Elevation of the Prognostic Factor Plasma Fibrinogen Reflects the Immunosuppressive Tumor Microenvironment in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

INTRODUCTION: Despite previous reports on the clinical significance of plasma fibrinogen (FNG) levels as a prognostic indicator of ESCC, its underlying mechanism remains unclear. This study aimed to validate the prognostic impact of plasma FNG levels and clarify its relationship with primary tumors in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). METHODS: The prognostic impact of FNG was evaluated in patients with ESCC who underwent esophagectomy between 2000 and 2019. The RNA sequencing of the primary ESCC site, which was from pre-operative biopsy, was performed, followed by immune profile characterization using an immunogram. Those profiles were assessed via the immunohistochemical staining of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and clinical response to nivolumab. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis identified FNG as a significant prognostic factor in ESCC. The immunogram suggested an immunosuppressive tumor environment in the high-FNG group. Immunostaining with the TAM markers CD163 and CD204, revealed that the high-FNG group had significantly higher number of TAMs compared with the low-FNG group. The immunosuppressive characteristics were clinically validated in patients with metastatic ESCC; those who had elevated FNG levels showed poor response to nivolumab. CONCLUSION: This study successfully validated the prognostic impact of plasma FNG levels in an expanded cohort with ESCC. Accordingly, our findings showed that increased plasma FNG reflects an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment that facilitates tumor progression and poor responses to nivolumab.

Comprehensive analysis of the homeobox family genes in breast cancer demonstrates their similar roles in cancer and development.

BACKGROUND: The homeobox (HOX) family consists of 39 genes whose expressions are tightly controlled and coordinated within the family, during development. We performed a comprehensive analysis of this gene family in cancer settings. METHODS: Gene correlation analysis was performed using breast cancer data available in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and data from the patients admitted to our hospital. We also analyzed the data of normal breast tissue (GSE20437). We next collected gene expression and prognosis data of breast cancer patients (GSE11121, GSE7390, GSE3494, and GSE2990) and performed unsupervised hierarchal clustering by the HOX gene expression pattern and compared prognosis. We additionally performed this analysis to leukemia (available in TCGA) and sarcoma (GSE20196) data. RESULTS: Gene correlation analysis showed that the proximal HOX genes exhibit strong interactions and are expressed together in breast cancer, similar to the expression observed during development. However, in normal breast tissue, less interactions were observed. Breast cancer microarray meta-data classified by the HOX gene expression pattern predicted the prognosis of luminal B breast cancer patients (p = 0.016). Leukemia (p = 0.00016) and sarcoma (p = 0.018) presented similar results. The Wnt signaling pathway, one of the major upstream signals of HOX genes in development, was activated in the poor prognostic group. Interestingly, poor prognostic cancer presented stronger correlation in the gene family compared to favorable prognostic cancer. CONCLUSION: Comprehensive analysis of the HOX family demonstrated their similar roles in cancer and development, and indicated that the strong interaction of HOX genes might be specific to malignancies, especially in the case of poor prognostic cancer.

A novel scoring method based on RNA-Seq immunograms describing individual cancer-immunity interactions.

Because of the complexity of cancer-immune system interactions, combinations of biomarkers will be required for predicting individual patient responses to treatment and for monitoring combination strategies to overcome treatment resistance. To this end, the "immunogram" has been proposed as a comprehensive framework to capture all relevant immunological variables. Here, we developed a method to convert transcriptomic data into immunogram scores (IGS). This immunogram includes 10 molecular profiles, consisting of innate immunity, priming and activation, T cell response, interferon γ (IFNG) response, inhibitory molecules, regulatory T cells, myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), recognition of tumor cells, proliferation, and glycolysis. Using genes related to these 10 parameters, we applied single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) to 9417 bulk RNA-Seq data from 9362 cancer patients with 29 different solid cancers in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Enrichment scores were z-score normalized (Z) for each cancer type or the entire TCGA cohort. The IGS was defined by the formula IGS = 3 + 1.5 × Z so that patients would be well distributed over a range of scores from 1 to 5. The immunograms constructed in this way for all individual patients in the entire TCGA cohort can be accessed at "The RNA-Seq based Cancer Immunogram Web" (https://yamashige33.shinyapps.io/immunogram/).

Assessment of Predictive Biomarkers of the Response to Pazopanib Based on an Integrative Analysis of High-grade Soft-tissue Sarcomas: Analysis of a Tumor Sample from a Responder and Patients with Other Soft-tissue Sarcomas.

BACKGROUND: Soft-tissue sarcomas are a rare group of malignant tumors that usually are treated with surgical excision and radiation therapy, but recently, pazopanib, an oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has been used in patients with metastases who do not respond to standard chemotherapy regimens. Based on patients with advanced soft-tissue sarcomas who had received prior chemotherapy, several clinical studies have reported the survival and sensitivity (approximately 5% to 10% sensitive) of patients with soft-tissue sarcomas treated with pazopanib. Recently, next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have been used to provide a wide genetic information and to develop personalized medicine in cancer treatment. However, there are few reports and no genetic analyses of patients with soft-tissue sarcomas who had a complete response (CR) to pazopanib. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: We described the clinicopathologic features of a patient with a rare, advanced soft-tissue sarcoma who achieved a CR to pazopanib treatment. Furthermore, integrative analyses using NGS and arrays were performed to elucidate characteristic alterations, including gene mutations, copy number changes, and protein expression that were associated with response to pazopanib. Additionally, functional analyses consisting of in vitro and in vivo assays were also performed to elucidate whether the identified alterations were associated with oncogenic abilities and drug responses. METHODS: In a sample from a 70-year-old woman with an advanced soft-tissue sarcoma treated for 1 month with 800 mg of oral pazopanib daily, CT scans demonstrated a CR to treatment. To our knowledge, there have been no patients with soft-tissue sarcomas among several clinical trials of pazopanib that have achieved a CR and therefore, our patient is considered to be extremely rare. We performed an integrative analysis including whole-exome sequencing, transcriptome sequencing, and phosphorylation profiling of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK) using tumor samples from a patient with a CR matched to normal samples. From here on we will refer to this patient as having a CR, although a short term high-grade partial response may be more accurate. These analyses were performed using NGS and the phosphoreceptor tyrosine kinase (phospho-RTK) array. As a validation study, we also performed target sequencing using three samples from patients with long-term stable disease and two samples from patients with progressive disease who responded to pazopanib treatment. In addition, characteristic gene alterations that were identified according to the response to pazopanib in one patient with a CR, in three patients with long-term stable disease, and in 27 patients with high-grade soft-tissue sarcomas with different histologic subtypes and different responses to pazopanib were verified by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. We conducted a focus formation assay to evaluate the transforming activities of these genomic alterations. RESULTS: In the patient with a CR to pazopanib, we identified several somatic mutations including Fms related receptor tyrosine kinase 1 (FLT1) p.G38S, platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRA) p.T83S, and platelet-derived growth factor receptor beta (PDGFRB) exon 13 skipping. Amplification at chromosome 12q13-14 encompassing GLI family zinc finger 1 (GLI1) and cyclin-dependent kinase-4 (CDK4) was also detected. Furthermore, an elevated PDGFRB phosphorylation level was observed in the tumor. In target sequencing analyses in five patients, one of three patients with long-term stable disease had 12q13-14 amplification. The mRNA expression of GLI1, CDK4, and pazopanib targets including PDGFRA, PDGFRB, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)1-3, and stem cell factor receptor (KIT) in samples from the patient with a CR, and 27 patients with high-grade soft-tissue sarcomas was verified. The expression of GLI1 was characteristically increased in the patient with a CR and in those with long-term stable disease relative to other patients with soft-tissue sarcomas. Overexpression of GLI1 showed strong transforming potential in 3T3 cells. Moreover, the overexpression of GLI1 upregulated the expression of the PDGFRB protein and promoted phosphorylation, which was dose-dependently inhibited by pazopanib. However, inhibition of GLI1-induced transformation by pazopanib was limited in the focus formation assay; therefore, mechanisms other than PDGFRB activation may contribute to transformation. CONCLUSIONS: We identified several gene alterations that might be associated with a CR and long-term stable disease in patients who received pazopanib for advanced soft-tissue sarcomas. We therefore believe that this distinct molecular profile warrants further investigation to identify predictive biomarkers of the response to pazopanib. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Our findings identify molecular mechanisms that possibly explain the high sensitivity of soft-tissue sarcomas to pazopanib and may lead to the development of predictive biomarkers and novel therapies in patients with this and other types of soft-tissue sarcomas.

Multicenter experience with large panel next-generation sequencing in patients with advanced solid cancers in Japan.

BACKGROUND: Application of next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS) has recently become increasingly common in the field of clinical oncology in several countries around the world. In Japan also, a system for applying NGS to routine clinical practice is gradually being established. During this process, we introduced in Japan the tumor-profiling MSK-IMPACT (Memorial Sloan Kettering-Integrated Mutation Profiling of Actionable Cancer Targets) assay. METHODS: We present here our initial experience with the use of MSK-IMPACT in 68 patients selected from two institutions in Japan between June 2016 and October 2017. RESULTS: MSK-IMPACT sequencing was successful and yielded results in specimens obtained from 64 of the 68 patients, representing an overall assay success rate of 94.1%. The top three cancer types tested were endometrial cancer (17.2%), pancreatic cancer (15.6%) and colorectal cancer (12.5%). Evaluation of the clinical actionability of the genetic alterations revealed that 25.0% of patients (n = 16) harbored at least one actionable alteration. However, enrolling the patients in a genomically matched clinical trial was difficult, mainly because most clinical trials are limited to tumors arising from a specific organ/site. One patient with microsatellite instability-high status, as determined by MSK-IMPACT, was treated with pembrolizumab and showed partial response. CONCLUSIONS: Although tumor profiling by NGS and administration of genomically matched therapy is a promising strategy, because of its high cost, we need to consider how we can fit it into the Japanese medical system. Towards this end, we believe that it is important to share our initial experience for furthering precision medicine in Japan.

[An Effective Treatment of Relapsed Leiomyosarcoma with Fourth-Line Trabectedin].

A 56-year-old women underwent retroperitoneal leiomyosarcoma resection in December 2011. In July 2015, CT showed multiple liver metastases, and she received first-line chemotherapy treatment with doxorubicin. After 2 courses of doxorubicin, her performance status deteriorated; therefore, she was treated with pazopanib as second-line chemotherapy. PFS with pazopanib was 5 months and that with eribulin was 2.5 months. She was then treated with trabectedin as fourth-line chemotherapy from July 2016. The liver metastases reduced, and the disease was controlled for 1 year and 6 months following administration of trabectedin. We continue to treat this patient with trabectedin, and no serious side effects have been observed.

[A Case of Pediatric Soft Tissue Sarcoma with LMNA-NTRK1 Gene Fusion Treated with Larotrectinib under Single Patient Expanded Access System].

Tropomyosin-related kinase(TRK)fusion proteins are oncogenic drivers in multiple tumors in adults and children.Larotrectinib, an orally administered selective TRK inhibitor approved in the US, exhibits inhibitory activity against tumors harboring TRK fusions and is well tolerated.Here, we report the case of an 8-year-old female child with recurrence of an NTRK fusion low-grade sarcoma treated with larotrectinib monotherapy.The patient previously underwent resection of low-grade sarcoma in the right brachialis at 6 years of age, but local recurrence occurred after 16 months.As re-operation likely required amputation, larotrectinib was commenced at a dose of 100 mg BID.Complete radiographic remission was achieved after 3 months.There were no adverse events attributed to larotrectinib treatment.After dosing for 6 months, we performed local resection, confirming pathological complete remission.The drug was stopped, and the patient showed no evidence of relapse at 4 months after resection.In this case, larotrectinib was obtained using Single Patient Expanded Access under the FDA.In this paper, we also discuss the issues faced while accessing unapproved drugs in the precision medicine era in Japan.

[Immune Checkpoint for a Kidney Cancer and Other Cancers].

Immune checkpoint inhibitors have been getting increasing attention in the field of cancer treatment, resulting in the investigation of numerous drugs and target cancers. Clinical trials of immune checkpoint inhibitors have focused on malignant melanomas and non-small cell lung cancer;however, recently, clinical trials have been carried out for other cancers. To date, 31 phase III clinical trials have been conducted for 13 types of cancer. Recently, the results of the CheckMate025 kidney cancer and CheckMate141 head and neck cancer trials have been reported. These reports showed that nivolumab significantly enhanced overall survival in comparison to that associated with an existing second-line treatment drug. Based on these results, the approval of nivolumab for use in renal cell cancer and head and neck cancer is expected in the near future. Furthermore, the results of 20 phase III clinical trials will be submitted from 2017 to 2019, expanding the approval of immune checkpoint inhibitors. However, many issues such as biomarker searches, the evaluation of antitumor effects, and the impact on medical economy remain to be resolved. In this report, we outline clinical trial trends and the future prospects for immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Characterization of mAbs to chicken anemia virus and epitope mapping on its viral protein, VP1.

Three (MoCAV/F2, MoCAV/F8 and MoCAV/F11) of four mouse mAbs established against the A2/76 strain of chicken anemia virus (CAV) showed neutralization activity. Immunoprecipitation showed a band at ~50 kDa in A2/76-infected cell lysates by neutralizing mAbs, corresponding to the 50 kDa capsid protein (VP1) of CAV, and the mAbs reacted with recombinant VP1 proteins expressed in Cos7 cells. MoCAV/F2 and MoCAV/F8 neutralized the 14 CAV strains tested, whereas MoCAV/F11 did not neutralize five of the strains, indicating distinct antigenic variation amongst the strains. In blocking immunofluorescence tests with the A2/76-infected cells, binding of MoCAV/F11 was not inhibited by the other mAbs. MoCAV/F2 inhibited the binding of MoCAV/F8 to the antigens and vice versa, suggesting that the two mAbs recognized the same epitope. However, mutations were found in different parts of VP1 of the escape mutants of each mAb: EsCAV/F2 (deletion of T89+A90), EsCAV/F8 (I261T) and EsCAV/F11 (E144G). Thus, the epitopes recognized by MoCAV/F2 and MoCAV/F8 seemed to be topographically close in the VP1 structure, suggesting that VP1 has at least two different neutralizing epitopes. However, MoCAV/F8 did not react with EsCAV/F2 or EsCAV/F8, suggesting that binding of MoCAV/F8 to the epitope requires coexistence of the epitope recognized by MoCAV/F2. In addition, MoCAV/F2, with a titre of 1 : 12 800 to the parent strain, neutralized EsCAV/F2 and EsCAV/F8 with low titres of 32 and 152, respectively. The similarity of the reactivity of MoCAV/F2 and MoCAV/F8 to VP1 may also suggest the existence of a single epitope recognized by these mAbs.

[Pharmacological Treatment for Bone Metastasis].

An objective of improvement of treatment outcomes of cancer is alleviation of bone metastasis that occurs in many types of cancers. Recently, the guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of bone metastasis were published by the Japanese Society of Medical Oncology in cooperation with other groups. These guidelines are essentially evidence based for the pharmacological treatment of bone metastasis by using bone modifying agents (BMA). Cancer cells inhibit osteoblast formation and promote osteoclast proliferation. Many growth factors that are produced by the bone marrow promote osteoclast proliferation. Furthermore, many growth factors enhance the rate of cancer cell growth. These processes underlie bone metastasis. Evidence for the effectiveness of BMA for the treatment of lung cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, multiple myeloma, and other cancers is provided in each section of the guidelines. These guidelines also provide evidence for the suppression of skeletal related events (SRE) in lung, breast, and prostate cancers. With regard to multiple myeloma, the guidelines provide evidence for the improvement of overall survival in addition to that for suppression of SRE. Based on these evidences, the guidelines recommend aggressive treatment with BMA for bone metastasis in such cancers.

[Maintenance therapy for colorectal cancer].

Some trials have demonstrated the benefits of maintenance chemotherapy for advanced colorectal cancer. In chemotherapeutic strategies for advanced colorectal cancer, chemotherapy-related toxicity prevention and quality of life(QOL)maintenance are more important than the introduction of a strong regimen, especially when additional surgery is not possible. In Japan, the combination of a folinic acid/5-fluorouracil/oxaliplatin(FOLFOX)regimen and bevacizumab is a popular first-line chemotherapy regimen. However, despite its effectiveness, neuropathy or hand-foot syndrome after 5 or 6 cycles tends to lead to chemotherapy withdrawal. CAIRO3 trial reported the effectiveness of capecitabine and bevacizumab as a maintenance chemotherapy regimen. Additionally, the ML18147 trial demonstrated that bevacizumab beyond progression(BBP)prolonged overall survival(OS)and progression free survival(PFS)in patients with advanced colorectal cancer. Although those trials demonstrated the effectiveness of continuous or maintenance bevacizumab administration, no trials have compared the effectiveness of cytotoxic drugs with bevacizumab as maintenance therapies. Moreover, controversy exists regarding the selection of drugs as a maintenance therapy and the identification of patients who would benefit from maintenance therapy.

Identification of BRAF Inhibitor Resistance-associated lncRNAs Using Genome-scale CRISPR-Cas9 Transcriptional Activation Screening.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Approximately 50% of melanomas harbor the BRAF V600E mutation and targeted therapies using BRAF inhibitors improve patient outcomes. Nonetheless, resistance to BRAF inhibitors develops rapidly and remains a challenge in melanoma treatment. In this study, we attempted to isolate long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) involved in BRAF inhibitor resistance using a comprehensive screening method. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used a CRISPR-Cas9 synergistic activation mediator (SAM) protein complex in a genome-scale transcriptional activation assay to screen for candidate lncRNA genes related to BRAF inhibitor resistance. Correlation analysis was performed between expression levels of isolated lncRNA genes and IC50 of dabrafenib in a BRAF-mutated melanoma cell line. Next, online databases were used to construct the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network. Finally, we evaluated the significance of the expression levels of these lncRNAs and mRNAs as biomarkers using clinical specimens. RESULTS: We isolated three BRAF inhibitor resistance-associated lncRNA genes, namely SNHG16, NDUFV2-AS1, and LINC01502. We constructed a lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA network of 13 nodes consisting of three lncRNAs, six miRNAs, and four mRNAs. The lncRNAs and target mRNAs from each regulatory axis significantly and positively correlated with each other. Finally, Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that higher expression levels of MITF, which was up-regulated by LINC01502, were significantly associated with worse prognosis in BRAF V600E-mutated melanoma. CONCLUSION: The identification of these BRAF inhibitor resistance-associated lncRNA genes at the genomic scale and the establishment of the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network provides new insights into the underlying mechanisms of BRAF inhibitor resistance in melanoma.

Effectiveness of Changing the Class of Molecularly Targeted Agent after Disease Progression during Initial Molecularly Targeted Therapy for Luminal Advanced/Metastatic Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND: The emergence of molecularly targeted agents (MTAs) has altered the treatment landscape for hormone receptor-positive (HR+), human epidermal growth factor 2-negative (HER2-) advanced breast cancer (ABC) /metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Multiple guidelines recommend molecularly targeted therapy as first-line treatment for HR+/HER2- ABC/MBC. However, optimal treatment for disease progression during MTA therapy remains undetermined. This study evaluated the suitability of different MTA types for this patient subgroup. METHODS: In this retrospective study, we analyzed the electronic health records of 56 patients with HR+/HER2- ABC/MBC receiving treatment with palbociclib, abemaciclib, or everolimus in our center between April 2014 and June 2021. RESULTS: Overall, 39, 14, and 35 regimens using palbociclib, abemaciclib, and everolimus, respectively, were identified. Three and 53 patients were premenopausal and postmenopausal, respectively. MTAs were included in the 1st-11th lines of treatment. Time to failure (TTF) was significantly different among the three MTAs. In contrast, TTF did not significantly differ among the 50 regimens that included CDK4/6 inhibitors, with/without prior mTOR inhibitor use, and the 35 regimens that included mTOR inhibitors, with/without prior CDK4/6 inhibitor use. CONCLUSIONS: The sequential use of different MTA classes did not affect the TTF of another MTA. mTOR inhibitor + exemestane is a favorable treatment option after CDK4/6 inhibitor + hormone therapy, and CDK4/6 inhibitor + hormone therapy is suitable for patients previously treated with mTOR inhibitor + exemestane. Although this study was retrospective and conducted at a single center, the present findings are useful for treatment selection in clinical practice.

TP53 Signature Score Predicts Prognosis and Immune Response in Triple-negative Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is considered a heterogeneous disease and achieving a pathological complete response (pCR) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is considered a surrogate biomarker of a favorable prognosis. Previously, the TP53 signature (TP53sig)-score, the expression profile of 33 genes, has been reported to predict the prognosis of all types of early-stage breast cancer. Herein, we analyzed whether the TP53sig-score can be used to subclassify a TNBC cohort and investigated the molecular biological characteristics of the higher TP53sig-score. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Publicly available data from TCGA (RNA-sequence) and METABRIC (microarray) and expression data from real clinical specimens (NanoString Technologies) were used to explore the prognosis and molecular features of TNBC. RESULTS: The high TP53sig-score group in the present study and the cohort in METABRIC tended to have a worse prognosis than the low TP53sig-score group (p=0.583 and 0.196, respectively). In both the pCR and non-pCR groups, the high TP53sig-score patients tended to have a poor prognosis (p=0.0739). Moreover, when the NAC response and TP53sig-score were combined, the five-year breast cancer-free rate among the four groups differed significantly (p=0.043). In addition, high TP53sig-score was related to gene ontology terms, such as "cell differentiation" and "innate immune response". Notably, this group had the potential to respond favorably to immunotherapy according to the tumor immune dysfunction and exclusion model. CONCLUSION: The combination of the response to NAC and the TP53sig-score in TNBC was able to predict an unfavorable prognosis. Furthermore, patients with a high TP53sig-score showed a favorable response to immunotherapy.

Low-barrier hydrogen bond in photoactive yellow protein.

Low-barrier hydrogen bonds (LBHBs) have been proposed to play roles in protein functions, including enzymatic catalysis and proton transfer. Transient formation of LBHBs is expected to stabilize specific reaction intermediates. However, based on experimental results and theoretical considerations, arguments against the importance of LBHB in proteins have been raised. The discrepancy is caused by the absence of direct identification of the hydrogen atom position. Here, we show by high-resolution neutron crystallography of photoactive yellow protein (PYP) that a LBHB exists in a protein, even in the ground state. We identified approximately 87% (819/942) of the hydrogen positions in PYP and demonstrated that the hydrogen bond between the chromophore and E46 is a LBHB. This LBHB stabilizes an isolated electric charge buried in the hydrophobic environment of the protein interior. We propose that in the excited state the fast relaxation of the LBHB into a normal hydrogen bond is the trigger for photo-signal propagation to the protein moiety. These results give insights into the novel roles of LBHBs and the mechanism of the formation of LBHBs.

The MDM2 and CDKN2A Copy-number-variation Influence the TP53-signature-score in Wild-type TP53 Luminal Type Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIM: The TP53-signature is a multi-gene signature that can predict TP53 structural mutations. It has presented remarkable ability to predict the prognosis of early-stage breast cancer. However, some samples presented discordance with the signature status and structure status. We aimed to investigate whether the mRNA expression levels or copy number variation (CNV) of MDM2 and CDKN2A influence the TP53-signature-score, subtype classification, and prognosis prediction in TP53 wild-type, luminal type early-stage breast cancer samples. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We selected TP53 wild-type, luminal type early-stage breast cancer samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Molecular Taxonomy of Breast Cancer International Consortium (METABRIC) cohorts. Then, we analyzed the correlation between the TP53-signature-score and mRNA expression levels or CNV of MDM2 and CDKN2A. RESULTS: The samples with MDM2 copy number (CN) amplification or those with CDKN2A CN deep deletion presented higher TP53-signature-score. Moreover, samples with MDM2 CN amplification or those with CDKN2A CN deep deletion had more characteristics of the luminal B type. In addition, they showed lower estrogen response early score, which correlated with response to endocrine therapy in breast cancer. However, MDM2 and CDKN2A mRNA expression did not present the same tendency. Furthermore, samples with MDM2 CN amplification or those with CDKN2A CN deep deletion had a worse prognosis in METABRIC cohort. CONCLUSION: The MDM2 or CDKN2A CNV may be useful for classifying subtypes and predicting prognosis more accurately in TP53 wild-type, luminal type early-stage breast cancer patients.

Molecular Targeted Therapy for Hormone Receptor-Positive, Human Epidermal Growth Factor 2-Negative Metastatic Breast Cancer in Clinical Practice.

BACKGROUND: The emergence of molecular targeted therapies (MTTs) has altered the treatment landscape for hormone receptor-positive (HR+), human epidermal growth factor 2-negative (HER2-) metastatic breast cancer (MBC). The objective of this study was to describe treatment patterns, clinical outcomes, and safety profiles for patients with HR+/HER2- MBC treated with palbociclib, abemaciclib, or everolimus in clinical practice. METHODS: Forty-five patients with HR+/HER2- MBC were enrolled; 40 received MTT as the third line or later and 5 received MTT as the first/second line. The results were compared with those of clinical trials. RESULTS: Median overall progression-free survival (PFS) was 5.3 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.8-8.4), and PFS was similar for patients receiving first/second line (5.5 months, 95% CI 1.8-) and third line or later (5.1 months, 95% CI 2.8-9.4) treatments. Eleven patients continued with the same regimen for >1 year; treatment is ongoing for 15 patients. In 23 patients (51%), everolimus was administered before cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitors. The most frequent grade 3 or worse adverse event (AE) with CDK4/6 inhibitors was neutropenia, whereas grade 3 or worse AEs with everolimus were Pneumocystis pneumonia, sepsis, and stomatitis. CONCLUSIONS: MTT was mostly used in third or later lines, and PFS was similar for patients receiving first/second line and third or later line treatments. However, this study included heavily treated patients and a small number of cases. Treatment options should consider maximal patient benefit, as indicated by the results of clinical trials.

Identification of the mutation signature of the cancer genome caused by irradiation.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Ionising radiation causes mutations in the genomes of tumour cells and serves as a potent treatment for cancer. However, the mutation signatures in the cancer genome following ionising radiation have not been documented. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We established an in vitro experimental system to analyse the presence of de novo mutations in the cancer genome of irradiated (60 Gy/20 fr/4 weeks) oesophageal cancer cell lines. Subsequently, we performed whole-genome, chromatin immunoprecipitation, and RNA sequencing using untreated and irradiated samples to assess the damage to the genome caused by radiation and understand the underlying mechanism. RESULTS: The irradiated cancer cells exhibited hotspots for the de novo 8502-12966 single nucleotide variants and 954-1,331 indels on the chromosome. These single nucleotide variants primarily originated from double-stranded break repair errors, as determined using mutation signature analysis. The hotspots partially overlapped with the sites of H3K9 trimethylation, which are regions characterised by a weak capacity for double-stranded break repair. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the signature and underlying mechanism of radiation on the cancer genome.