Multiomics characterization and verification of clear cell renal cell carcinoma molecular subtypes to guide precise chemotherapy and immunotherapy

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is a heterogeneous tumor with different genetic and molecular alterations. Schemes for ccRCC classification system based on multiomics are urgent, to promote further biological insights. Two hundred and fifty-five ccRCC patients with paired data of clinical information, transcriptome expression profiles, copy number alterations, DNA methylation, and somatic mutations were collected for identification. Bioinformatic analyses were performed based on our team's recently developed R package “MOVICS.” With 10 state-of-the-art algorithms, we identified the multiomics subtypes (MoSs) for ccRCC patients. MoS1 is an immune exhausted subtype, presented the poorest prognosis, and might be caused by an exhausted immune microenvironment, activated hypoxia features, but can benefit from PI3K/AKT inhibitors. MoS2 is an immune “cold” subtype, which represented more mutation of VHL and PBRM1, favorable prognosis, and is more suitable for sunitinib therapy. MoS3 is the immune “hot” subtype, and can benefit from the anti-PD-1 immunotherapy. We successfully verified the different molecular features of the three MoSs in external cohorts GSE22541, GSE40435, and GSE53573. Patients that received Nivolumab therapy helped us to confirm that MoS3 is suitable for anti-PD-1 therapy. E-MTAB-3267 cohort also supported the fact that MoS2 patients can respond more to sunitinib treatment. We also confirm that SETD2 is a tumor suppressor in ccRCC, along with the decreased SETD2 protein level in advanced tumor stage, and knock-down of SETD2 leads to the promotion of cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. In summary, we provide novel insights into ccRCC molecular subtypes based on robust clustering algorithms via multiomics data, and encourage future precise treatment of ccRCC patients.