Unraveling Colorectal Cancer and Pan-cancer Immune Heterogeneity and Synthetic Therapy Response Using Cuproptosis and Hypoxia Regulators by Multi-omic Analysis and Experimental Validation

Cuproptosis, a new type of programmed cell death (PCD), is closely related to cellular tricarboxylic acid cycle and cellular respiration, while hypoxia can modulate PCD. However, their combined contribution to tumor subtyping remains unexplored. Here, we applied a multi-omics approach to classify TCGA_COADREAD based on cuproptosis and hypoxia. The classification was validated in three colorectal cancer (CRC) cohorts and extended to a pan-cancer analysis. The results demonstrated that pan-cancers, including CRC, could be divided into three distinct subgroups (cuproptosis-hypoxia subtypes, CHSs): CHS1 had active metabolism and poor immune infiltration but low fibrosis; CHS3 had contrasting characteristics with CHS1; CHS2 was intermediate. CHS1 may respond well to cuproptosis inducers, and CHS3 may benefit from a combination of immunotherapy and anti-fibrosis/anti-hypoxia therapies. In CRC, the CHSs also showed a significant difference in prognosis and sensitivity to classic drugs. Organoid-based drug sensitivity assays validated the results of transcriptomics. Cell-based assays indicated that masitinib and simvastatin had specific effects on CHS1 and CHS3, respectively. A user-friendly website based on the classifier was developed (https://fan-app.shinyapps.io/chs_classifier/) for accessibility. Overall, the classifier based on cuproptosis and hypoxia was applicable to most pan-cancers and could aid in personalized cancer therapy.

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