| 1. |
- Corvigno, Sara, et al.
(författare)
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Markers of fibroblast-rich tumor stroma and perivascular cells in serous ovarian cancer: Inter- and intra-patient heterogeneity and impact on survival
- 2016
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Ingår i: Oncotarget. - : Impact Journals LLC. - 1949-2553. ; 7:14, s. 18573-18584
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Inter- and intra-patient variations in tumor microenvironment of serous ovarian cancer are largely unexplored. We aimed to explore potential co-regulation of tumor stroma characteristics, analyze their concordance in primary and metastatic lesions, and study their impact on survival. A tissue microarray (TMA) with 186 tumors and 91 matched metastases was subjected to immunohistochemistry double staining with endothelial cell marker CD34 and fibroblast and pericyte markers alpha-SMA, PDGF beta R and desmin. Images were digitally analyzed to yield "metrics" related to vasculature and stroma features. Intra-case analyses showed that PDGF beta R in perivascular cells and fibroblasts were strongly correlated. Similar findings were observed concerning `-SMA. Most stroma characteristics showed large variations in intra-case comparisons of primary tumors and metastasis. Large PDGF beta R-positive stroma fraction and high PDGF beta FR positive perivascular intensity were both significantly associated with shorter survival in uni- and multi-variate analyses (HR 1.7, 95% CI 1.1-2.5; HR 1.7, 95% CI 1.1-2.8). In conclusion, we found PDGF beta R- and alpha-SMA-expression to be largely independent of each other but concordantly activated in perivascular cells and in fibroblasts within the primary tumor. Stromal characteristics differed between primary tumors and metastases. PDGF beta R in perivascular cells and in fibroblasts may be novel prognostic markers in serous ovarian cancer.
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| 2. |
- Mezheyeuski, Artur
(författare)
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Stroma and vessel characteristics in cancer : impact on prognosis and response to treatment
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A series of pre-clinical and clinical studies imply vessel and pericyte status as determinants of tumor growth, metastasis and response to treatment. These studies thus imply biomarkerpotential of these features. Earlier studies of vessels and pericytes have largely applied semiquantitative approaches. In the studies of this thesis, novel tools for quantification of vesseland tumor stroma-related features were developed and applied to different sets of clinically well-annotated tumor collections. Analyses of perivascular status in ovarian cancer and colorectal cancer identified independently expressed marker-defined subsets of perivascular cells with differential associations with survival. These studies also identified novel significant associations between specific oncogenic mutations and vascular phenotypes. Studies analyzing stage II/III colon cancer samples, derived from a randomized adjuvant study, identified two novel stroma-related “metrics” that acted as markers for benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy. Firstly, high vessel density in the invasive region, but not tumor center, was identified as a marker that characterized patients benefiting from adjuvant treatment. Secondly, a digital-image-analyses-derived “metric”, related to high complexity of the tumor stroma interface, also defined a group showing benefit of adjuvant treatment. Notably, both novel markers showed statistically significant interactions with treatment supporting their relevance as response-predictive markers. Furthermore, cell-type-specific analyses of claudin-2 expression in colorectal cancer indicated that CAF-expression of this marker was specifically associated with benefit of oxaliplatin-based treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer. Taken together, our findings suggest continued exploration and validation of stroma-derived features, for development of clinically meaningful prognostic and response-predictive tissuebased biomarkers.
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| 3. |
- Mezheyeuski, Artur, et al.
(författare)
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Survival-associated heterogeneity of marker-defined perivascular cells in colorectal cancer
- 2016
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Ingår i: Oncotarget. - : Impact Journals, LLC. - 1949-2553. ; 7:27, s. 41948-41958
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Perivascular cells (PC) were recently implied as regulators of metastasis and immune cell activity. Perivascular heterogeneity in clinical samples, and associations with other tumor features and outcome, remain largely unknown.Here we report a novel method for digital quantitative analyses of vessel characteristics and PC, which was applied to two collections of human metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).Initial analyses identified marker-defined subsets of PC, including cells expressing PDGFR-β or α-SMA or both markers. PC subsets were largely independently expressed in a manner unrelated to vessel density and size. Association studies implied specific oncogenic mutations in malignant cells as determinants of PC status. Semi-quantitative and digital-image-analyses-based scoring of the NORDIC-VII cohort identified significant associations between low expression of perivascular PDGFR-α and -β and shorter overall survival. Analyses of the SPCRC cohort confirmed these findings. Perivascular PDGFR-α and -β remained independent factors for survival in multivariate analyses.Overall, our study identified host vasculature and oncogenic status as determinants of tumor perivascular features. Perivascular PDGFR-α and -β were identified as novel independent markers predicting survival in mCRC. The novel methodology should be suitable for similar analyses in other tumor collections.
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| 4. |
- Wallerius, Majken, et al.
(författare)
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Guidance Molecule SEMA3A Restricts Tumor Growth by Differentially Regulating the Proliferation of Tumor-Associated Macrophages
- 2016
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Ingår i: Cancer Research. - 0008-5472 .- 1538-7445. ; 76:11, s. 3166-3178
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Accumulation of tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) correlates with malignant progression, immune suppression, and poor prognosis. In this study, we defined a critical role for the cell-surface guidance molecule SEMA3A in differential proliferative control of TAMs. Tumor cell-derived SEMA3A restricted the proliferation of protumoral M2 macrophages but increased the proliferation of antitumoral M1, acting through the SEMA3A receptor neuropilin 1. Expansion of M1 macrophages in vivo enhanced the recruitment and activation of natural killer (NK) cells and cytotoxic CD8(+) T cells to tumors, inhibiting their growth. In human breast cancer specimens, we found that immunohistochemical levels of SEMA3A correlated with the expression of genes characteristic of M1 macrophages, CD8(+) T cells, and NK cells, while inversely correlating with established characters of malignancy. In summary, our results illuminate a mechanism whereby the TAM phenotype is controlled and identify the cell-surface molecule SEMA3A as a candidate for therapeutic targeting.
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