A molecular portrait of microsatellite instability across multiple cancers

Abstract

Microsatellite instability (MSI) refers to the hypermutability of the cancer genome due to impaired DNA mismatch repair. Although MSI has been studied for decades, the large amount of sequencing data now available allows us to examine the molecular fingerprints of MSI in greater detail. Here, we analyze ~8000 exome and ~1000 whole-genome pairs across 23 cancer types. Our pan-cancer analysis reveals that the prevalence of MSI events is highly variable within and across tumor types including some in which MSI is not typically examined. We also identify genes in DNA repair and oncogenic pathways recurrently subject to MSI and uncover non-coding loci that frequently display MSI events. Finally, we propose an exomebased predictive model for the MSI phenotype that achieves high sensitivity and specificity. These results advance our understanding of the genomic drivers and consequences of MSI, and a comprehensive catalog of tumor-type specific MSI loci we have generated enables efficient panel-based MSI testing to identify patients who are likely to benefit from immunotherapy.