A Case of Recurrent Verruconis gallopava Infection at One Year after Excision of a Solitary Pulmonary Lesion.

We herein report a case of recurrent infection caused by Verruconis gallopava, which is known to cause fatal phaeohyphomycosis. A 71-year-old man presented with a fever, and computed tomography revealed right chest wall thickening. Eleven years earlier, he had undergone autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for a hematological malignancy. One year earlier, he had undergone excision of a solitary pulmonary nodule, from which had been detected V. gallopava. On this occasion, right chest wall surgery was performed to investigate the cause of the fever, which led to the diagnosis of recurrent infection. Even if a localized lesion is excised, additional antifungal therapy should be performed.

Comprehensive circulating microRNA profile as a supersensitive biomarker for early-stage lung cancer screening.

PURPOSE:  Less-invasive early diagnosis of lung cancer is essential for improving patient survival rates. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that serum comprehensive miRNA profile is high sensitive biomarker to early-stage lung cancer in direct comparison to the conventional blood biomarker using next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology combined with automated machine learning (AutoML). METHODS: We first evaluated the reproducibility of our measurement system using Pearson's correlation coefficients between samples derived from a single pooled RNA sample. To generate comprehensive miRNA profile, we performed NGS analysis of miRNAs in 262 serum samples. Among the discovery set (57 patients with lung cancer and 57 healthy controls), 1123 miRNA-based diagnostic models for lung cancer detection were constructed and screened using AutoML technology. The diagnostic faculty of the best performance model was evaluated by inspecting the validation samples (74 patients with lung cancer and 74 healthy controls). RESULTS: The Pearson's correlation coefficients between samples derived from the pooled RNA sample ≥ 0.98. In the validation analysis, the best model showed a high AUC score (0.98) and a high sensitivity for early stage lung cancer (85.7%, n = 28). Furthermore, in comparison to carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), a conventional blood biomarker for adenocarcinoma, the miRNA-based model showed higher sensitivity for early-stage lung adenocarcinoma (CEA, 27.8%, n = 18; miRNA-based model, 77.8%, n = 18). CONCLUSION: The miRNA-based diagnostic model showed a high sensitivity for lung cancer, including early-stage disease. Our study provides the experimental evidence that serum comprehensive miRNA profile can be a highly sensitive blood biomarker for early-stage lung cancer.

Clinical efficacy of osimertinib in EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer with distant metastasis.

BACKGROUND: Osimertinib-the third-generation epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)-has been widely used as a first-line treatment for patients with metastatic EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Osimertinib demonstrated central nervous system activity in patients with brain metastasis; however, its efficacy against other distant metastatic organs, including bone and liver, remains unclear. Therefore, we retrospectively analyzed the clinical efficacy of osimertinib in these patients in comparison to other EGFR-TKIs. METHODS: Clinical data of patients with advanced NSCLC receiving gefitinib/erlotinib (n = 183), afatinib (n = 55), or osimertinib (n = 150) at five medical institutions were retrospectively assessed for progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and best overall response rate (ORR). RESULTS: In univariate and multivariate analyses, most distant metastases, including the brain and bone, were unrelated to the therapeutic efficacy of osimertinib, although liver metastasis and L858R mutation were independently associated with shorter PFS. PFS and OS in patients with liver metastases were significantly shorter than those in patients without liver metastases (PFS: 7.4 vs. 19.7 months, OS: 12.1 months vs. not reached, respectively). Osimertinib provided significantly longer PFS in patients with brain or bone metastasis and exon 19 deletion than the other EGFR-TKIs. The PFS of patients with liver metastases was not significantly different among the three EGFR-TKI groups. Furthermore, the ORR of osimertinib in patients with liver metastases was significantly attenuated, and the effectiveness was similar to 1st- or 2nd -generation EGFR-TKIs. CONCLUSION: Osimertinib provided better clinical benefits than 1st- and 2nd-generation EGFR-TKIs for patients with EGFR-mutant NSCLC, particularly those with brain or bone metastases and exon 19 deletion; however, its efficacy against liver metastasis was remarkably attenuated. New therapeutic developments for patients with EGFR-mutant NSCLC with liver metastases are needed.

Oxytocin receptor is a promising therapeutic target of malignant mesothelioma.

Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is one of the most aggressive tumors. We conducted bioinformatics analysis using Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE) datasets to identify new molecular markers in MM. Overexpression of oxytocin receptor (OXTR), which is a G-protein-coupled receptor for the hormone and neurotransmitter oxytocin, mRNA was distinctively identified in MM cell lines. Therefore, we assessed the role of OXTR and its clinical relevance in MM. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were applied to assess the association between overall survival and OXTR mRNA expression using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) datasets. The function of OXTR and the efficacy of its antagonists were investigated in vitro and in vivo using MM cell lines. Consistent with the findings from CCLE datasets analysis, OXTR mRNA expression was highly increased in MM tissues compared with other cancer types in the TCGA datasets, and MM cases with high OXTR expression showed poor overall survival. Moreover, OXTR knockdown dramatically decreased MM cell proliferation in cells with high OXTR expression via tumor cell cycle disturbance, whereas oxytocin treatment significantly increased MM cell growth. OXTR antagonists, which have high selectivity for OXTR, inhibited the growth of MM cell lines with high OXTR expression, and oral administration of the OXTR antagonist, cligosiban, significantly suppressed MM tumor progression in a xenograft model. Our findings suggest that OXTR plays a crucial role in MM cell proliferation and is a promising therapeutic target that may broaden potential therapeutic options and could be a prognostic biomarker of MM.

UHRF1, a Regulator of Methylation, as a Diagnostic and Prognostic Marker for Lung Cancer.

We evaluated the value of UHRF1, a regulator of methylation, as a biomarker for lung cancer. UHRF1 is expressed at higher levels in both lung adenocarcinoma (AD) and squamous cell carcinoma (SQ); however, a meta-analysis showed that UHRF1 expression is correlated with worse survival in patients with AD but not in those with SQ. UHRF1 knockdown suppressed the growth of lung cancer cell lines through G1 cell cycle arrest in some cell lines. These results suggest that UHRF1 may server as a diagnostic marker for AD and SQ and as a prognostic marker for AD in lung cancer.

Potential Benefits of Bevacizumab Combined With Platinum-Based Chemotherapy in Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Patients With EGFR Mutation.

BACKGROUND: Oncogenic EGFR signaling has been shown to upregulate vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) expression involved in tumor angiogenesis. However, the clinical benefits of bevacizumab plus cytotoxic chemotherapy for EGFR mutation-positive patients remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate VEGFA messenger RNA expression in patients with EGFR mutation, and to further compare the efficacy of bevacizumab combined with platinum-based chemotherapy between EGFR-mutant and wild-type patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Gene expression of various proangiogenic factors was analyzed in nonsquamous, non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients using The Cancer Genome Atlas dataset. Additionally, clinical data of patients receiving carboplatin and pemetrexed (CPem; n = 104) or bevacizumab plus CPem (BevCPem; n = 55) at Nagoya University hospital were retrospectively assessed for progression-free survival and best overall response rate (ORR). RESULTS: Among various proangiogenic factors, only VEGFA expression was significantly higher in patients with advanced nonsquamous NSCLC with EGFR mutation compared to wild-type patients (P = .0476). Progression-free survival in the BevCPem group was significantly longer in patients with EGFR mutation than in wild-type patients (10.5 vs. 6.6 months; Wilcoxon P = .0278), while the difference in the CPem group was not significant (6.6 vs. 4.5 months; Wilcoxon P = .1822). The ORRs in the BevCPem group were 54.5% and 36.4% for EGFR-mutant and wild-type patients, respectively, and the ORRs in the CPem group were 35.5% and 28.8 % in EGFR-mutant and wild-type patients, respectively. CONCLUSION: VEGFA messenger RNA expression was significantly increased in advanced nonsquamous NSCLC harboring EGFR mutation, and BevCPem provided better clinical benefits to patients with EGFR mutation than wild-type carriers.