Changes in expression profiles of internal jugular vein wall and plasma protein levels in multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory, demyelinating and degenerative disorder of the central nervous system (CNS). Several observations support interactions between vascular and neurodegenerative mechanisms in multiple sclerosis (MS). To investigate the contribution of the extracranial venous compartment, we analysed expression profiles of internal jugular vein (IJV), which drains blood from CNS, and related plasma protein levels. METHODS: We studied a group of MS patients (n = 19), screened by echo-color Doppler and magnetic resonance venography, who underwent surgical reconstruction of IJV for chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI). Microarray-based transcriptome analysis was conducted on specimens of IJV wall from MS patients and from subjects undergoing carotid endarterectomy, as controls. Protein levels were determined by multiplex assay in: i) jugular and peripheral plasma from 17 MS/CCSVI patients; ii) peripheral plasma from 60 progressive MS patients, after repeated sampling and iii) healthy individuals. RESULTS: Of the differentially expressed genes (≥ 2 fold-change, multiple testing correction, P < 0.05), the immune-related CD86 (8.5 fold-change, P = 0.002) emerged among the up regulated genes (N = 409). Several genes encoding HOX transcription factors and histones potentially regulated by blood flow, were overexpressed. Smooth muscle contraction and cell adhesion processes emerged among down regulated genes (N = 515), including the neuronal cell adhesion L1CAM as top scorer (5 fold-change, P = 5 × 10- 4). Repeated measurements in jugular/peripheral plasma and overtime in peripheral plasma showed conserved individual plasma patterns for immune-inflammatory (CCL13, CCL18) and adhesion (NCAM1, VAP1, SELL) proteins, despite significant variations overtime (SELL P < 0.0001). Both age and MS disease phenotypes were determinants of VAP1 plasma levels. Data supported cerebral related-mechanisms regulating ANGPT1 levels, which were remarkably lower in jugular plasma and correlated in repeated assays but not between jugular/peripheral compartments. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides for the first time expression patterns of the IJV wall, suggesting signatures of altered vascular mRNA profiles in MS disease also independently from CCSVI. The combined transcriptome-protein analysis provides intriguing links between IJV wall transcript alteration and plasma protein expression, thus highlighting proteins of interest for MS pathophysiology.

Adrenal cavernous hemangioma: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Adrenal cavernous hemangiomas are very rare benign tumors that usually present as incidental findings on abdominal imaging. Preoperative differential diagnosis from other benign or malignant adrenal neoplasms may be challenging. CASE PRESENTATION: A 70-year old man was referred for an 8-cm abdominal mass incidentally discovered on a contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) performed to investigate a pulmonary nodule. Biochemical tests ruled out any endocrine dysfunction and iodine 123 metaiodobenzylguanidine whole body scintiscan single-photon emission CT excluded a pheocromocitoma. Findings on magnetic resonance imaging were non-specific and the patient was elected for a left adrenalectomy. Histopathological diagnosis revealed a cavernous hemangioma. A portion of the resected tissue was tested for drug sensitivity to mitotane, doxorubicin, and sunitinib. CONCLUSIONS: Adrenal hemangioma is a rare disease but should be included in the differential diagnosis of adrenal tumors. The surgical resection is generally required to exclude malignant disease, resolve pressure-related symptoms, and prevent retroperitoneal hemorrhage. Although specific features in diagnostic imaging are often lacking, if the diagnosis is established preoperatively a laparoscopic adrenalectomy can be performed due to the benign nature of the lesion. Doxorubicin and sunitinib were both capable of reducing primary culture cell viability, this suggest that similar drugs may be useful in the medical treatment of adrenal hemangiomas.

miR-125b targets erythropoietin and its receptor and their expression correlates with metastatic potential and ERBB2/HER2 expression.

BACKGROUND: The microRNA 125b is a double-faced gene expression regulator described both as a tumor suppressor gene (in solid tumors) and an oncogene (in hematologic malignancies). In human breast cancer, it is one of the most down-regulated miRNAs and is able to modulate ERBB2/3 expression. Here, we investigated its targets in breast cancer cell lines after miRNA-mimic transfection. We examined the interactions of the validated targets with ERBB2 oncogene and the correlation of miR-125b expression with clinical variables. METHODS: MiR-125b possible targets were identified after transfecting a miRNA-mimic in MCF7 cell line and analyzing gene expression modifications with Agilent microarrays and Sylamer bioinformatic tool. Erythropoietin (EPO) and its receptor (EPOR) were validated as targets of miR-125b by luciferase assay and their expression was assessed by RT-qPCR in 42 breast cancers and 13 normal samples. The molecular talk between EPOR and ERBB2 transcripts, through miR-125b, was explored transfecting MDA-MD-453 and MDA-MB-157 with ERBB2 RNA and using RT-qPCR. RESULTS: We identified a panel of genes down-regulated after miR-125b transfection and putative targets of miR-125b. Among them, we validated erythropoietin (EPO) and its receptor (EPOR) - frequently overexpressed in breast cancer--as true targets of miR-125b. Moreover, we explored possible correlations with clinical variables and we found a down-regulation of miR-125b in metastatic breast cancers and a significant positive correlation between EPOR and ERBB2/HER2 levels, that are both targets of miR-125b and function as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs). CONCLUSIONS: Taken together our results show a mechanism for EPO/EPOR and ERBB2 co-regulation in breast cancer and confirm the importance of miR-125b in controlling clinically-relevant cancer features.

3D-Informed Targeting of the Trop-2 Signal-Activation Site Drives Selective Cancer Vulnerability.

Next-generation Trop-2-targeted therapy against advanced cancers is hampered by expression of Trop-2 in normal tissues. We discovered that Trop-2 undergoes proteolytic activation by ADAM10 in cancer cells, leading to the exposure of a previously inaccessible protein groove flanked by two N-glycosylation sites. We designed a recognition strategy for this region, to drive selective cancer vulnerability in patients. Most undiscriminating anti-Trop-2 mAbs recognize a single immunodominant epitope. Hence, we removed it by deletion mutagenesis. Cancer-specific, glycosylation-prone mAbs were selected by ELISA, bio-layer interferometry, flow cytometry, confocal microscopy for differential binding to cleaved/activated, wild-type and glycosylation site-mutagenized Trop-2. The resulting 2G10 mAb family binds Trop-2-expressing cancer cells, but not Trop-2 on normal cells. We humanized 2G10 by state-of-the-art complementarity determining region grafting/re-modeling, yielding Hu2G10. This antibody binds cancer-specific, cleaved/activated Trop-2 with Kd < 10-12 mol/L, and uncleaved/wtTrop-2 in normal cells with Kd 3.16×10-8 mol/L, thus promising an unprecedented therapeutic index in patients. In vivo, Hu2G10 ablates growth of Trop-2-expressing breast, colon, prostate cancers, but shows no evidence of systemic toxicity, paving the way for a paradigm shift in Trop-2-targeted therapy.

MicroRNA profiling for the identification of cancers with unknown primary tissue-of-origin.

Cancer of unknown primary (CUP) represents a common and important clinical problem. There is evidence that most CUPs are metastases of carcinomas whose primary site cannot be recognized. Driven by the hypothesis that the knowledge of primary cancer could improve patient's prognosis, we investigated microRNA expression profiling as a tool for identifying the tissue of origin of metastases. We assessed microRNA expression from 101 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples from primary cancers and metastasis samples by using a microarray platform. Forty samples representing ten different cancer types were used for defining a cancer-type-specific microRNA signature, which was used for predicting primary sites of metastatic cancers. A 47-miRNA signature was identified and used to estimate tissue-of-origin probabilities for each sample. Overall, accuracy reached 100% for primary cancers and 78% for metastases in our cohort of samples. When the signature was applied to an independent published dataset of 170 samples, accuracy remained high: correct prediction was found within the first two options in 86% of the metastasis cases (first prediction was correct in 68% of cases). This signature was also applied to predict 16 CUPs. In this group, first predictions exhibited probabilities higher than 90% in most of the cases. These results establish that FFPE samples can be used to reveal the tissue of origin of metastatic cancers by using microRNA expression profiling and suggest that the approach, if applied, could provide strong indications for CUPs, whose correct diagnosis is presently undefined.

Cytoplasmic Trop-1/Ep-CAM overexpression is associated with a favorable outcome in node-positive breast cancer.

OBJECTIVE: Trop-1/Ep-CAM modulates growth and survival of transformed cells, and it is highly expressed in most carcinomas including breast cancer. Only membranous staining is typically considered in evaluating Trop-1/epithelial cell adhesion molecule (Ep-CAM) expression in tumor cells. However, there is evidence of retention of Trop-1/Ep-CAM, as functionally incompetent molecules, in intra-cytoplasmic vesicles. Hence, we investigated whether cytoplasmic immunostaining may have an independent clinical significance with respect to membranous staining. METHODS: Membranous and cytoplasmic Trop-1/Ep-CAM expression was immunohistochemically investigated in 642 unilateral breast cancers from patients with a 99-month median follow-up. Multiple correspondence analysis was used to investigate the association between Trop-1/Ep-CAM and other biological variables. The impact of Trop-1/Ep-CAM expression on the patient's outcome was evaluated as event-free survival by the Kaplan-Meier method and proportional hazard Cox model. RESULTS: While tumors with intermediate/strong membranous staining were mostly associated with concomitant cytoplasmic Trop-1/Ep-CAM expression (97%), tumors with weak-to-nil membranous staining showed intermediate/high cytoplasmic expression in 23% of cases. Cytoplasmic overexpression was associated with a favorable outcome, especially in node-positive patients, regardless of the adjuvant therapy received. CONCLUSION: Trop-1/Ep-CAM expression may have different clinical implications according to its subcellular localization.

Giant dedifferentiated liposarcoma of the right hemifacial area involving the oral cavity.

Although liposarcoma is a reasonably common soft tissue sarcoma in adults, its occurrence within the head and neck region is very rare. The following report presents the case of a giant dedifferentiated liposarcoma initially located in the temporal region and then extending to the entire right maxillofacial region. Clinical as well as histopathological features and therapeutic approaches of dedifferentiated liposarcoma are discussed, and a literature review is presented.

PBMNCs Treatment in Critical Limb Ischemia and Candidate Biomarkers of Efficacy.

When in critical limb ischemia (CLI) the healing process aborts or does not follow an orderly and timely sequence, a chronic vascular wound develops. The latter is major problem today, as their epidemiology is continuously increasing due to the aging population and a growth in the incidence of the underlying diseases. In the US, the mean annualized prevalence of necrotic wounds due to the fact of CLI is 1.33% (95% CI, 1.32-1.34%), and the cost of dressings alone has been estimated at USD 5 billion per year from healthcare budgets. A promising cell treatment in wound healing is the local injection of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNCs). The treatment is aimed to induce angiogenesis as well to switch inflammatory macrophages, called the M1 phenotype, into anti-inflammatory macrophages, called M2, a phenotype devoted to tissue repair. This mechanism is called polarization and is a critical step for the healing of all human tissues. Regarding the clinical efficacy of PBMNCs, the level of evidence is still low, and a considerable effort is necessary for completing the translational process toward the patient bed site. From this point of view, it is crucial to identify some candidate biomarkers to detect the switching process from M1 to M2 in response to the cell treatment.

Corrigendum: Case Report: A False Negative Case of Anti-Yo Paraneoplastic Myelopathy.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2021.728700.].

p53 status identifies two subgroups of triple-negative breast cancers with distinct biological features.

OBJECTIVE: Despite the clinical similarities triple-negative and basal-like breast cancer are not synonymous. Indeed, not all basal-like cancers are negative for estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and HER2 expression while triple-negative also encompasses other cancer types. P53 protein appears heterogeneously expressed in triple-negative breast cancers, suggesting that it may be associated with specific biological subgroups with a different outcome. METHODS: We comparatively analyzed p53 expression in triple-negative tumors from two independent breast cancer case series (633 cases from the University of Ferrara and 1076 cases from the University of Nottingham). RESULTS: In both case series, p53 protein expression was able to subdivide the triple-negative cases into two distinct subsets consistent with a different outcome. In fact, triple-negative patients with a p53 expressing tumor showed worse overall and event-free survival. CONCLUSIONS: The immunohistochemical evaluation of p53 expression may help in taming the currently stormy relationship between pathological (triple-negative tumors) and biological (basal breast cancers) classifications and in selecting patient subgroups with different biological features providing a potentially powerful prognostic contribution in triple-negative breast cancers.

GATA3 as an Adjunct Prognostic Factor in Breast Cancer Patients with Less Aggressive Disease: A Study with a Review of the Literature.

BACKGROUND: GATA binding protein 3 (GATA3) expression is positively correlated with estrogen receptor (ER) expression, but its prognostic value as an independent factor remains unclear. Thus, we undertook the current study to evaluate the expression of GATA3 and its prognostic value in a large series of breast carcinomas (BCs) with long-term follow-up. METHODS: A total of 702 consecutive primary invasive BCs resected between 1989 and 1993 in our institution were arranged in tissue microarrays, immunostained for ER, progesterone receptor (PR), ki-67, HER2, p53, and GATA3, and scored. Clinico-pathological data were retrospectively collected. RESULTS: GATA3 was evaluable in 608 (87%) of the 702 cases; it was positive in 413 (68%) cases and negative in 195 (32%) cases. GATA3 positivity was significantly associated with lower grade (p < 0.0001), size (p = 0.0463), stage (p = 0.0049), ER+ (p < 0.0001), PR+ (p < 0.0001), HER2- (p = 0.0175), and p53 wild-type pattern (p < 0.0001). The median follow-up was 183 months, GATA3 positivity was associated with better overall survival (HR 0.70, p = 0.001), and its prognostic value was retained in a multivariate analysis. The association with better overall survival was stronger in patients with grade 1-2, pT1-2, pN0, stage I-II, ER+, PR+, ki-67 < 20%, HER2-, a wild-type p53 immunohistochemical pattern, and in luminal B BC. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that GATA3 is a positive prognostic marker in BC patients, especially in patients with biologically less aggressive BC. Incorporating GATA3 immunohistochemistry into routine practice could help further stratify BC patients for their risk.

Case Report: A False Negative Case of Anti-Yo Paraneoplastic Myelopathy.

The development of autoimmune antibody panels has improved the diagnosis of paraneoplastic neurological disorders (PNDs) of the brain and spinal cord. Here, we present a case of a woman with a history of breast cancer who presented with a subacute sensory ataxia that progressed over 18 months. Her examination and diagnostic studies were consistent with a myelopathy. Metabolic, infectious, and autoimmune testing were non-diagnostic. However, she responded to empirical immunosuppression, prompting further workup for an autoimmune etiology. An unbiased autoantibody screen utilizing phage display immunoprecipitation sequencing (PhIP-Seq) identified antibodies to the anti-Yo antigens cerebellar degeneration related protein 2 like (CDR2L) and CDR2, which were subsequently validated by immunoblot and cell-based overexpression assays. Furthermore, CDR2L protein expression was restricted to HER2 expressing tumor cells in the patient's breast tissue. Recent evidence suggests that CDR2L is likely the primary antigen in anti-Yo paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration, but anti-Yo myelopathy is poorly characterized. By immunostaining, we detected neuronal CDR2L protein expression in the murine and human spinal cord. This case demonstrates the diagnostic utility of unbiased assays in patients with suspected PNDs, supports prior observations that anti-Yo PND can be associated with isolated myelopathy, and implicates CDR2L as a potential antigen in the spinal cord.

Trop-2 induces ADAM10-mediated cleavage of E-cadherin and drives EMT-less metastasis in colon cancer.

We recently reported that activation of Trop-2 through its cleavage at R87-T88 by ADAM10 underlies Trop-2-driven progression of colon cancer. However, the mechanism of action and pathological impact of Trop-2 in metastatic diffusion remain unexplored. Through searches for molecular determinants of cancer metastasis, we identified TROP2 as unique in its up-regulation across independent colon cancer metastasis models. Overexpression of wild-type Trop-2 in KM12SM human colon cancer cells increased liver metastasis rates in vivo in immunosuppressed mice. Metastatic growth was further enhanced by a tail-less, activated ΔcytoTrop-2 mutant, indicating the Trop-2 tail as a pivotal inhibitory signaling element. In primary tumors and metastases, transcriptome analysis showed no down-regulation of CDH1 by transcription factors for epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, thus suggesting that the pro-metastatic activity of Trop-2 is through alternative mechanisms. Trop-2 can tightly interact with ADAM10. Here, Trop-2 bound E-cadherin and stimulated ADAM10-mediated proteolytic cleavage of E-cadherin intracellular domain. This induced detachment of E-cadherin from ß-actin, and loss of cell-cell adhesion, acquisition of invasive capability, and membrane-driven activation of ß-catenin signaling, which were further enhanced by the ΔcytoTrop-2 mutant. This Trop-2/E-cadherin/ß-catenin program led to anti-apoptotic signaling, increased cell migration, and enhanced cancer-cell survival. In patients with colon cancer, activation of this Trop-2-centered program led to significantly reduced relapse-free and overall survival, indicating a major impact on progression to metastatic disease. Recently, the anti-Trop-2 mAb Sacituzumab govitecan-hziy was shown to be active against metastatic breast cancer. Our findings define the key relevance of Trop-2 as a target in metastatic colon cancer.

A novel endovenous scaffold for the treatment of chronic venous obstruction in a porcine model: Histological and ultrastructural assessment.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the biological effects of a novel endovenous scaffold in a porcine model. METHODS: Petalo is a compliant venous scaffold implanted into the internal jugular veins of 12 healthy pigs. The pigs were sacrificed at one, two, three, and six months, respectively. Microscopic investigations were performed at two blinded laboratories. RESULTS: Neo-intima formation progressively covering up the stent metallic bars was observed. The inflammatory response of the venous wall showed a peak after three months by the implant, followed by marked reduction after six months. The device induced a significant ( p < 0.01) increase of the thickness respect to the control regions, but was comparable in sections obtained after three and six months. CONCLUSIONS: The implant of Petalo compliant venous scaffold in the venous wall of this porcine model is characterized by neointima formation and by an inflammatory reaction which tends to decrease after six months. Our data point against the induction of smooth muscle cells proliferation and migration as confirmed by electronic transmission microscopy analyses.

Decreased heme-oxygenase (HO)-1 in the macrophages of non-small cell lung cancer.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are important in the initiation and promotion of cells to neoplastic growth. Heme-oxygenase (HO)-1, the inducible form of heme-oxygenase, is a cytoprotective enzyme that plays a central role in the defence against oxidative stress and is implicated in the protection of lung tissue against exogenous oxidant exposure. We investigated whether the expression of HO-1 would be decreased in lung tumour as compared with tumour-free adjacent lung tissues. HO-1 expression was quantified by immunohistochemistry in tumour macrophages, in macrophages of tumour-free lung and in tumour cells of surgical specimens collected from 53 individuals with surgically resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The expression of HO-1 was decreased in tumour as compared with tumour-free lung macrophages. No correlations were observed between the expression of HO-1 and both the clinicopathological characteristics and the overall survival of the examined subjects. In conclusion, our data show that macrophages of non-small cell lung cancer exhibit impaired anti-oxidant defence mechanisms, likely mediated by HO-1. Conversely, HO-1 expression does not seem to be associated with lung tumour progression and prognosis.

Craniomaxillofacial Fibrous Dysplasia: Conservative Treatment and Maxillary Osteotomy Using the Schuchardt-Kufner Technique.

Fibrous dysplasia (FD) is a disturbance of the mesenchymal tissue that accounts for 2.5% of all bone tumors and more than 7% of nonmalignant bone tumors. In the craniomaxillofacial region, FD affects the calvaria, skull base, zygoma, and jaws, the prevalent site being the maxilla (50% of cases). Therapy for craniomaxillofacial FD is surgical. The goals of surgery are to prevent functional disorders and restore facial symmetry, volume, and contour. In this article, we present a case of a young female patient affected by right orbital-zygomatic-maxillary FD. She had developed facial asymmetry and malocclusion that were corrected using the Schuchardt-Kufner osteotomy technique.

High-sensitivity assay for monitoring ESR1 mutations in circulating cell-free DNA of breast cancer patients receiving endocrine therapy.

Approximately 70% of breast cancers (BCs) express estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) and are treated with endocrine therapy. However, the effectiveness of this therapy is limited by innate or acquired resistance in approximately one-third of patients. Activating mutations in the ESR1 gene that encodes ERα promote critical resistance mechanisms. Here, we developed a high sensitivity approach based on enhanced-ice-COLD-PCR for detecting ESR1 mutations. The method produced an enrichment up to 100-fold and allowed the unambiguous detection of ESR1 mutations even when they consisted of only 0.01% of the total ESR1 allelic fraction. After COLD-PCR enrichment, methods based on next-generation sequencing or droplet-digital PCR were employed to detect and quantify ESR1 mutations. We applied the method to detect ESR1 mutations in circulating free DNA from the plasma of 56 patients with metastatic ER-positive BC. Fifteen of these patients were found to have ESR1 mutations at codons 536-538. This study demonstrates the utility of the enhanced-ice-COLD-PCR approach for simplifying and improving the detection of ESR1 tumor mutations in liquid biopsies. Because of its high sensitivity, the approach may potentially be applicable to patients with non-metastatic disease.

HER2-Positive Lobular Versus Ductal Carcinoma of the Breast: Pattern of First Recurrence and Molecular Insights.

BACKGROUND: Infiltrating lobular carcinoma (ILC) represents about 10% of breast cancer and rarely shows overexpression of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). We compared biological and clinical characteristics of HER2-positive ILC versus HER2-positive infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IDC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the data of 328 patients with HER2-positive pure ductal or lobular breast carcinoma, comparing clinical and biological data at diagnosis as well as outcome between the 2 histologies. A gene-mutation analysis was performed in a subset of patients. RESULTS: Two hundred ninety-one patients (88.7%) had IDC and 37 patients (11.3%) ILC. ILC resulted more frequently in multicenter (24.3% vs. 6.5%, P < .0001) and node-positive (54.1% vs. 45%, P = .013) disease of lower proliferative activity (Mib1 < 20%: 51.4% vs. 22.3%, P < .0001) and lower histologic grade (grade 3: 32.4% vs. 57.4%, P = .038). Disease recurred in 57 patients (17.4%) and involved the bone in 40% of ILC patients (vs. 17% of IDC patients) and the viscera in 30% of ILC patients (vs. 59.6% of IDC patients). No difference in the recurrence rate between the 2 histologies was observed in patients treated with adjuvant trastuzumab (12.5% of ILC patients and 8.3% of IDC patients). Exploratory molecular analysis revealed a higher frequency of mutations in ILC, with more cases of multiple mutations. CONCLUSION: HER2-positive ILC shows different biological behavior than IDC, with a possible higher mutation load. Despite lower proliferation activity and estrogen receptor expression in ILC breast cancer, trastuzumab is clearly an effective therapy for this histologic subtype.