Multi-omics analysis reveals the attenuation of the interferon pathway as a driver of chemo-refractory ovarian cancer

Abstract

Ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) is one of the deadliest gynecological malignancies, with 10%-15% of patients exhibiting primary resistance to first-line chemotherapy. To characterize the molecular drivers of chemo-refractoriness, we perform multi-omics profiling of treatment-naive biopsies from patients with refractory HGSC enrolled in the DECIDER observational trial. We demonstrate that chemo-refractory HGSC is characterized by diminished interferon type I (IFN-I) and enhanced hypoxia pathway activity, and baseline IFN-I activity in chemo-naive cancer is an independent prognostic factor. Single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial protein profiling analyses corroborate the importance of elevated IFN-I activity in response to chemotherapy. Importantly, in vitro experiments demonstrate that high levels of IFN-I signaling increase cell chemosensitivity to platinum in a cell-autonomous manner. Together, these findings indicate that the IFN-I pathway activity in HGSC cancer cells predicts response to first-line chemotherapy in HGSC, proposing the stimulation of the IFN-I response as a therapeutic strategy. The study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04846933).