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- Mehic, Merima, Sr., et al.
(author)
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The role of deubiquitinating enzyme USP17, hyaluronan synthase 2, and hyaluronan in non-small-cell lung cancer oncogenic transformation
- 2018
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In: Clinical Cancer Research. - 1078-0432 .- 1557-3265. ; 24:1, s. 96-96
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Introduction: Lung cancer is the result of a multistep accumulation of genetic and/or epigenetic alterations; therefore, a better understanding of the molecular mechanism by which these alterations affect lung cancer pathogenesis would provide new diagnostic procedures and prognostic factors for early detection of recurrence. The remarkable qualitative and quantitative modifications of extracellular matrix components as the deubiquitinating enzyme (USP17), hyaluronan (HA), and hyaluronan synthases 2 (HAS 2) may favor invasion, cellular motility, and proliferation in several cancers including lung.Results: The silencing of USP17 led to decreased hyaluronan production, whereas the suppression of USP4 increased hyaluronan synthesis. Importantly, high levels of USP17 and HAS2 were detected in a panel of cancer cell lines compared to normal cells, and immunohistochemical stainings revealed higher expression of USP17 and HAS2 in tissues of lung cancer patients compared to normal tissue. Numerous epithelial cells expressed USP17 and HAS2 in dysplasia compared to squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) (p=0.001). USP17 and HAS2 were prominently expressed in adenocarcinoma (ADC) (p≤0.005). HA immunostaining indexes were increased in ADC and SqCC compared to normal and dysplasia cells (p=0.05). Consistent with the immunohistochemical analyses, low amounts of hyaluronan and USP17 were observed in SqCC by confocal analysis, coincident with less colocalization as determined by confocal microscopy. In contrast, a high expression of hyaluronan (48% of positive index) and high USP17 expression (78% of positive index) in ADC was consistent with a higher degree of colocalization.Conclusions: HAS2, hyaluronan and USP17 were expressed at higher levels in particular in preneoplastic lesions and ADC, suggesting a role in NSCLC oncogenic transformation, possibly by promoting cellular division by USP17-mediated. Elucidation of the mechanism of how USP17 and HAS2 cooperate in the regulation of the cell cycle might be of therapeutic importance.
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- Yang, Meng, et al.
(author)
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Prediagnosis leukocyte telomere length and risk of ovarian cancer
- 2016
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In: Clinical Cancer Research. - : American Association for Cancer Research. - 1078-0432 .- 1557-3265. ; 22
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Introduction: Ovarian cancer is characterized by substantial genomic instability. Telomeres, which protect the physical integrity of chromosomes, are shortened by each cell division, and evidence supports that longer telomeres may reduce genomic instability. While retrospective studies generally support an inverse association of telomere length and ovarian cancer risk, the measures of telomere length after diagnosis may be influenced by treatment. Therefore, we examined the relationship between leukocyte telomere length (LTL) assessed prior to diagnosis and risk of ovarian cancer in three prospective studies. Methods: We used buffy coat samples collected from healthy participants in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS), NHSII, and the Northern Sweden Health and Disease Study (NSHDS). Women who later developed ovarian cancer were matched to one or two controls on age, menopausal status, and date of blood collection. LTL was assessed using quantitative PCR-based assays in 5 batches with coefficients of variation of 10-15%. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using conditional logistic regression, based on study-specific quartiles in controls, for each study separately. We used fixed-effects models for meta-analysis. Multivariate models adjusted for oral contraceptive use, tubal ligation, family history of ovarian cancer, parity, smoking status, and body mass index. Results: In total, there were 487 cases and 810 controls across the three studies. The mean age at blood collection ranged from 45 (NHSII) to 57 (NHS) years. In unadjusted and multivariate models, we observed a suggestion of an inverse association between LTL and ovarian cancer risk in each study, although none of the trend tests were statistically significant. In a meta-analysis of the multivariate adjusted models, women in the longest versus shortest quartile of LTL had a non-significant 26% lower risk of ovarian cancer (OR=0.74; 95%CI=0.49-1.12; p-trend=0.33). Conclusion: In this first prospective study of telomere length and ovarian cancer risk, we observed that longer leukocyte telomere length was suggestively associated with lower ovarian cancer risk. Given that serous tumors are more likely to exhibit genomic instability, we are currently evaluating the association for this subtype as well as conducting pooled analyses with common quartile cut points across studies.
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- Aaltonen, Kirsimari, et al.
(author)
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Familial breast cancers without mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 have low cyclin E and high cyclin D1 in contrast to cancers in BRCA mutation carriers
- 2008
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In: Clinical Cancer Research. - 1078-0432 .- 1557-3265. ; 14:7, s. 1976-83
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- PURPOSE: We analyzed the expression of critical cell cycle regulators cyclin E and cyclin D1 in familial breast cancer, focusing on BRCA mutation-negative tumors. Cyclin E expression in tumors of BRCA1 or BRCA2 carriers is higher, and cyclin D1 expression lower, than in sporadic tumors. In familial non-BRCA1/2 tumors, cyclin E and cyclin D1 expression has not been studied. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Cyclin E and cyclin D1 immunohistochemical expression was studied in tissue microarrays consisting of 53 BRCA1, 58 BRCA2, 798 familial non-BRCA1/2, and 439 sporadic breast tumors. RESULTS: In univariate analysis, BRCA1 tumors had significantly more frequently high cyclin E (88%) and low cyclin D1 (84%) expression than sporadic (54% and 49%, respectively) or familial non-BRCA1/2 (38% and 45%, respectively) tumors. BRCA2 tumors had significantly more frequently low cyclin D1 expression (68%) than sporadic or familial non-BRCA1/2 tumors and significantly more frequently high cyclin E expression than familial non-BRCA1/2 tumors. In a logistic regression model, cyclin expression, early age of onset, and estrogen receptor (ER) and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) status were the independent factors most clearly distinguishing tumors of BRCA1 mutation carriers from other familial breast cancers. High cyclin E and low cyclin D1 expression were also independent predictors of BRCA2 mutation when compared with familial non-BRCA1/2 tumors. Most interestingly, lower frequency of high cyclin E expression independently distinguished familial non-BRCA1/2 tumors also from sporadic ones. CONCLUSIONS: Cyclin E and cyclin D1 expression distinguishes non-BRCA1/2 tumors from both sporadic and BRCA1- and BRCA2-associated tumors and may reflect different predisposition and pathogenesis in these groups.
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- Aleynick, Mark, et al.
(author)
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Pathogen Molecular Pattern Receptor Agonists: Treating Cancer by Mimicking Infection
- 2019
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In: Clinical Cancer Research. - : American Association For Cancer Research (AACR). - 1078-0432 .- 1557-3265. ; 25:21, s. 6283-6294
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- mmunotherapies such as checkpoint blockade have achieved durable benefits for patients with advanced stage cancer and have changed treatment paradigms. However, these therapies rely on a patient's own a priori primed tumor-specific T cells, limiting their efficacy to a subset of patients. Because checkpoint blockade is most effective in patients with inflamed or "hot" tumors, a priority in the field is learning how to "turn cold tumors hot." Inflammation is generally initiated by innate immune cells, which receive signals through pattern recognition receptors (PRR)–a diverse family of receptors that sense conserved molecular patterns on pathogens, alarming the immune system of an invading microbe. Their immunostimulatory properties can reprogram the immune suppressive tumor microenvironment and activate antigen-presenting cells to present tumors antigens, driving de novo tumor-specific T-cell responses. These features, among others, make PRR-targeting therapies an attractive strategy in immuno-oncology. Here, we discuss mechanisms of PRR activation, highlighting ongoing clinical trials and recent preclinical advances focused on therapeutically targeting PRRs to treat cancer.
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- Anande, Govardhan, et al.
(author)
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RNA Splicing Alterations Induce a Cellular Stress Response Associated with Poor Prognosis in Acute Myeloid Leukemia
- 2020
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In: Clinical Cancer Research. - 1078-0432 .- 1557-3265. ; 26:14, s. 3597-3607
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: RNA splicing is a fundamental biological process that generates protein diversity from a finite set of genes. Recurrent somatic mutations of splicing factor genes are common in some hematologic cancers but are relatively uncommon in acute myeloid leukemia (AML, < 20% of patients). We examined whether RNA splicing differences exist in AML, even in the absence of splicing factor mutations.Experimental Design: We developed a bioinformatics pipeline to study alternative RNA splicing in RNA-sequencing data from large cohorts of patients with AML.Results: We have identified recurrent differential alternative splicing between patients with poor and good prognosis. These splicing events occurred even in patients without any discernible splicing factor mutations. Alternative splicing recurrently occurred in genes with specific molecular functions, primarily related to protein translation. Developing tools to predict the functional impact of alternative splicing on the translated protein, we discovered that approximately 45% of the splicing events directly affected highly conserved protein domains. Several splicing factors were themselves misspliced and the splicing of their target transcripts were altered. Studying differential gene expression in the same patients, we identified that alternative splicing of protein translation genes in ELNAdv patients resulted in the induction of an integrated stress response and upregulation of inflammation-related genes. Finally, using machine learning techniques, we identified a splicing signature of four genes which refine the accuracy of existing risk prognosis schemes and validated it in a completely independent cohort.Conclusions: Our discoveries therefore identify aberrant alternative splicing as a molecular feature of adverse AML with clinical relevance.
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- Apellániz-Ruiz, Maria, et al.
(author)
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Targeted sequencing reveals low-frequency variants in EPHA genes as markers of paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy.
- 2017
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In: Clinical Cancer Research. - : American Association of Cancer Research. - 1078-0432 .- 1557-3265. ; 23:5, s. 1227-1235
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- PURPOSE: Neuropathy is the dose limiting toxicity of paclitaxel and a major cause for decreased quality of life. Genetic factors have been shown to contribute to paclitaxel neuropathy susceptibility; however, the major causes for inter-individual differences remain unexplained. In this study we identified genetic markers associated with paclitaxel-induced neuropathy through massive sequencing of candidate genes.EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We sequenced the coding region of 4 EPHA genes, 5 genes involved in paclitaxel pharmacokinetics and 30 Charcot-Marie-Tooth genes, in 228 cancer patients with no/low neuropathy or high grade neuropathy during paclitaxel treatment. An independent validation series included 202 paclitaxel-treated patients. Variation-/ gene-based analyses were used to compare variant frequencies among neuropathy groups and Cox regression models were used to analyze neuropathy evolution along treatment.RESULTS: Gene-based analysis identified EPHA6 as the gene most significantly associated with paclitaxel-induced neuropathy. Low frequency non-synonymous variants in EPHA6 were present exclusively in patients with high neuropathy and all affected the ligand binding domain. Accumulated dose analysis in the discovery series showed a significantly higher neuropathy risk for EPHA5/6/8 low-frequency non-synonymous variant carriers (HR=14.60, 95%CI=2.33-91.62, P=0.0042) and an independent cohort confirmed an increased neuropathy risk (HR=2.07, 95%CI=1.14-3.77, P=0.017). Combining the series gave an estimated 2.50-fold higher risk of neuropathy (95%CI=1.46-4.31; P=9.1x10(-4)).CONCLUSION: This first study sequencing EPHA genes revealed that low frequency variants in EPHA6, EPHA5 and EPHA8 contribute to the susceptibility to paclitaxel-induced neuropathy. Furthermore, EPHAs neuronal injury repair function suggests that these genes might constitute important neuropathy markers for many neurotoxic drugs.
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