Blood vessel features in tumors may help predict patient survival in colorectal cancer
Mass General Brigham researchers conducted a prospective cohort study of blood vessels in colorectal tumors, linking higher blood vessel density to lower colorectal cancer-specific mortality
Tumors require a blood supply to grow and survive. The blood vessels that nourish tumors can have different characteristics across cancer types and could have a connection to patient survival and outcomes. Researchers from Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health conducted a prospective cohort study using advanced imaging techniques to microscopically characterize colorectal tumor vessels. The study found that patients with tumors showing higher overall blood vessel density had better survival, and a higher proportion of microvessels was associated with better outcomes. The results are published in JAMA Network Open.
“Numerous blood vessels extend deep into tumors, yet their role in tumor biology is still relatively understudied,” explained corresponding author Shuji Ogino, MD, the chief of the Program in Molecular Pathological Epidemiology in the Department of Pathology at Mass General Brigham. “We are finding that some tumor vessel subtypes may represent potential therapeutic targets. For example, immunotherapy combined with vessel-targeting therapy may prove even more effective in treating colorectal cancer than immunotherapy alone.”
The study used the prospective cohort incident-tumor biobank method (PCIBM) to analyze tumor samples from 837 colorectal cancer patients in the Nurses' Health Study, a study that has run for 50 years, and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. The research team developed a custom in-situ multispectral immunofluorescence assay to visualize and quantify multiple biomarkers within a single tissue section or cell sample. They used this technique to classify more than 61,000 tumor blood vessels by molecular and structural features. By incorporating AI-based machine learning, the researchers analyzed tumor vessel data faster and more efficiently than traditional methods.
Additional findings indicate that higher proportions of certain kinds of vessels were associated with worse patient outcomes. Vessel subtypes associated with angiogenesis (new blood vessel growth) were linked to a poorer prognosis. Also, smaller, rounder vessels were correlated with better outcomes, while larger, more abnormal vessels were linked to worse outcomes.
A group led by Ogino recently found that certain vessel features characterize colorectal cancer diagnosed in patients under age 50 (so-called early-onset colorectal cancer). Future research will explore whether various vessel features are linked to known or novel risk factors using the PCIBM approach. The authors note that additional studies are needed to validate the findings and better understand how tumor vessel characteristics may influence colorectal cancer outcomes.
“Our study demonstrated that vascular features could serve as prognostic biomarkers, biological or clinical signs that signal the likely path of a disease,” Ogino said. “It indicates what might have happened in the past or what may happen in the future, no matter what treatment is used, which may be useful for risk stratification and precision medicine.”
Authorship: In addition to Ogino, Mass General Brigham authors include Kosuke Matsuda, Satoshi Miyahara, Satoko Ugai, Nobuhiro Nakazawa, Mayu Higashioka, Atsushi Kondo, Yuxue Zhong, Mingyang Song, Jonathan A. Nowak, Juha P. Väyrynen, and Tomotaka Ugai. Additional authors include Jules Cazaubiel, Jeffrey A. Meyerhardt, and Marios Giannakis.
Disclosures: Ogino reports personal fees from Sanofi Pasteur for consultation during the conduct of the study. Additional author disclosures can be found in the paper.
Funding: This study was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health (P01 CA87969, UM1 CA186107, P01 CA55075, UM1 CA167552, U01 CA167552, R01 CA151993, R35 CA197735, R21 CA230873, R01 CA248857, and R50 CA274122), Cancer Research UK Grand Challenge Award C10674/A27140, American Cancer Society Clinical Research Professor Award CRP-24-1185864-01-PROF, the Project P Fund, Prevent Cancer Foundation, the Harvey V. Fineberg Cancer Prevention Fellowship, the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Faculty Career Development Award, the American Institute for Cancer Research, and the Uehara Memorial Foundation.
Paper cited: Matsuda K et al. “Tumor Vascular Features and Colorectal Cancer–Specific Mortality,” JAMA Network Open DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.34883
Media contact
Alex Pantano
Senior Specialist, External Communications
apantano@mgb.org | 781-439-8971
About Mass General Brigham
Mass General Brigham is an integrated academic health care system, uniting great minds to solve the hardest problems in medicine for our communities and the world. Mass General Brigham connects a full continuum of care across a system of academic medical centers, community and specialty hospitals, a health insurance plan, physician networks, community health centers, home care, and long-term care services. Mass General Brigham is a nonprofit organization committed to patient care, research, teaching, and service to the community. In addition, Mass General Brigham is one of the nation’s leading biomedical research organizations with several Harvard Medical School teaching hospitals. For more information, please visit massgeneralbrigham.org.