Mutations of PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway as predictors for immune cell infiltration and immunotherapy efficacy in dMMR/MSI-H gastric adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND: A significant subset of mismatch repair-deficient (dMMR)/microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) gastric adenocarcinomas (GAC) are resistant to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), yet the underlying mechanism remains largely unknown. We sought to investigate the genomic correlates of the density of tumor-infiltrating immune cells (DTICs) and primary resistance to ICI treatment. METHODS: Four independent cohorts of MSI-H GAC were included: (i) the surgery cohort (n = 175) with genomic and DTIC data, (ii) the 3DMed cohort (n = 32) with genomic and PD-L1 data, (iii) the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohort (n = 73) with genomic, transcriptomic, and survival data, and (iv) the ICI treatment cohort (n = 36) with pre-treatment genomic profile and ICI efficacy data. RESULTS: In the dMMR/MSI-H GAC, the number of mutated genes in the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway (NMP) was positively correlated with tumor mutational burden (P < 0.001) and sensitivity to PI3K-AKT-mTOR inhibitors and negatively correlated with CD3(+) (P < 0.001), CD4(+) (P = 0.065), CD8(+) (P = 0.004), and FOXP3(+) cells (P = 0.033) in the central-tumor rather than invasive-margin area, and the transcription of immune-related genes. Compared to the NMP-low (NMP = 0/1) patients, the NMP-high (NMP ≥ 2) patients exhibited a poorer objective response rate (29.4% vs. 85.7%, P < 0.001), progression-free survival (HR = 3.40, P = 0.019), and overall survival (HR = 3.59, P = 0.048) upon ICI treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Higher NMP was identified as a potential predictor of lower DTICs and primary resistance to ICIs in the dMMR/MSI-H GAC. Our results highlight the possibility of using mutational data to estimate DTICs and administering the PI3K-AKT-mTOR inhibitor as an immunotherapeutic adjuvant in NMP-high subpopulation to overcome the resistance to ICIs. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12916-022-02327-y.