The T-box transcription factor brachyury behaves as a tumor suppressor in gliomas.

The oncogene brachyury (TBXT) is a T-box transcription factor that is overexpressed in multiple solid tumors and is associated with tumor aggressiveness and poor patient prognosis. Gliomas comprise the most common and aggressive group of brain tumors, and at the present time the functional and clinical impact of brachyury expression has not been investigated previously in these neoplasms. Brachyury expression (mRNA and protein) was assessed in normal brain (n = 67), glioma tissues (n = 716) and cell lines (n = 42), and further in silico studies were undertaken using genomic databases totaling 3115 samples. Our glioma samples were analyzed for copy number (n = 372), promoter methylation status (n = 170), and mutation status (n = 1569 tissues and n = 52 cell lines) of the brachyury gene. The prognostic impact of brachyury expression was studied in 1524 glioma patient tumors. The functional impact of brachyury on glioma proliferation, viability, and cell death was evaluated both in vitro and in vivo. Brachyury was expressed in the normal brain, and significantly downregulated in glioma tissues. Loss of brachyury was associated with tumor aggressiveness and poor survival in glioma patients. Downregulation of brachyury was not associated with gene deletion, promoter methylation, or inactivating point mutations. Brachyury re-expression in glioma cells was found to decrease glioma tumorigenesis by induction of autophagy. These data strongly suggest that brachyury behaves as a tumor suppressor gene in gliomas by modulating autophagy. It is important to note that brachyury constitutes an independent positive biomarker of patient prognosis. Our findings indicate that the role of brachyury in tumorigenesis may be tissue-dependent and demands additional investigation to guide rational interventions. © 2020 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Evaluation of the prognostic potential of EGFL7 in pilocytic astrocytomas.

Pilocytic astrocytoma (PA) is the most frequent solid neoplasm in childhood. It has a good 5-year overall survival (90% in childhood and 52% in adults). However, up to 20% of patients experience residual tumor growth, recurrence, and death. Although the main genetic alteration of PAs, including KIAA1549:BRAF fusion, involves chromosome 7q34, we previously found frequent loss in chr9q34.3 locus in a small subset of these tumors. Among the genes present in this locus, EGFL7 is related to poor prognosis in several tumor types. In this study, we aimed to assess EGFL7 expression through immunohistochemistry, and to evaluate its prognostic value in a series of 64 clinically and molecularly well-characterized pilocytic astrocytomas. We found high expression of EGFL7 in 71.9% of patients. Low EGFL7 expression was associated with older patients, the mean age mainly older than 11 years (P = 0.027). EGFL7 expression was not associated with presence of KIAA1549:BRAF fusion, BRAF mutation, FGFR1 mutation, nor FGFR1 duplication. Moreover, high EGFL7 expression was associated with high FGFR1 (P = 0.037) and 5'-deoxy-5'-methyltioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP) (P = 0.005) expression, and with unfavorable outcome of patients (P = 0.047). Multivariate analysis revealed low EGFL7 expression related to older patients and high EGFL7 expression related to retained expression of MTAP. In addition, we found a borderline significance of unfavorable outcome and high EGFL7 expression. Finally, EGFL7 expression was not associated with overall or event-free survival of PA patients. Our findings point to EGFL7 expression as a novel candidate prognostic marker in PA, which should be further investigated.

Proteomic Analysis of Spatial Heterogeneity Identifies HMGB2 as Putative Biomarker of Tumor Progression in Adult-Type Diffuse Astrocytomas.

Although grading is defined by the highest histological grade observed in a glioma, most high-grade gliomas retain areas with histology reminiscent of their low-grade counterparts. We sought to achieve the following: (i) identify proteins and molecular pathways involved in glioma evolution; and (ii) validate the high mobility group protein B2 (HMGB2) as a key player in tumor progression and as a prognostic/predictive biomarker for diffuse astrocytomas. We performed liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) in multiple areas of adult-type astrocytomas and validated our finding in multiplatform-omics studies and high-throughput IHC analysis. LC-MS/MSdetected proteomic signatures characterizing glioma evolution towards higher grades associated with, but not completely dependent, on IDH status. Spatial heterogeneity of diffuse astrocytomas was associated with dysregulation of specific molecular pathways, and HMGB2 was identified as a putative driver of tumor progression, and an early marker of worse overall survival in grades 2 and 3 diffuse gliomas, at least in part regulated by DNA methylation. In grade 4 astrocytomas, HMGB2 expression was strongly associated with proliferative activity and microvascular proliferation. Grounded in proteomic findings, our results showed that HMGB2 expression assessed by IHC detected early signs of tumor progression in grades 2 and 3 astrocytomas, as well as identified GBMs that had a better response to the standard chemoradiation with temozolomide.

TRIB1 confers therapeutic resistance in GBM cells by activating the ERK and Akt pathways.

GBM (Glioblastoma) is the most lethal CNS (Central nervous system) tumor in adults, which inevitably develops resistance to standard treatments leading to recurrence and mortality. TRIB1 is a serine/threonine pseudokinase which functions as a scaffold platform that initiates degradation of its substrates like C/EBPα through the ubiquitin proteasome system and also activates MEK and Akt signaling. We found that increased TRIB1 gene expression associated with worse overall survival of GBM patients across multiple cohorts. Importantly, overexpression of TRIB1 decreased RT/TMZ (radiation therapy/temozolomide)-induced apoptosis in patient derived GBM cell lines in vitro. TRIB1 directly bound to MEK and Akt and increased ERK and Akt phosphorylation/activation. We also found that TRIB1 protein expression was maximal during G2/M transition of cell cycle in GBM cells. Furthermore, TRIB1 bound directly to HDAC1 and p53. Importantly, mice bearing TRIB1 overexpressing tumors had worse overall survival. Collectively, these data suggest that TRIB1 induces resistance of GBM cells to RT/TMZ treatments by activating the cell proliferation and survival pathways thus providing an opportunity for developing new targeted therapeutics.

Neuropathology of Pituitary Adenomas and Sellar Lesions.

The pituitary gland is the site of numerous neoplastic and inflammatory processes. The overwhelmingly most frequent tumors arise from cells of the anterior lobe, the pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs). Immunohistochemistry assay staining for pituitary hormones is the core tool for classifying PitNETs, resulting in the diagnosis of somatotroph PitNETs, lactotroph PitNETs, and so on. For cases showing no hormonal expression, the updated WHO classification system now considers the assessment of several transcription factors: PIT-1 (pituitary-specific POU-class homeodomain transcription factor); T-PIT (T-box family member TBX19); and SF-1 (steroidogenic factor regulating gonadotroph cell differentiation) before rendering a diagnosis of null cell adenoma. Other tumors and disease processes of this site often mimic PitNETs radiographically and sometimes even clinically (ie, compression of the optic chiasm). These potpourri of processes include germ cell neoplasms (especially germinomas), tumors that originate from Rathke's pouch (craniopharyngiomas, Rathke's cleft cyst), tumors that originate from the posterior lobe of the pituitary (pituicytoma, spindle cell oncocytoma, granular cell tumor), and tumors that originate from the meninges (especially meningiomas). In addition to neoplasms, several described inflammatory and related conditions exist that need to be distinguished from PitNETs. These include lymphocytic hypophysitis and Langerhans cell histiocytosis, a neoplastic disorder of histiocytes. In this review, we aim to briefly describe the main pituitary and sellar lesions, with emphasis on the most common tumors, the PitNETs.

Tumor Heterogeneity in Glioblastomas: From Light Microscopy to Molecular Pathology.

One of the main reasons for the aggressive behavior of glioblastoma (GBM) is its intrinsic intra-tumor heterogeneity, characterized by the presence of clonal and subclonal differentiated tumor cell populations, glioma stem cells, and components of the tumor microenvironment, which affect multiple hallmark cellular functions in cancer. "Tumor Heterogeneity" usually encompasses both inter-tumor heterogeneity (population-level differences); and intra-tumor heterogeneity (differences within individual tumors). Tumor heterogeneity may be assessed in a single time point (spatial heterogeneity) or along the clinical evolution of GBM (longitudinal heterogeneity). Molecular methods may detect clonal and subclonal alterations to describe tumor evolution, even when samples from multiple areas are collected in the same time point (spatial-temporal heterogeneity). In GBM, although the inter-tumor mutational landscape is relatively homogeneous, intra-tumor heterogeneity is a striking feature of this tumor. In this review, we will address briefly the inter-tumor heterogeneity of the CNS tumors that yielded the current glioma classification. Next, we will take a deeper dive in the intra-tumor heterogeneity of GBMs, which directly affects prognosis and response to treatment. Our approach aims to follow technological developments, allowing for characterization of intra-tumor heterogeneity, beginning with differences on histomorphology of GBM and ending with molecular alterations observed at single-cell level.

The Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitor E7070 Sensitizes Glioblastoma Cells to Radio- and Chemotherapy and Reduces Tumor Growth.

Glioblastomas (GBMs), the most common and lethal primary brain tumor, show inherent infiltrative nature and high molecular heterogeneity that make complete surgical resection unfeasible and unresponsive to conventional adjuvant therapy. Due to their fast growth rate even under hypoxic and acidic conditions, GBM cells can conserve the intracellular pH at physiological range by overexpressing membrane-bound carbonic anhydrases (CAs). The synthetic sulfonamide E7070 is a potent inhibitor of CAs that harbors putative anticancer properties; however, this drug has still not been tested in GBMs. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of E7070 on CA9 and CA12 enzymes in GBM cells as well as in the tumor cell growth, migration, invasion, and resistance to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. We found that E7070 treatment significantly reduced tumor cell growth and increased radio- and chemotherapy efficacy against GBM cells under hypoxia. Our data suggests that E7070 has therapeutic potential as a radio-chemo-sensitizing in drug-resistant GBMs, representing an attractive strategy to improve the adjuvant therapy. We showed that CA9 and CA12 represent potentially valuable therapeutic targets that should be further investigated as useful diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for GBM tailored therapy.

Long-Term Report of a Comprehensive Molecular and Genomic Analysis in NRG Oncology/RTOG 0424: A Phase II Study of Radiation and Temozolomide in High-Risk Grade II Glioma.

PURPOSE: This study sought to determine the prognostic significance of the WHO-defined glioma molecular subgroups along with additional alterations, including MGMT promoter methylation and mutations in ATRX, CIC, FUBP1, TERT, and TP53, in NRG/RTOG 0424 using long-term follow-up data. METHODS: Mutations were determined using an Ion Torrent sequencing panel. 1p/19q co-deletion and MGMT promoter methylation were determined by Affymetrix OncoScan and Illumina 450K arrays. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and tested using the log-rank test. Hazard ratios were calculated using the Cox proportional hazard model. Multivariable analyses (MVAs) included patient pretreatment characteristics. RESULTS: We obtained complete molecular data to categorize 80/129 eligible patients within the WHO subgroups. Of these, 26 (32.5%) were IDHmutant/co-deleted, 28 (35%) were IDHmutant/non-co-deleted, and 26 (32.5%) were IDHwild-type. Upon single-marker MVA, both IDHmutant subgroups were associated with significantly better OS and PFS (P values < .001), compared with the IDHwild-type subgroup. MGMT promoter methylation was obtained on 76 patients, where 58 (76%) were methylated and 18 (24%) were unmethylated. Single-marker MVAs demonstrated that MGMT promoter methylation was statistically significant for OS (P value < .001) and PFS (P value = .003). In a multimarker MVA, one WHO subgroup comparison (IDHmutant/co-deleted v IDHwild-type) was significant for OS (P value = .045), whereas MGMT methylation did not retain significance. CONCLUSION: This study reports the long-term prognostic effect of the WHO molecular subgroups, MGMT promoter methylation, and other mutations in NRG/RTOG 0424. These results demonstrate that the WHO molecular classification and MGMT both serve as strong prognostic indicators, but that MGMT does not appear to add statistically significant prognostic value to the WHO subgrouping, above and beyond IDH and 1p/19q status.

Comprehensive Genomic Analysis in NRG Oncology/RTOG 9802: A Phase III Trial of Radiation Versus Radiation Plus Procarbazine, Lomustine (CCNU), and Vincristine in High-Risk Low-Grade Glioma.

PURPOSE: NRG Oncology/RTOG 9802 (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00003375) is a practice-changing study for patients with WHO low-grade glioma (LGG, grade II), as it was the first to demonstrate a survival benefit of adjuvant chemoradiotherapy over radiotherapy. This post hoc study sought to determine the prognostic and predictive impact of the WHO-defined molecular subgroups and corresponding molecular alterations within NRG Oncology/RTOG 9802. METHODS: IDH1/2 mutations were determined by immunohistochemistry and/or deep sequencing. A custom Ion AmpliSeq panel was used for mutation analysis. 1p/19q codeletion and MGMT promoter methylation were determined by copy-number arrays and/or Illumina 450K array, respectively. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated using the Cox proportional hazard model and tested using the log-rank test. Multivariable analyses (MVAs) were performed incorporating treatment and common prognostic factors as covariates. RESULTS: Of the eligible patients successfully profiled for the WHO-defined molecular groups (n = 106/251), 26 (24%) were IDH-wild type, 43 (41%) were IDH-mutant/non-codeleted, and 37(35%) were IDH-mutant/codeleted. MVAs demonstrated that WHO subgroup was a significant predictor of PFS after adjustment for clinical variables and treatment. Notably, treatment with postradiation chemotherapy (PCV; procarbazine, lomustine (CCNU), and vincristine) was associated with longer PFS (HR, 0.32; P = .003; HR, 0.13; P < .001) and OS (HR, 0.38; P = .013; HR, 0.21; P = .029) in the IDH-mutant/non-codeleted and IDH-mutant/codeleted subgroups, respectively. In contrast, no significant difference in either PFS or OS was observed with the addition of PCV in the IDH-wild-type subgroup. CONCLUSION: This study is the first to report the predictive value of the WHO-defined diagnostic classification in a set of uniformly treated patients with LGG in a clinical trial. Importantly, this post hoc analysis supports the notion that patients with IDH-mutant high-risk LGG regardless of codeletion status receive benefit from the addition of PCV.

Association of MGMT Promoter Methylation Status With Survival Outcomes in Patients With High-Risk Glioma Treated With Radiotherapy and Temozolomide: An Analysis From the NRG Oncology/RTOG 0424 Trial.

Importance: The initial report of NRG Oncology/Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 0424 demonstrated a 3-year overall survival benefit with the addition of temozolomide to radiotherapy compared with a historical control. However, an important end point of the trial-evaluation of the association between O6-methylgaunine-DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation and survival outcomes-was not previously reported. Objective: To examine the proportion of patients in NRG Oncology/RTOG 0424 with MGMT promoter methylation and its association with survival outcomes. Design, Setting, and Participants: Specimens collected were analyzed after trial completion to determine MGMT promoter methylation and IDH1/2 status and the association between MGMT status and survival outcomes. A model derived from logistic regression (MGMT-STP27) was used to calculate MGMT promoter methylation status. Univariate and multivariable analyses were performed using the Cox proportional hazards regression model to determine the association of MGMT status with survival outcomes. Patient pretreatment characteristics were included as covariates in multivariable analyses. Main Outcomes and Measures: Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Results: Of all 129 eligible patients in NRG Oncology/RTOG 0424, 75 (58.1%) had MGMT status available (median age, 48 years; age range, 20-76 years; 42 [56.0%] male): 57 (76.0%) methylated and 18 (24.0%) unmethylated. A total of 13 unmethylated patients (72.2%) had astrocytoma as opposed to oligoastrocytoma or oligodendroglioma, whereas 23 methylated patients (40.4%) had astrocytoma. On univariate analyses, an unmethylated MGMT promoter was significantly associated with worse OS (hazard ratio [HR], 3.52; 95% CI, 1.64-7.56; P < .001) and PFS (HR, 3.06; 95% CI, 1.55-6.04; P < .001). The statistical significances were maintained in multimarker multivariable analyses, including IDH1/2 status for both OS (HR, 2.70; 95% CI, 1.02-7.14; P = .045) and PFS (HR, 2.74; 95% CI, 1.19-6.33; P = .02). Conclusions and Relevance: In this study, MGMT promoter methylation was an independent prognostic biomarker of high-risk, low-grade glioma treated with temozolomide and radiotherapy. This is the first study, to our knowledge, to validate the prognostic importance of MGMT promoter methylation in patients with grade II glioma treated with combined radiotherapy and temozolomide and highlights its potential prognostic value beyond IDH1/2 mutation status. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00114140.

Molecular-Based Recursive Partitioning Analysis Model for Glioblastoma in the Temozolomide Era: A Correlative Analysis Based on NRG Oncology RTOG 0525.

IMPORTANCE: There is a need for a more refined, molecularly based classification model for glioblastoma (GBM) in the temozolomide era. OBJECTIVE: To refine the existing clinically based recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) model by incorporating molecular variables. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: NRG Oncology RTOG 0525 specimens (n = 452) were analyzed for protein biomarkers representing key pathways in GBM by a quantitative molecular microscopy-based approach with semiquantitative immunohistochemical validation. Prognostic significance of each protein was examined by single-marker and multimarker Cox regression analyses. To reclassify the prognostic risk groups, significant protein biomarkers on single-marker analysis were incorporated into an RPA model consisting of the same clinical variables (age, Karnofsky Performance Status, extent of resection, and neurologic function) as the existing RTOG RPA. The new RPA model (NRG-GBM-RPA) was confirmed using traditional immunohistochemistry in an independent data set (n = 176). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Overall survival (OS). RESULTS: In 452 specimens, MGMT (hazard ratio [HR], 1.81; 95% CI, 1.37-2.39; P < .001), survivin (HR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.04-1.76; P = .02), c-Met (HR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.06-2.23; P = .02), pmTOR (HR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.60-0.97; P = .03), and Ki-67 (HR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.10-1.78; P = .007) protein levels were found to be significant on single-marker multivariate analysis of OS. To refine the existing RPA, significant protein biomarkers together with clinical variables (age, Karnofsky Performance Status, extent of resection, and neurological function) were incorporated into a new model. Of 166 patients used for the new NRG-GBM-RPA model, 97 (58.4%) were male (mean [SD] age, 55.7 [12.0] years). Higher MGMT protein level was significantly associated with decreased MGMT promoter methylation and vice versa (1425.1 for methylated vs 1828.0 for unmethylated; P < .001). Furthermore, MGMT protein expression (HR, 1.84; 95% CI, 1.38-2.43; P < .001) had greater prognostic value for OS compared with MGMT promoter methylation (HR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.28-2.44; P < .001). The refined NRG-GBM-RPA consisting of MGMT protein, c-Met protein, and age revealed greater separation of OS prognostic classes compared with the existing clinically based RPA model and MGMT promoter methylation in NRG Oncology RTOG 0525. The prognostic significance of the NRG-GBM-RPA was subsequently confirmed in an independent data set (n = 176). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This new NRG-GBM-RPA model improves outcome stratification over both the current RTOG RPA model and MGMT promoter methylation, respectively, for patients with GBM treated with radiation and temozolomide and was biologically validated in an independent data set. The revised RPA has the potential to contribute to improving the accurate assessment of prognostic groups in patients with GBM treated with radiation and temozolomide and to influence clinical decision making. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00304031.