Genomic profile and immune contexture in colorectal cancer—relevance for prognosis and immunotherapy

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading cancers in both genders. TNM staging system is still the most commonly used tumor classification and prognostic system. The disadvantage of TNM is that the prognostic information it provides is incomplete, and patients with the same histological tumor stages may differ significantly in the clinical outcome. Therefore, the identification of new prognostic parameters is crucial. The carcinogenic process that gives rise to an individual tumor is unique and tumor microenviroment should be taken into consideration. In CRC, T-cell infiltration is not homogenous, and recent studies are mostly focusing on memory T-cells and CD8 cells in predicting disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). It seems that DFS and OS are not only dependent on microsatellite instable or stable status but mostly on the levels of expression of the immune signatures. Also, patients with high infiltration of cytotoxic and memory cells have significantly better outcome. This review consolidates current knowledge and recent research about importance of immune-cell-associated proteins, specific gene profiles of immune cells and immunotherapy in CRC. We also discussed cell-specific signatures in cancer treatment.