An orthotopic organoid-based model to study early CD8⁺ T cell dysfunction and immunotherapy response in colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment represents a major clinical challenge, with immunotherapy providing durable responses only in a minority of patients. A deeper understanding of CD8+ T cell exhaustion and its contribution to immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) responsiveness is essential for the development of more effective therapeutic strategies. Preclinical models that faithfully reproduce the immune landscape of human CRC are therefore critical to address these challenges. Here, we established a syngeneic organoid-based orthotopic CRC mouse model by transplanting quadruple mutant Apc-/-KrasG12D/+Trp53R172H/-Smad4-/- (AKPS) intestinal organoids into the rectal submucosa of immunocompetent mice. Single-cell transcriptomic profiling revealed that CD8+ T cells represent the predominant leukocyte population within the tumor infiltrate and comprise populations transitioning toward dysfunction. Functionally, CD8+ T cell depletion led to increased tumor burden in orthotopic AKPS implants, underscoring their antitumor activity. Importantly, anti-PD-1 treatment increased the abundance of dysfunctional CD8+ T cell populations within AKPS tumors and reduced tumor growth, demonstrating the responsiveness of this model to ICIs. In contrast, subcutaneous implants of AKPS were infiltrated by mixed CD4+ and CD8+ T cell subsets, with CD8+ T cells exhibiting a markedly less dysfunctional profile, highlighting the limitations of heterotopic tumor models for studying antitumor immune responses. Together, our findings establish the AKPS orthotopic CRC model as a platform to dissect the molecular mechanisms of early CD8+ T cell dysfunction and to preclinically evaluate novel immunotherapeutic interventions in CRC.