2024 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) - Posters-P1.06A.06 Post-COVID-19 Tumor Microenvironment Features and AI-Based Evaluation in KRAS-Mutant NSCLC

P1.06A.06 Post-COVID-19 Tumor Microenvironment Features and AI-Based Evaluation in KRAS-Mutant NSCLC

Pdf Summary

The study explores the impact of COVID-19 on the tumor microenvironment (TME) in KRAS-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a form that accounts for 12% of cases in China, primarily linked to smoking. Smoking upregulates the ACE2 receptor, which COVID-19 uses to enter cells, thus hypothesizing smokers might have increased risk or altered TME post-COVID-19.<br /><br />The study involved evaluating 75 KRAS-mutant NSCLC cases from Fudan University in Shanghai, focusing on 12 adenocarcinoma cases that had recovered from COVID-19. These cases were analyzed for TME changes using RNA-ISH and mIHC staining. A new AI model, C-FAST, was developed to predict post-COVID-19 TME features. The model achieved an 80% mAP50 accuracy in TME detection and 99% in TME classification, with a noteworthy AUC score of 0.818.<br /><br />Findings revealed that patients with a high COVID-19 burden developed an immunosuppressive TME, which could indicate a poor response to immunotherapy. The AI evaluation potentially assists in predicting virus burden via detailed TME characteristics, marking a significant advancement in understanding the post-COVID-19 TME landscape.<br /><br />The study concludes that COVID-19 significantly affects the TME in KRAS-mutant NSCLC, with high virus burden linked to poorer patient outcomes. The novel AI model, C-FAST, represents the first attempt to evaluate post-COVID-19 TME features and suggests promising applications in precision oncology for predicting virus burden and optimizing treatment strategies.

Asset Subtitle

Ziling Huang

Meta Tag

Speaker Ziling Huang

Topic Pathology & Biomarkers

Keywords

COVID-19

tumor microenvironment

KRAS-mutant NSCLC

smoking

ACE2 receptor

RNA-ISH

mIHC staining

C-FAST model

immunosuppressive TME

precision oncology