyama</surname><given-names>Satoshi</given-names></name>
<xref rid="af3-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="aff">3</xref></contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Takii</surname><given-names>Yasumasa</given-names></name>
<xref rid="af3-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="aff">3</xref></contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Ling</surname><given-names>Yiwei</given-names></name>
<xref rid="af4-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="aff">4</xref></contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Okuda</surname><given-names>Shujiro</given-names></name>
<xref rid="af2-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="aff">2</xref>
<xref rid="af4-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="aff">4</xref></contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Wakai</surname><given-names>Toshifumi</given-names></name>
<xref rid="af1-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="aff">1</xref>
<xref rid="af2-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="aff">2</xref></contrib>
</contrib-group>
<aff id="af1-or-43-06-1853"><label>1</label>Division of Digestive and General Surgery, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata 951-8520, Japan</aff>
<aff id="af2-or-43-06-1853"><label>2</label>Medical Genome Center, Niigata University Medical and Dental Hospital, Niigata 951-8520, Japan</aff>
<aff id="af3-or-43-06-1853"><label>3</label>Department of Surgery, Niigata Cancer Centre Hospital, Niigata 951-8566, Japan</aff>
<aff id="af4-or-43-06-1853"><label>4</label>Division of Bioinformatics, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata 951-8510, Japan</aff>
<author-notes>
<corresp id="c1-or-43-06-1853"><italic>Correspondence to</italic>: Dr Yoshifumi Shimada, Division of Digestive and General Surgery, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, 1-757 Asahimachi-dori, Chuo-ku, Niigata 951-8520, Japan, E-mail: <email>shimaday@med.niigata-u.ac.jp</email></corresp>
</author-notes>
<pub-date pub-type="ppub"><month>06</month><year>2020</year></pub-date>
<pub-date pub-type="epub"><day>23</day><month>03</month><year>2020</year></pub-date>
<volume>43</volume>
<issue>6</issue>
<fpage>1853</fpage>
<lpage>1862</lpage>
<history>
<date date-type="received"><day>14</day><month>11</month><year>2019</year></date>
<date date-type="accepted"><day>05</day><month>03</month><year>2020</year></date>
</history>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x00A9; Matsumoto et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2020</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License</ext-link>, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.</license-p></license>
</permissions>
<abstract>
<p>Right-sided colorectal cancer (RCRC) demonstrates worse survival outcome compared with left-sided CRC (LCRC). Recently, the importance of <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation and <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E mutation has been reported in the serrated neoplasia pathway, which is one of the precancerous lesions in RCRC. It was hypothesized that the clinical significance of <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation differs according to primary tumor sidedness. To test this hypothesis, the clinicopathological characteristics and survival outcome of patients with <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation in RCRC and LCRC were investigated. Stage I&#x2013;IV CRC patients (n=201) were analyzed. Genetic alterations including <italic>RNF43</italic> using a 415-gene panel were investigated. Clinicopathological characteristics between <italic>RNF43</italic> wild-type and <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type were analyzed. Moreover, <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type was classified according to primary tumor sidedness, i.e., right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type or left-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type, and the clinicopathological characteristics between the two groups were compared. <italic>RNF43</italic> mutational prevalence, spectrum and frequency between our cohort and TCGA samples were compared. <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation was observed in 27 out of 201 patients (13&#x0025;). Multivariate analysis revealed that age (&#x2265;65), absence of venous invasion, and <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E mutation were independently associated with <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation. Among the 27 patients with <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation, 12 patients were right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type and 15 left-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type. Right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type was significantly associated with histopathological grade 3, presence of lymphatic invasion, <italic>APC</italic> wild, <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E mutation, microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H), and <italic>RNF43</italic> nonsense/frameshift mutation compared with left-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type. Similarly, <italic>RNF43</italic> nonsense/frameshift mutations were more frequently observed in RCRC compared with LCRC in the TCGA cohort (P=0.042). Right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type exhibited significantly worse overall survival than <italic>RNF43</italic> wild-type and left-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type (P=0.001 and P=0.023, respectively) in stage IV disease. <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation may be a distinct molecular subtype which is associated with aggressive tumor biology along with <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E mutation in RCRC.</p>
</abstract>
<kwd-group>
<kwd><italic>RNF43</italic></kwd>
<kwd>primary tumor sidedness</kwd>
<kwd><italic>BRAF</italic> V600E</kwd>
<kwd>next-generation sequencing</kwd>
<kwd>gene panel testing</kwd>
<kwd>colorectal cancer</kwd>
</kwd-group>
</article-meta>
</front>
<body>
<sec sec-type="intro">
<title>Introduction</title>
<p>Primary tumor sidedness has prognostic and predictive value in metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC), and has thus emerged as a new biomarker (<xref rid="b1-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">1</xref>,<xref rid="b2-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">2</xref>). Several analyses revealed that right-sided colorectal cancer (RCRC) exhibited significantly worse prognosis than left-sided colorectal cancer (LCRC) (<xref rid="b3-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">3</xref>&#x2013;<xref rid="b5-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">5</xref>), and anti-EGFR therapy clearly benefitted patients with LCRC, whereas patients with RCRC derived limited benefit (<xref rid="b6-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">6</xref>&#x2013;<xref rid="b10-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">10</xref>). However, the mechanism of the differences between RCRC and LCRC has not been fully elucidated.</p>
<p>RCRC and LCRC have different clinicopathological and molecular characteristics. RCRC is generally characterized by being more common in women, and associated with Lynch syndrome, sessile serrated adenoma/polyp (SSA/P), mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling, microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H), deficiency of mismatch repair genes, CpG island methylation, and <italic>KRAS</italic> and <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E mutations (<xref rid="b11-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">11</xref>&#x2013;<xref rid="b15-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">15</xref>). LCRC is more common in men, and associated with familial adenomatous polyposis syndrome, traditional serrated adenoma (TSA), chromosomal instability, <italic>ERBB1</italic> and <italic>ERBB2</italic> amplifications, and <italic>APC, p53</italic>, and <italic>NRAS</italic> mutations (<xref rid="b11-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">11</xref>&#x2013;<xref rid="b15-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">15</xref>). Based on these clinicopathological and molecular differences, primary tumor sidedness is considered to be associated with prognosis and efficacy of targeted therapy.</p>
<p>Mutations in <italic>RNF43</italic> have been reported in several solid tumors, such as colorectal (<xref rid="b16-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">16</xref>&#x2013;<xref rid="b18-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">18</xref>), gastric (<xref rid="b19-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">19</xref>), pancreatic (<xref rid="b20-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">20</xref>), ovarian (<xref rid="b21-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">21</xref>), and endometrial (<xref rid="b22-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">22</xref>) cancers. <italic>RNF43</italic> encodes a RING-type E3 ubiquitin ligase, and the protein is predicted to contain a transmembrane domain, a protease-associated domain, an ectodomain, and a cytoplasmic RING domain (<xref rid="b23-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">23</xref>). Expression of RNF43 results in increased ubiquitination of frizzled receptors, and an alteration in their subcellular distribution, resulting in reduced surface levels of these receptors. RNF43 is considered to negatively regulate WNT signaling, and functions as a tumor suppressor. Loss of RNF43 results in decrease or lack of degradation of frizzled receptors, with an enhancement of WNT signaling. In cancer cells, inactivation of RNF43 through <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation is one of the causes of permanent activation of the WNT signaling pathway (<xref rid="b23-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">23</xref>).</p>
<p>Serrated neoplasia, which is a precancerous lesion of CRC, is associated with primary tumor sidedness: SSA/P is associated with RCRC, while TSA is associated with LCRC (<xref rid="b24-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">24</xref>). Recently, several studies revealed the importance of <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation in the serrated neoplasia pathway, i.e., <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation was associated with serrated neoplasia pathway such as SSA/P (<xref rid="b25-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">25</xref>) and TSA (<xref rid="b26-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">26</xref>,<xref rid="b27-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">27</xref>). Moreover, it has been reported that <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation in serrated neoplasia is associated with <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E mutation (<xref rid="b17-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">17</xref>), which is recognized as one of the characteristics of RCRC and a significant negative prognostic factor in metastatic CRC (<xref rid="b1-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">1</xref>,<xref rid="b2-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">2</xref>). Collectively, it was surmised that <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation may play different roles in RCRC and LCRC. Recently, it has been reported that <italic>RNF43</italic> mutations contribute to tumorigenesis in RCRC (<xref rid="b18-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">18</xref>). However, to date, clinical significance of <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation have not been fully investigated according to primary tumor sidedness. It was hypothesized that the clinical significance of <italic>RNF43</italic> mutations differ between RCRC and LCRC. To test this hypothesis, the clinicopathological characteristics and survival outcome of patients with <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation in RCRC and LCRC were investigated.</p>
</sec>
<sec sec-type="materials|methods">
<title>Materials and methods</title>
<sec>
<title/>
<sec>
<title>Patients</title>
<p>This retrospective study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Niigata University School of Medicine, and performed in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration (G2015-0816). All methods were performed in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations, and written informed consent was obtained from the patients. A total of 201 Japanese patients (117 male and 84 female patients; median age 65 years old; range, 30&#x2013;94 years) with stage I&#x2013;IV CRC according to AJCC, 7th edition (<xref rid="b28-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">28</xref>) who underwent a primary tumor resection between January 2009 and December 2015 at the Niigata University Medical and Dental Hospital or Niigata Cancer Center Hospital were included in this study. The median follow-up period was 34 months (range, 1&#x2013;92 months). Patients diagnosed with adenocarcinoma were included. Patients under 18 years old were excluded. Patients with synchronous double primary CRC or other active concurrent malignant diseases, inflammatory bowel disease or familial adenomatous polyposis were excluded. No patient had received neoadjuvant chemoradiation. Typically, chemotherapy was administered according to the Japanese Society for Cancer of the Colon and Rectum (JSCCR) guidelines (<xref rid="b29-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">29</xref>). Adjuvant chemotherapy, including fluorouracil or its derivatives &#x00B1; oxaliplatin, was usually administered in stage III patients for six months. For patients with unresectable metastatic diseases, molecular targeted therapy was administered according to RAS mutational status.</p>
<p>In the present analysis, <italic>RNF43</italic> mutational prevalence, spectrum and frequency between our cohort and TCGA samples were compared. The mutation information for the TCGA CRC-sequenced samples (n=489) was obtained from the cBioPortal (<uri xlink:href="https://www.cbioportal.org/">https://www.cbioportal.org/</uri>) (<xref rid="b30-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">30</xref>) to assess mutation frequency.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<title>Comprehensive genomic sequence analysis of primary tumors</title>
<p>As previously described (<xref rid="b15-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">15</xref>,<xref rid="b31-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">31</xref>&#x2013;<xref rid="b34-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">34</xref>), formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples were used for next-generation sequencing (NGS), and genetic alterations, including <italic>RNF43</italic>, were evaluated. Briefly, hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections were used to assess tumor content, to ensure that &#x003E;50&#x0025; tumor content was present. Where applicable, unstained sections were macro-dissected to enrich for tumor content. DNA was extracted using a BioStic FFPE Tissue DNA Isolation Kit (Mo Bio Laboratories, Inc.). All sample preparation, NGS, and bioinformatics analysis were performed in a CLIA/CAP-accredited laboratory (KEW, Inc.). DNA fragment libraries (50&#x2013;150 ng) were prepared and enriched for the 415-gene panel with CANCERPLEX Version 3.0 (KEW, Inc.). An average 500X sequencing depth was achieved using Illumina MiSeq or NextSeq platforms. A proprietary bioinformatics platform and knowledge base were used to process genomic data and to identify multiple genomic abnormalities, including SNPs, small indels, copy number variation, and translocations. An allelic fraction threshold of 10&#x0025; was used for SNPs and indels, and thresholds of &#x003E;2.5-fold for gain, and 0.5-fold for loss, were used. Tumors were assessed for the presence of MSI on the basis of an extended loci panel. In addition to the Bethesda panel (<xref rid="b35-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">35</xref>), a collection of 950 regions consisting of tandem repeats of one, two or three nucleotides with a minimum length of 10 bases was used (<xref rid="b31-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">31</xref>). Tumor mutational burden was calculated as the number of non-synonymous mutations per megabase of sequence in the panel (panel size=1.3 Mb).</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<title>RNF43 status and clinicopathological characteristics</title>
<p>The 201 patients were classified into <italic>RNF43</italic> wild-type or <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type; moreover, <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type were subdivided into right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type or left-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type according to primary tumor sidedness. Primary tumor location was determined by operative findings. Cancer in the cecum, ascending colon, hepatic flexure, or transverse colon was classified as RCRC; while cancer in the splenic flexure, descending colon, sigmoid colon, rectosigmoid, or rectum was classified as LCRC (<xref rid="b15-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">15</xref>).</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<title>Statistical analysis</title>
<p>Statistical analyses were performed with IBM SPSS Statistics 22 (IBM Japan, Inc.). Fisher&#x0027;s exact test was used to evaluate the associations between <italic>RNF43</italic> status and clinicopathological characteristics. To clarify clinicopathological characteristics which were independently associated with <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation, factors with a P-value of &#x003C;0.10 in univariate analyses were entered into a multivariate analysis. Logistic analysis was performed to identify factors that were independently associated with <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation. Five-year overall survival (OS) rates were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The log-rank test was used to assess for significant differences between subgroups. P-values &#x003C;0.05 were considered to indicate statistically significant differences.</p>
</sec>
</sec>
</sec>
<sec sec-type="results">
<title>Results</title>
<sec>
<title/>
<sec>
<title>Alteration of RNF43 in Japanese CRC</title>
<p>To date, there has been no studies regarding genetic alterations of <italic>RNF43</italic> among Japanese CRC patients; hence, the genetic alterations of <italic>RNF43</italic> were evaluated and compared with The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data (<uri xlink:href="https://www.cbioportal.org/">https://www.cbioportal.org/</uri>). <italic>RNF43</italic> nonsense/frameshift mutation was more frequently observed in RCRC compared with LCRC in both of the Japanese cohorts (P&#x003C;0.001; <xref rid="f1-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="fig">Figs. 1A</xref> and <xref rid="f2-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="fig">2A</xref>) and TCGA samples (P=0.042; <xref rid="f1-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="fig">Figs. 1B</xref> and <xref rid="f2-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="fig">2B</xref>).</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<title>Clinicopathological characteristics in relation to RNF43 mutation status</title>
<p>The 415-gene panel assessment successfully detected genetic alterations in all 201 patients. The 415-gene panel assessment revealed that 174 (87&#x0025;) patients were <italic>RNF43</italic> wild-type and 27 (13&#x0025;) patients were <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type. <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type was significantly associated with age (&#x2265;65; P=0.003), females (P=0.006), absence of venous invasion (P=0.003), absence of distant metastasis (P=0.021), <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E mutation (P&#x003C;0.001), and MSI-H (P&#x003C;0.001), and multivariate analysis revealed that age (&#x2265;65), absence of venous invasion, and <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E mutation were independently associated with <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation (<xref rid="tI-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="table">Table I</xref>).</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<title>Genetic alterations of the MAPK pathway other than BRAF V600E mutation in RNF43 mutant-type</title>
<p>Seventeen of the 27 patients with <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type had no <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E mutation. Nine of the 17 patients had mutations other than <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E in the MAPK pathway: 6 patients had <italic>KRAS</italic> mutation, 3 patients had <italic>BRAF</italic> non-V600E mutation; however, no patient had <italic>NRAS</italic> mutation.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<title>RNF43 mutant-type according to primary tumor sidedness</title>
<p>Among the 27 patients with <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation, 12 patients were right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type and 15 left-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type. As revealed in <xref rid="f2-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="fig">Fig. 2A</xref>, 11 of the 12 right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type had nonsense/frameshift mutations, while 14 of 15 left-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type had missense mutations. Right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type was significantly associated with histopathological grade 3 (P=0.008), lymphatic invasion (P=0.021), <italic>APC</italic> wild (P=0.003), <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E mutation (P&#x003C;0.001), MSI-H (P=0.008), and <italic>RNF43</italic> nonsense/frameshift mutation (P&#x003C;0.001) compared with left-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type (<xref rid="tII-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="table">Table II</xref>; <xref rid="f2-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="fig">Fig. 2A</xref>).</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<title>Overall survival in relation to RNF43 status and primary tumor sidedness</title>
<p>In 90 patients with stage I&#x2013;III disease, <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation was not a significant prognostic factor for 5 year OS (<xref rid="f3-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="fig">Fig. 3A</xref>), and primary tumor sidedness was not associated with <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type.</p>
<p>In 111 patients with stage IV disease, <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation was not a significant prognostic factor for OS (<xref rid="f3-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="fig">Fig. 3B</xref>). However, when <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type was subdivided into right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type or left-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type according to primary tumor sidedness, right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type exhibited significantly worse overall survival than <italic>RNF43</italic> wild-type and left-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type (P=0.001 and P=0.023, respectively; <xref rid="f3-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="fig">Fig. 3C</xref>). Regarding variants of <italic>RNF43</italic> mutations, all right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type had nonsense mutation (R145X) or frameshift mutation (P192fs, S262fs, G659fs), while all left-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type had missense mutations (T58S, W200C, R221W, R519Q; <xref rid="tIII-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="table">Table III</xref>). All the four right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type were older in age (&#x2265;65), females, and <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E mutant-type. Three of four patients with right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation had two or more metastatic sites; conversely, all five patients with left-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation had one metastatic site. While all patients with right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type succumbed to their cancer, three of the five patients with left-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type were alive at the final follow-up (<xref rid="tIII-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="table">Table III</xref>).</p>
</sec>
</sec>
</sec>
<sec sec-type="discussion">
<title>Discussion</title>
<p>This analysis has three main findings regarding <italic>RNF43</italic> mutations in CRC. Firstly, most of <italic>RNF43</italic> mutations in RCRC were nonsense or frameshift mutations, while those in LCRC were missense mutations. Secondly, right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type was significantly associated with histopathological grade 3 and <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E mutation. Thirdly, right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type exhibited significantly worse OS than left-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type. These results indicated that right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type is one of the clinically important subtypes in CRC, and <italic>RNF43</italic> nonsense/frameshift mutations, along with <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E mutation, may be a possible cause of worse prognosis of RCRC.</p>
<p>In this analysis, it was revealed that 13&#x0025; of the Japanese CRC patients in this study had <italic>RNF43</italic> mutations, while 9&#x0025; of patients in the TCGA cohort had <italic>RNF43</italic> mutations (<xref rid="b36-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">36</xref>,<xref rid="b37-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">37</xref>). Recently, several studies have revealed the role of <italic>RNF43</italic> mutations in the serrated neoplastic pathway of CRC. Hashimoto <italic>et al</italic> reported that WNT pathway gene mutations, including <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation, were more common in SSA/P with dysplasia than in SSA/P without dysplasia, and suggested that WNT pathway gene mutations are involved in the development of dysplasia in SSA/P (<xref rid="b25-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">25</xref>). Tsai <italic>et al</italic> reported the incidence of <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation in SSA/P (10&#x0025;) and TSA (28&#x0025;), and stated that <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation is an early and specific molecular aberration in the serrated neoplasia pathway (<xref rid="b26-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">26</xref>). Yan <italic>et al</italic> reported <italic>RNF43</italic> germline and somatic mutation along with <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E mutation in the serrated neoplasia pathway (<xref rid="b16-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">16</xref>). However, the clinical significance of <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation has not been fully elucidated; hence, the clinicopathological characteristics of <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation were investigated, with a focus on the association between <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation and primary tumor sidedness.</p>
<p>To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study which investigated the survival outcome of <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type according to primary tumor sidedness in CRC. Previous studies have reported that hotspot mutations, mainly frameshift (R117fs and G659fs), are found in microsatellite-instable SSA/P and CRC (<xref rid="b23-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">23</xref>). In this analysis, 201 patients with stage I&#x2013;IV CRC were investigated, and it was revealed that 11 out of 12 right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type had nonsense/frameshift mutations, while 14 out of 15 left-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type had missense mutations. Although RNF43 protein expression was not investigated, <italic>RNF43</italic> nonsense/frameshift mutation may be a cause of loss of function of RNF43 protein. It is speculated that <italic>RNF43</italic> nonsense/frameshift mutation can become a cause of stimulation of the WNT signaling pathway, and is associated with the aggressive tumor biology of RCRC.</p>
<p>Approximately 5 to 9&#x0025; patients with CRC have <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E mutation, and <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E mutation is recognized as a distinct molecular subtype of CRC (<xref rid="b1-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">1</xref>,<xref rid="b2-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">2</xref>). Multiple studies have revealed that the <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E mutation is associated with poor prognosis in metastatic CRC (<xref rid="b38-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">38</xref>,<xref rid="b39-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">39</xref>), as well as poor response to anti-EGFR therapy in later lines of therapy (<xref rid="b40-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">40</xref>,<xref rid="b41-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">41</xref>). In the present study, it was revealed that 10 out of 12 right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type had <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E mutation. It is surmised that both <italic>RNF43</italic> and <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E mutations are important for the tumor biology of right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type; i.e., <italic>RNF43</italic> nonsense/frameshift mutation, along with <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E mutation, induce enhancement of both the WNT and MAPK signaling pathways, resulting in a worse prognosis in right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type.</p>
<p>In stage IV disease, it was revealed that right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type exhibited significantly worse OS than left-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type, and all patients with right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type succumbed to their cancer. These results suggest that right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type is a distinct subtype that has potentially worse prognosis. We consider that <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation should be treated differently according to primary tumor sidedness, since the clinicopathological characteristics and survival outcomes differ between right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type and left-side <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type. Thus, how should this dismal molecular subtype &#x2018;right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type&#x2019; be treated? At present, right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type may be treated the same as <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E mutant-type (<xref rid="b1-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">1</xref>,<xref rid="b2-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">2</xref>), since it was revealed that most right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type cases had <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E mutation in this analysis. In the future, WNT signaling plus BRAF inhibitors may be applied for right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type (<uri xlink:href="http://ClinicalTrials.gov">ClinicalTrials.gov</uri> Identifier: NCT02278133).</p>
<p>This analysis has some limitations. First, this retrospective analysis was performed at two institutions. Second, it included a small number of patients; specifically, the study had only 90 patients with Stage I&#x2013;III disease. Future analysis should include a larger number of patients with CRC from large-scale multi-institutional studies or a cancer registry. It is speculated that the microbiome may be associated with tumor carcinogenesis and phenotype, and certain bacteria may be associated with genetic alterations in CRC. For example, it has been reported that <italic>Fusobacterium nucleatum</italic> is enriched in tumor tissue of MSI-H CRC (<xref rid="b42-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">42</xref>,<xref rid="b43-or-43-06-1853" ref-type="bibr">43</xref>). Although we do not have data linking the microbiome to the results of our study at present, we plan to investigate the relationship between genetic alteration of right-sided CRC and the patient microbiome. Collectively, this analysis is important for clarifying the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type according to primary tumor sidedness, and facilitating the research of future treatment strategies.</p>
<p>In conclusion, clinicopathological characteristics and survival outcome of patients with <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation may differ between RCRC and LCRC. In RCRC, <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation may be a small, but distinct molecular subtype that is associated with aggressive tumor biology along with <italic>BRAF</italic> V600E mutation. Future preclinical and clinical studies may have to focus on <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation to improve survival outcome in CRC.</p>
</sec>
</body>
<back>
<ack>
<title>Acknowledgements</title>
<p>Not applicable.</p>
</ack>
<sec>
<title>Funding</title>
<p>The present study was supported by Denka Co., Ltd. Tokyo, Japan and, in part, by JSPS KAKENHI grant nos. JP18K08612 and JP17K10624.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<title>Availability of data and materials</title>
<p>The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<title>Authors&#x0027; contributions</title>
<p>YS and AM provided substantial contributions to the design and interpretation of data, and drafting of the article. MaeN, HO, YoT, MasN, HK, YH, HI, MNag, HN, SM, YaT, and TW provided substantial contributions to the acquisition of clinical data and interpretation of data. YL and SO provided substantial contributions to the statistical analysis of the data and creation of the figures. TW critically revised the work and provided final approval of article. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<title>Ethics approval and consent to participate</title>
<p>This retrospective study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Niigata University School of Medicine, and performed in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration (G2015-0816). All methods were performed in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations, and written informed consent was obtained from the patients.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<title>Patient consent for publication</title>
<p>Not applicable.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<title>Competing interests</title>
<p>The authors report no proprietary or commercial interest in any product mentioned or concept discussed in this article.</p>
</sec>
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</back>
<floats-group>
<fig id="f1-or-43-06-1853" position="float">
<label>Figure 1.</label>
<caption><p>The location and frequency of <italic>RNF43</italic> mutations according to primary tumor sidedness. (A) Japanese samples; (B) TCGA samples. TCGA, The Cancer Genome Atlas.</p></caption>
<graphic xlink:href="OR-43-06-1853-g00.tif"/>
<graphic xlink:href="OR-43-06-1853-g01.tif"/>
</fig>
<fig id="f2-or-43-06-1853" position="float">
<label>Figure 2.</label>
<caption><p>Oncoprint of right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type and left-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type. (A) Japanese samples; (B) TCGA samples. TCGA, The Cancer Genome Atlas.</p></caption>
<graphic xlink:href="OR-43-06-1853-g02.tif"/>
<graphic xlink:href="OR-43-06-1853-g03.tif"/>
</fig>
<fig id="f3-or-43-06-1853" position="float">
<label>Figure 3.</label>
<caption><p>Overall survival according to <italic>RNF43</italic> mutation status and primary tumor sidedness. (A) Overall survival of <italic>RNF43</italic> wild-type and <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type in stage I&#x2013;III colorectal cancer. (B) Overall survival of <italic>RNF43</italic> wild-type and <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type in stage IV colorectal cancer. (C) Overall survival of <italic>RNF43</italic> wild-type, right-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type, and left-sided <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type in stage IV colorectal cancer.</p></caption>
<graphic xlink:href="OR-43-06-1853-g04.tif"/>
<graphic xlink:href="OR-43-06-1853-g05.tif"/>
<graphic xlink:href="OR-43-06-1853-g06.tif"/>
</fig>
<table-wrap id="tI-or-43-06-1853" position="float">
<label>Table I.</label>
<caption><p><italic>RNF43</italic> gene status and other clinicopathological characteristics in colorectal cancer.</p></caption>
<table frame="hsides" rules="groups">
<thead>
<tr>
<th/>
<th align="center" valign="bottom" colspan="2"><italic>RNF43</italic> gene status</th>
<th/>
<th align="center" valign="bottom" colspan="2">Multivariate</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th/>
<th align="center" valign="bottom" colspan="2"><hr/></th>
<th/>
<th align="center" valign="bottom" colspan="2"><hr/></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="left" valign="bottom">Variables</th>
<th align="center" valign="bottom">Wild N (&#x0025;)</th>
<th align="center" valign="bottom">Mutant N (&#x0025;)</th>
<th align="center" valign="bottom">Univariate P-value</th>
<th align="center" valign="bottom">Odds ratio (95&#x0025; CI)</th>
<th align="center" valign="bottom">P-value</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">Age (years)</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;&#x003C;65</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">94 (46)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">6 (3)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top"><bold>0.003</bold></td>
<td align="center" valign="top">1</td>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;&#x2265;65</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">80 (40)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">21 (10)</td>
<td/>
<td align="center" valign="top">3.04 (1.03&#x2013;8.90)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top"><bold>0.042</bold></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">Sex</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Male</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">108 (53)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">9 (4)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top"><bold>0.006</bold></td>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Female</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">66 (33)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">18 (9)</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">Location</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Right side</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">44 (22)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">12 (6)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">0.062</td>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Left side</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">130 (65)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">15 (7)</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">Tumor size (mm)</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;&#x003C;50</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">75 (37)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">13 (6)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">0.679</td>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;&#x2265;50</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">99 (49)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">14 (7)</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">pT category</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;T1, 2</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">20 (10)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">4 (2)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">0.539</td>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;T3, 4</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">154 (76)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">23 (11)</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">Histopathological grading</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;G1, 2</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">128 (63)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">19 (9)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">0.816</td>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;G3</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">46 (23)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">8 (4)</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">Lymphatic invasion</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Absence</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">65 (32)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">14 (7)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">0.203</td>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Presence</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">109 (54)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">13 (6)</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">Venous invasion</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Absence</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">35 (17)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">13 (6)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top"><bold>0.003</bold></td>
<td align="center" valign="top">1</td>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Presence</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">139 (69)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">14 (7)</td>
<td/>
<td align="center" valign="top">0.18 (0.06&#x2013;0.52)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top"><bold>0.002</bold></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">pN category</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;N0</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">49 (24)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">10 (5)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">0.362</td>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;N1, 2</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">125 (62)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">17 (8)</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">cM category</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;M0</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">72 (36)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">18 (9)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top"><bold>0.021</bold></td>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;M1</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">102 (51)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">9 (4)</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top"><italic>APC</italic></td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Wild-type</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">29 (14)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">9 (4)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">0.061</td>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Mutant</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">145 (72)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">18 (9)</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top"><italic>KRAS</italic></td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Wild-type</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">105 (52)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">21 (10)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">0.091</td>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Mutant</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">69 (34)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">6 (3)</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top"><italic>BRAF</italic> V600E</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Wild-type</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">171 (85)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">17 (9)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top"><bold>&#x003C;0.001</bold></td>
<td align="center" valign="top">1</td>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Mutant</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">3 (1)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">10 (5)</td>
<td/>
<td align="center" valign="top">45.68 (9.76&#x2013;213.81)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top"><bold>&#x003C;0.001</bold></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">MSI</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;MSI-H</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">7 (3)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">8 (4)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top"><bold>&#x003C;0.001</bold></td>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;MSS</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">167 (84)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">19 (9)</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table-wrap-foot>
<fn id="tfn1-or-43-06-1853"><p>Fisher&#x0027;s exact test. CI, confidence interval; MSI, microsatellite instability; MSI-H, microsatellite instability-high. Bold indicates P&#x003C;0.05.</p></fn>
</table-wrap-foot>
</table-wrap>
<table-wrap id="tII-or-43-06-1853" position="float">
<label>Table II.</label>
<caption><p>Clinicopathological characteristics according to primary tumor sidedness in <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant colorectal cancer.</p></caption>
<table frame="hsides" rules="groups">
<thead>
<tr>
<th/>
<th align="center" valign="bottom" colspan="2">Primary tumor sidedness</th>
<th/>
</tr>
<tr>
<th/>
<th align="center" valign="bottom" colspan="2"><hr/></th>
<th/>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="left" valign="bottom">Variables</th>
<th align="center" valign="bottom">Right-sided N (&#x0025;)</th>
<th align="center" valign="bottom">Left-sided N (&#x0025;)</th>
<th align="center" valign="bottom">P-value</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">Age (years)</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;&#x003C;65</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">1 (4)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">5 (18)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">0.182</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;&#x2265;65</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">11 (40)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">10 (37)</td>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">Sex</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Male</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">3 (11)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">6 (22)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">0.683</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Female</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">9 (33)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">9 (33)</td>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">Tumor size (mm)</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;&#x003C;50</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">5 (18)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">8 (29)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">0.704</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;&#x2265;50</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">7 (26)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">7 (26)</td>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">pT category</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;T1, 2</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">1 (4)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">3 (11)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">0.605</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;T3, 4</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">11 (40)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">12 (44)</td>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">Histopathological grading</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;G1, 2</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">5 (18)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">14 (52)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top"><bold>0.008</bold></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;G3</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">7 (26)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">1 (4)</td>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">Lymphatic invasion</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Absence</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">3 (11)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">11 (40)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top"><bold>0.021</bold></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Presence</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">9 (33)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">4 (15)</td>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">Venous invasion</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Absence</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">4 (15)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">9 (33)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">0.252</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Presence</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">8 (30)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">6 (22)</td>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">pN category</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;N0</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">3 (11)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">7 (26)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">0.424</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;N1, 2</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">9 (33)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">8 (30)</td>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">cM category</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;M0</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">8 (30)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">10 (37)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">0.999</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;M1</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">4 (15)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">5 (18)</td>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top"><italic>APC</italic></td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Wild-type</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">8 (30)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">1 (4)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top"><bold>0.003</bold></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Mutant</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">4 (15)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">14 (52)</td>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top"><italic>KRAS</italic></td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Wild-type</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">11 (40)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">10 (37)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">0.182</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Mutant</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">1 (4)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">5 (18)</td>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top"><italic>BRAF</italic> V600E</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Wild-type</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">2 (7)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">15 (55)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top"><bold>&#x003C;0.001</bold></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Mutant</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">10 (37)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">0 (0)</td>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">MSI</td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;MSI-H</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">7 (26)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">1 (4)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top"><bold>0.008</bold></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;MSS</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">5 (18)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">14 (52)</td>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">Variants of <italic>RNF43</italic></td>
<td/>
<td/>
<td/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Nonsense or frameshift</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">11 (40)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">1 (4)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top"><bold>&#x003C;0.001</bold></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">&#x00A0;&#x00A0;Missense</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">1 (4)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">14 (52)</td>
<td/>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table-wrap-foot>
<fn id="tfn2-or-43-06-1853"><p>Fisher&#x0027;s exact test. MSI, microsatellite instability; MSI-H, microsatellite instability-high. Bold indicates P&#x003C;0.05.</p></fn>
</table-wrap-foot>
</table-wrap>
<table-wrap id="tIII-or-43-06-1853" position="float">
<label>Table III.</label>
<caption><p>Clinical course of <italic>RNF43</italic> mutant-type patients with Stage IV disease.</p></caption>
<table frame="hsides" rules="groups">
<thead>
<tr>
<th align="left" valign="bottom">Genetic alteration</th>
<th align="center" valign="bottom">Age</th>
<th align="center" valign="bottom">Sex</th>
<th align="center" valign="bottom">Primary tumor location</th>
<th align="center" valign="bottom"><italic>KRAS</italic> status</th>
<th align="center" valign="bottom"><italic>BRAF</italic> status</th>
<th align="center" valign="bottom">MSI status</th>
<th align="center" valign="bottom">Tumor mutational burden</th>
<th align="center" valign="bottom">Initial metastatic sites</th>
<th align="center" valign="bottom">Treatment</th>
<th align="center" valign="bottom">Survival status (months after primary tumor resection)</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">S262fs</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">71</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">F</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Right</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Wild</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">V600E</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">MSS</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">19</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Liver, Lung, Spleen, Peritoneum</td>
<td align="left" valign="top">R2 resection (Primary) &#x2192; FOLFOX &#x002B; Bmab &#x2192; FOLFIRI</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Dead (8 months)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">R145X</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">66</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">F</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Right</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Wild</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">26_34del, V600E</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">MSS</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">19</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Para-aortic lymph node</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">R0 resection (Primary and Para-aortic LN) &#x2192; Lung, LN recurrence &#x2192; FOLFOX &#x002B; Bmab</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Dead (13 months)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">P192fs</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">80</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">F</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Right</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Wild</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">V600E</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">MSS</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">18</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Lung</td>
<td align="left" valign="top">R2 resection (Primary) &#x2192; XELOX &#x002B; Bmab</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Dead (20 months)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">G659fs</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">78</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">F</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Right</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Wild</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">V600E</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">MSI-H</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">48</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Liver, Peritoneum</td>
<td align="left" valign="top">R2 resection (Primary) &#x2192; FOLFOX &#x002B; Pmab</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Dead (8 months)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">R519Q</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">35</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">F</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Left</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Wild</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Wild</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">MSS</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">10</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Liver</td>
<td align="left" valign="top">R2 resection (Primary) &#x2192; FOLFOX &#x002B; Bmab &#x2192; R0 resection (Liver) &#x2192; Liver and lung recurrence &#x2192; FOLFOX &#x002B; Bmab &#x2192; FOLFIRI &#x002B; Pmab</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Alive (44 months)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">R519Q</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">86</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">M</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Left</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Wild</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Wild</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">MSS</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">11</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Lung</td>
<td align="left" valign="top">R2 resection (Primary) &#x2192; Xeloda &#x2192; XELOX &#x002B; Bmab &#x2192; IRIS &#x002B; Pmab</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Alive (45 months)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">W200C</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">70</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">F</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Left</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Wild</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">D594G</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">MSS</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">19</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Liver</td>
<td align="left" valign="top">R2 resection (Primary) &#x2192; R0 resection (Liver) &#x2192; Liver recurrence &#x2192; R0 resection (Liver)</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Alive (40 months)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">R221W</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">77</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">M</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Left</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Wild</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Wild</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">MSS</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">12</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Liver</td>
<td align="left" valign="top">R2 resection (Primary) &#x2192; XELOX &#x2192; IRIS &#x2192; Pmab</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Dead (11 months)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">T58S</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">75</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">F</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Left</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Wild</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Wild</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">MSS</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">11</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Liver</td>
<td align="left" valign="top">R2 resection (Primary) &#x2192; XELOX &#x002B; Bmab &#x2192; R0 resection (Liver) &#x2192; Lung recurrence</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">Dead (41 months)</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table-wrap-foot>
<fn id="tfn3-or-43-06-1853"><p>FOLFOX = 5FU &#x002B; Leucovorin &#x002B; Oxaliplatin; FOLFIRI = 5FU &#x002B; Leucovorin &#x002B; Irinotecan; XELOX = Xeloda &#x002B; Oxaliplatin; IRIS = Irinotecan &#x002B; S-1. Bmab, Bevacizumab; Pmab, Panitumumab; MSS, microsatellite stable.</p></fn>
</table-wrap-foot>
</table-wrap>
</floats-group>
</article>