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- In ’t Veld, Sjors G.J.G., et al.
(author)
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Detection and localization of early- and late-stage cancers using platelet RNA
- 2022
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In: Cancer Cell. - : Elsevier. - 1535-6108 .- 1878-3686. ; 40:9, s. 999-1009.e6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Cancer patients benefit from early tumor detection since treatment outcomes are more favorable for less advanced cancers. Platelets are involved in cancer progression and are considered a promising biosource for cancer detection, as they alter their RNA content upon local and systemic cues. We show that tumor-educated platelet (TEP) RNA-based blood tests enable the detection of 18 cancer types. With 99% specificity in asymptomatic controls, thromboSeq correctly detected the presence of cancer in two-thirds of 1,096 blood samples from stage I–IV cancer patients and in half of 352 stage I–III tumors. Symptomatic controls, including inflammatory and cardiovascular diseases, and benign tumors had increased false-positive test results with an average specificity of 78%. Moreover, thromboSeq determined the tumor site of origin in five different tumor types correctly in over 80% of the cancer patients. These results highlight the potential properties of TEP-derived RNA panels to supplement current approaches for blood-based cancer screening.
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2. |
- Merisaari, Joni, et al.
(author)
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Monotherapy efficacy of blood-brain barrier permeable small molecule reactivators of protein phosphatase 2A in glioblastoma
- 2020
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In: Brain Communications. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 2632-1297. ; 2:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Glioblastoma is a fatal disease in which most targeted therapies have clinically failed. However, pharmacological reactivation of tumour suppressors has not been thoroughly studied as yet as a glioblastoma therapeutic strategy. Tumour suppressor protein phosphatase 2A is inhibited by non-genetic mechanisms in glioblastoma, and thus, it would be potentially amendable for therapeutic reactivation. Here, we demonstrate that small molecule activators of protein phosphatase 2A, NZ-8-061 and DBK-1154, effectively cross the in vitro model of blood-brain barrier, and in vivo partition to mouse brain tissue after oral dosing. In vitro, small molecule activators of protein phosphatase 2A exhibit robust cell-killing activity against five established glioblastoma cell lines, and nine patient-derived primary glioma cell lines. Collectively, these cell lines have heterogeneous genetic background, kinase inhibitor resistance profile and stemness properties; and they represent different clinical glioblastoma subtypes. Moreover, small molecule activators of protein phosphatase 2A were found to be superior to a range of kinase inhibitors in their capacity to kill patient-derived primary glioma cells. Oral dosing of either of the small molecule activators of protein phosphatase 2A significantly reduced growth of infiltrative intracranial glioblastoma tumours. DBK-1154, with both higher degree of brain/blood distribution, and more potent in vitro activity against all tested glioblastoma cell lines, also significantly increased survival of mice bearing orthotopic glioblastoma xenografts. In summary, this report presents a proof-of-principle data for blood-brain barrier-permeable tumour suppressor reactivation therapy for glioblastoma cells of heterogenous molecular background. These results also provide the first indications that protein phosphatase 2A reactivation might be able to challenge the current paradigm in glioblastoma therapies which has been strongly focused on targeting specific genetically altered cancer drivers with highly specific inhibitors. Based on demonstrated role for protein phosphatase 2A inhibition in glioblastoma cell drug resistance, small molecule activators of protein phosphatase 2A may prove to be beneficial in future glioblastoma combination therapies.
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3. |
- Sol, Nik, et al.
(author)
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Tumor-Educated Platelet RNA for the Detection and (Pseudo)progression Monitoring of Glioblastoma
- 2020
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In: Cell Reports Medicine. - : Elsevier. - 2666-3791. ; 1:7
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Tumor-educated platelets (TEPs) are potential biomarkers for cancer diagnostics. We employ TEP-derived RNA panels, determined by swarm intelligence, to detect and monitor glioblastoma. We assessed specificity by comparing the spliced RNA profile of TEPs from glioblastoma patients with multiple sclerosis and brain metastasis patients (validation series, n = 157; accuracy, 80%; AUC, 0.81 [95% CI, 0.74-0.89; p < 0.001]). Second, analysis of patients with glioblastoma versus asymptomatic healthy controls in an independent validation series (n = 347) provided a detection accuracy of 95% and AUC of 0.97 (95% CI, 0.95-0.99; p < 0.001). Finally, we developed the digitalSWARM algorithm to improve monitoring of glioblastoma progression and demonstrate that the TEP tumor scores of individual glioblastoma patients represent tumor behavior and could be used to distinguish false positive progression from true progression (validation series, n = 20; accuracy, 85%; AUC, 0.86 [95% CI, 0.70-1.00; p < 0.012]). In conclusion, TEPs have potential as a minimally invasive biosource for blood-based diagnostics and monitoring of glioblastoma patients.
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