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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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| 2. |
- 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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| 3. |
- 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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| 6. |
- 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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| 9. |
- Bikos, Vasilis, et al.
(author)
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An Immunogenetic Signature of Ongoing Antigen Interactions in Splenic Marginal Zone Lymphoma Expressing IGHV1-2*04 Receptors
- 2016
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In: Clinical Cancer Research. - 1078-0432 .- 1557-3265. ; 22:8, s. 2032-2040
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: Prompted by the extensive biases in the immunoglobulin (IG) gene repertoire of splenic marginal-zone lymphoma (SMZL), supporting antigen selection in SMZL ontogeny, we sought to investigate whether antigen involvement is also relevant post-transformation. Experimental Design: We conducted a large-scale subcloning study of the IG rearrangements of 40 SMZL cases aimed at assessing intraclonal diversification (ID) due to ongoing somatic hypermutation (SHM). Results: ID was identified in 17 of 21 (81%) rearrangements using the immunoglobulin heavy variable (IGHV) 1-2*04 gene versus 8 of 19 (40%) rearrangements utilizing other IGHV genes (P = 0.001). ID was also evident in most analyzed IG light chain gene rearrangements, albeit was more limited compared with IG heavy chains. Identical sequence changes were shared by subclones from different patients utilizing the IGHV1-2*04 gene, confirming restricted ongoing SHM profiles. Non-IGHV1-2*04 cases displayed both a lower number of ongoing SHMs and a lack of shared mutations (per group of cases utilizing the same IGHV gene). Conclusions: These findings support ongoing antigen involvement in a sizable portion of SMZL and further argue that IGHV1-2*04 SMZL may represent a distinct molecular subtype of the disease.
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| 10. |
- Binzer-Panchal, Amrei, et al.
(author)
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Integrated Molecular Analysis of Undifferentiated Uterine Sarcomas Reveals Clinically Relevant Molecular Subtypes
- 2019
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In: Clinical Cancer Research. - : AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH. - 1078-0432 .- 1557-3265. ; 25:7, s. 2155-2165
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: Undifferentiated uterine sarcomas (UUS) are rare, extremely deadly, sarcomas with no effective treatment. The goal of this study was to identify novel intrinsic molecular UUS subtypes using integrated clinical, histopathologic, and molecular evaluation of a large, fully annotated, patient cohort.Experimental Design: Fifty cases of UUS with full clinicopathologic annotation were analyzed for gene expression (n = 50), copy-number variation (CNV, n = 40), cell morphometry (n = 39), and protein expression (n = 22). Gene ontology and network enrichment analysis were used to relate over-and underexpressed genes to pathways and further to clinicopathologic and phenotypic findings.Results: Gene expression identified four distinct groups of tumors, which varied in their clinicopathologic parameters. Gene ontology analysis revealed differential activation of pathways related to genital tract development, extracellular matrix (ECM), muscle function, and proliferation. A multivariable, adjusted Cox proportional hazard model demonstrated that RNA group, mitotic index, and hormone receptor expression influence patient overall survival (OS). CNV arrays revealed characteristic chromosomal changes for each group. Morphometry demonstrated that the ECM group, the most aggressive, exhibited a decreased cell density and increased nuclear area. A cell density cutoff of 4,300 tumor cells per mm(2) could separate ECM tumors from the remaining cases with a sensitivity of 83% and a specificity of 94%. IHC staining of MMP-14, Collagens 1 and 6, and Fibronectin proteins revealed differential expression of these ECM-related proteins, identifying potential new biomarkers for this aggressive sarcoma subgroup. Conclusions: Molecular evaluation of UUS provides novel insights into the biology, prognosis, phenotype, and possible treatment of these tumors.
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