Hepatoblastoma Relapse-Findings from the German HB99 Trial and the German Liver Tumor Registry.

Survival rates for HB patients have improved; however, outcomes for patients who relapse remain poor. A retrospective review of information gathered for the HB99 study and the German Liver Tumor Registry identified 25 relapse patients (6.9%, 25/362). The median time from initial diagnosis to first relapse was 13 months (range: 5-66 months). Two patients relapsed >36 months after initial diagnosis. A total of 68% (17/25) of relapses were metastatic, 24% local, and 8% combined. 67% of local relapses were alive at the last follow-up, in contrast to 53% of metastatic and 0% of combined relapses. At the last follow-up, 73% (8/11) of patients with lung relapses were still alive (0/4 with peritoneal, 1/2 with CNS involvement). A total of 20% of the patients had AFP-negative relapses, 64% of the relapse patients achieved a second complete remission, 69% were still in complete second remission at the last follow-up (median FU of 66 months), and 83% (5/6) of irinotecan-naïve patients who received relapse treatment including irinotecan were in second complete remission at the last follow-up. The 3-year overall survival/event-free survival from relapse was 63%/48% respectively. There is a good chance that HB patients will achieve a second remission despite a first relapse. However, patients who suffer further relapses tend to have a poorer prognosis.

A proteomic atlas of insulin signalling reveals tissue-specific mechanisms of longevity assurance.

Lowered activity of the insulin/IGF signalling (IIS) network can ameliorate the effects of ageing in laboratory animals and, possibly, humans. Although transcriptome remodelling in long-lived IIS mutants has been extensively documented, the causal mechanisms contributing to extended lifespan, particularly in specific tissues, remain unclear. We have characterized the proteomes of four key insulin-sensitive tissues in a long-lived Drosophila IIS mutant and control, and detected 44% of the predicted proteome (6,085 proteins). Expression of ribosome-associated proteins in the fat body was reduced in the mutant, with a corresponding, tissue-specific reduction in translation. Expression of mitochondrial electron transport chain proteins in fat body was increased, leading to increased respiration, which was necessary for IIS-mediated lifespan extension, and alone sufficient to mediate it. Proteasomal subunits showed altered expression in IIS mutant gut, and gut-specific over-expression of the RPN6 proteasomal subunit, was sufficient to increase proteasomal activity and extend lifespan, whilst inhibition of proteasome activity abolished IIS-mediated longevity. Our study thus uncovered strikingly tissue-specific responses of cellular processes to lowered IIS acting in concert to ameliorate ageing.