Breast cancer cell-secreted miR-199b-5p hijacks neurometabolic coupling to promote brain metastasis.

Breast cancer metastasis to the brain is a clinical challenge rising in prevalence. However, the underlying mechanisms, especially how cancer cells adapt a distant brain niche to facilitate colonization, remain poorly understood. A unique metabolic feature of the brain is the coupling between neurons and astrocytes through glutamate, glutamine, and lactate. Here we show that extracellular vesicles from breast cancer cells with a high potential to develop brain metastases carry high levels of miR-199b-5p, which shows higher levels in the blood of breast cancer patients with brain metastases comparing to those with metastatic cancer in other organs. miR-199b-5p targets solute carrier transporters (SLC1A2/EAAT2 in astrocytes and SLC38A2/SNAT2 and SLC16A7/MCT2 in neurons) to hijack the neuron-astrocyte metabolic coupling, leading to extracellular retention of these metabolites and promoting cancer cell growth. Our findings reveal a mechanism through which cancer cells of a non-brain origin reprogram neural metabolism to fuel brain metastases.

Advancing Evidence Generation for Circulating Tumor DNA: Lessons Learned from A Multi-Assay Study of Baseline Circulating Tumor DNA Levels across Cancer Types and Stages.

Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) holds promise as a biomarker for predicting clinical responses to therapy in solid tumors, and multiple ctDNA assays are in development. However, the heterogeneity in ctDNA levels prior to treatment (baseline) across different cancer types and stages and across ctDNA assays has not been widely studied. Friends of Cancer Research formed a collaboration across multiple commercial ctDNA assay developers to assess baseline ctDNA levels across five cancer types in early- and late-stage disease. This retrospective study included eight commercial ctDNA assay developers providing summary-level de-identified data for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), bladder, breast, prostate, and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma following a common analysis protocol. Baseline ctDNA levels across late-stage cancer types were similarly detected, highlighting the potential use of ctDNA as a biomarker in these cancer types. Variability was observed in ctDNA levels across assays in early-stage NSCLC, indicative of the contribution of assay analytical performance and methodology on variability. We identified key data elements, including assay characteristics and clinicopathological metadata, that need to be standardized for future meta-analyses across multiple assays. This work facilitates evidence generation opportunities to support the use of ctDNA as a biomarker for clinical response.

Comprehensive Review on the Clinical Impact of Next-Generation Sequencing Tests for the Management of Advanced Cancer.

PURPOSE: This review summarizes the published evidence on the clinical impact of using next-generation sequencing (NGS) tests to guide management of patients with cancer in the United States. METHODS: We performed a comprehensive literature review to identify recent English language publications that presented progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of patients with advanced cancer receiving NGS testing. RESULTS: Among 6,475 publications identified, 31 evaluated PFS and OS among subgroups of patients who received NGS-informed cancer management. PFS and OS were significantly longer among patients who were matched to targeted treatment in 11 and 16 publications across tumor types, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our review indicates that NGS-informed treatment can have an impact on survival across tumor types.

A Randomized Phase IIb Study of Low-dose Tamoxifen in Chest-irradiated Cancer Survivors at Risk for Breast Cancer.

PURPOSE: Low-dose tamoxifen reduces breast cancer risk, but remains untested in chest-irradiated cancer survivors-a population with breast cancer risk comparable with BRCA mutation carriers. We hypothesized that low-dose tamoxifen would be safe and efficacious in reducing radiation-related breast cancer risk. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted an investigator-initiated, randomized, phase IIb, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial (FDA IND107367) between 2010 and 2016 at 15 U.S. sites. Eligibility included ≥12 Gy of chest radiation by age 40 years and age at enrollment ≥25 years. Patients were randomized 1:1 to low-dose tamoxifen (5 mg/day) or identical placebo tablets for 2 years. The primary endpoint was mammographic dense area at baseline, 1 and 2 years. IGF-1 plays a role in breast carcinogenesis; circulating IGF-1 and IGF-BP3 levels at baseline, 1 and 2 years served as secondary endpoints. RESULTS: Seventy-two participants (low-dose tamoxifen: n = 34, placebo: n = 38) enrolled at a median age of 43.8 years (35-49) were evaluable. They had received chest radiation at a median dose of 30.3 Gy. Compared with the placebo arm, the low-dose tamoxifen arm participants had significantly lower mammographic dense area (P = 0.02) and IGF1 levels (P < 0.0001), and higher IGFBP-3 levels (P = 0.02). There was no difference in toxicity biomarkers (serum bone-specific alkaline phosphatase, lipids, and antithrombin III; urine N-telopeptide cross-links) between the treatment arms. We did not identify any grade 3-4 adverse events related to low-dose tamoxifen. CONCLUSIONS: In this randomized trial in chest-irradiated cancer survivors, we find that low-dose tamoxifen is effective in reducing established biomarkers of breast cancer risk and could serve as a risk-reduction strategy.

False-positive screening events and worry influence decisions about surgery among high-risk women.

OBJECTIVE: Studies of cancer screening have found that false positive screening events (FPSE) can affect worry about cancer risk and screening program use, we sought to further explore this. METHOD: In a study of 1,100 women at high risk for ovarian cancer who participated in a previously published randomized controlled trial (RCT), we sought to explore whether worry might also influence the use of risk-reducing surgical procedures by women. Participants included 234 women with BRCA1/2 mutations and 866 women with high-risk pedigrees. We followed the women for up to 6 years. RESULTS: Worry predicted risk reducing prophylactic bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (pBSO) for both mutation carriers (HR = 1.74; p = .02), and women with high-risk pedigree (HR = 3.41; p < .001). FPSE also predicted subsequent pBSO among women with a high-risk pedigree (HR 2.31; p < .01). While screening may reduce worry among those who never receive a positive result, FPSE increase worry at least temporarily. Worry about ovarian cancer risk predicted use of preventative pBSO among high-risk women including those with BRCA1/2 mutations enrolled in an ovarian cancer-screening program. FPSE also predicted risk-reducing ovarian surgery among high-risk women without a known mutation at the time of screening program enrollment. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians who offer screening should know that false positive results may increase use of pBSO, how this should effect clinical practice is unclear. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Metastatic breast cancer cells overexpress and secrete miR-218 to regulate type I collagen deposition by osteoblasts.

BACKGROUND: Bone is one of the most frequent metastatic sites of advanced breast cancer. Current therapeutic agents aim to inhibit osteoclast-mediated bone resorption but only have palliative effects. During normal bone remodeling, the balance between bone resorption and osteoblast-mediated bone formation is essential for bone homeostasis. One major function of osteoblast during bone formation is to secrete type I procollagen, which will then be processed before being crosslinked and deposited into the bone matrix. METHODS: Small RNA sequencing and quantitative real-time PCR were used to detect miRNA levels in patient blood samples and in the cell lysates as well as extracellular vesicles of parental and bone-tropic MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. The effects of cancer cell-derived extracellular vesicles isolated by ultracentrifugation and carrying varying levels of miR-218 were examined in osteoblasts by quantitative real-time PCR, Western blot analysis, and P1NP bone formation marker analysis. Cancer cells overexpressing miR-218 were examined by transcriptome profiling through RNA sequencing to identify intrinsic genes and pathways influenced by miR-218. RESULTS: We show that circulating miR-218 is associated with breast cancer bone metastasis. Cancer-secreted miR-218 directly downregulates type I collagen in osteoblasts, whereas intracellular miR-218 in breast cancer cells regulates the expression of inhibin ß subunits. Increased cancer secretion of inhibin ßA results in elevated Timp3 expression in osteoblasts and the subsequent repression of procollagen processing during osteoblast differentiation. CONCLUSIONS: Here we identify a twofold function of cancer-derived miR-218, whose levels in the blood are associated with breast cancer metastasis to the bone, in the regulation of type I collagen deposition by osteoblasts. The adaptation of the bone niche mediated by miR-218 might further tilt the balance towards osteolysis, thereby facilitating other mechanisms to promote bone metastasis.

Identifying post-menopausal women at elevated risk for epithelial ovarian cancer.

OBJECTIVE: We developed and validated a hybrid risk classifier combining serum markers and epidemiologic risk factors to identify post-menopausal women at elevated risk for invasive fallopian tube, primary peritoneal, and ovarian epithelial carcinoma. METHODS: To select epidemiologic risk factors for use in the classifier, Cox proportional hazards analyses were conducted using 74,786 Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Observational Study (OS) participants. To construct a combination classifier, 210 WHI OS cases and 536 matched controls with serum marker measurements were analyzed; validation employed 143 cases and 725 matched controls from the WHI Clinical Trial (CT) with similar data. RESULTS: Analyses identified a combination risk classifier composed of two elevated-risk groups: 1) women with CA125 or HE4 exceeding a 98% specificity threshold; and 2) women with intact fallopian tubes, prior use of menopausal hormone therapy for at least two years, and either a first degree relative with breast or ovarian cancer or a personal history of breast cancer. In the WHI OS population, it classified 13% of women as elevated risk, identifying 30% of ovarian cancers diagnosed up to 7.8years post-enrollment (Hazard Ratio [HR]=2.6, p<0.001). In the WHI CT validation population, it classified 8% of women as elevated risk, identifying 31% of cancers diagnosed within 7years of enrollment (HR=4.6, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: CA125 and HE4 contributed significantly to a risk prediction classifier combining serum markers with epidemiologic risk factors. The hybrid risk classifier may be useful to identify post-menopausal women who would benefit from timely surgical intervention to prevent epithelial ovarian cancer.

Inflammatory Biomarkers, Comorbidity, and Neurocognition in Women With Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Neurocognitive dysfunction is reported in women with breast cancer even prior to receipt of adjuvant therapy; however, there is little understanding of underlying mechanisms. We tested the hypothesis that pretreatment neurocognitive dysfunction in newly diagnosed patients is related to immunological activation, as indexed by pro-inflammatory cytokines. METHODS: One hundred seventy-four postmenopausal patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation (assessment of cognitive function, mood, and fatigue) and measurement of key cytokine levels prior to surgery. Age-matched control participants without cancer were evaluated concurrently. Multivariable regression analyses examined the contribution of circulating Interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), and soluble TNF receptor type two (sTNF-RII) in predicting neurocognitive performance in patients after controlling for key factors thought to impact functioning. All tests of statistical significance were two-sided. RESULTS: Memory performance was statistically significantly reduced, in patients compared with controls (P = .02). Of the three cytokines measured, only IL-1ra was statistically significantly elevated in cancer patients when compared with control participants (mean ± SD, 375 ± 239 pg/mL vs 291 ± 169 pg/mL, P = .007). After controlling for age, education, race, mood, fatigue, body mass index, and comorbidity, cytokines independently explained 6.0% of the total variance in memory performance (P = .01) in cancer patients but not control participants, with higher sTNF-RII associated with worse functioning. Exploratory analyses found that comorbidity statistically significantly explained variance in processing speed and executive functioning (P = .03 and P = .03, respectively). CONCLUSION: An association of TNF with memory, previously reported in patients after exposure to chemotherapy, was found prior to initiation of any treatment, including surgery. This association requires further investigation as sTNF-RII was not higher in cancer patients relative to control participants.

Breast-cancer-secreted miR-122 reprograms glucose metabolism in premetastatic niche to promote metastasis.

Reprogrammed glucose metabolism as a result of increased glycolysis and glucose uptake is a hallmark of cancer. Here we show that cancer cells can suppress glucose uptake by non-tumour cells in the premetastatic niche, by secreting vesicles that carry high levels of the miR-122 microRNA. High miR-122 levels in the circulation have been associated with metastasis in breast cancer patients, and we show that cancer-cell-secreted miR-122 facilitates metastasis by increasing nutrient availability in the premetastatic niche. Mechanistically, cancer-cell-derived miR-122 suppresses glucose uptake by niche cells in vitro and in vivo by downregulating the glycolytic enzyme pyruvate kinase. In vivo inhibition of miR-122 restores glucose uptake in distant organs, including brain and lungs, and decreases the incidence of metastasis. These results demonstrate that, by modifying glucose utilization by recipient premetastatic niche cells, cancer-derived extracellular miR-122 is able to reprogram systemic energy metabolism to facilitate disease progression.

Use of CA125 and HE4 serum markers to predict ovarian cancer in elevated-risk women.

BACKGROUND: Serum markers are used before pelvic imaging to improve specificity and positive predictive value (PPV) of ovarian cancer multimodal screening strategies. METHODS: We conducted a randomized controlled pilot trial to estimate surgical PPV of a "2 of 3 tests positive" screening rule, and to compare use of HE4 as a first-line (Arm 1) versus a second-line (Arm 2) screen, in women at high and elevated risk for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) at five study sites. Semiannual screening was offered to 208 women ages 25 to 80 years with deleterious BRCA germline mutations and to 834 women ages 35 to 80 years with pedigrees suggesting inherited susceptibility. Annual screening was offered to 130 women ages 45 to 80 years (Risk Group 3) with epidemiologic and serum marker risk factors. Rising marker levels were identified using the parametric empirical Bayes algorithm. RESULTS: Both strategies yielded surgical PPV above 25%. Protocol-indicated surgery was performed in 6 women, identifying two ovarian malignancies and yielding a surgical PPV in both arms combined of 33% (95% confidence interval: 4%-78%), 25% in Arm 1 and 50% in Arm 2. Surgical consultation was recommended for 37 women (26 in Arm 1 and 11 in Arm 2). On the basis of 12 women with at least 2 of 3 tests positive (CA125, HE4, or imaging), an intent-to-treat analysis yielded PPV of 14% in Arm 1 and 20% in Arm 2. CONCLUSIONS: Positive screens were more frequent when HE4 was included in the primary screen. IMPACT: HE4 may be useful as a confirmatory screen when rising CA125 is used alone as a primary screen.

Cancer-secreted miR-105 destroys vascular endothelial barriers to promote metastasis.

Cancer-secreted microRNAs (miRNAs) are emerging mediators of cancer-host crosstalk. Here we show that miR-105, which is characteristically expressed and secreted by metastatic breast cancer cells, is a potent regulator of migration through targeting the tight junction protein ZO-1. In endothelial monolayers, exosome-mediated transfer of cancer-secreted miR-105 efficiently destroys tight junctions and the integrity of these natural barriers against metastasis. Overexpression of miR-105 in nonmetastatic cancer cells induces metastasis and vascular permeability in distant organs, whereas inhibition of miR-105 in highly metastatic tumors alleviates these effects. miR-105 can be detected in the circulation at the premetastatic stage, and its levels in the blood and tumor are associated with ZO-1 expression and metastatic progression in early-stage breast cancer.

How temporal frequency affects global form coherence in Glass patterns.

Glass patterns are textural moirés from random dots. Sequential presentation of Glass patterns induces a sense of illusory motion. We evaluated how changes in temporal frequency affected the detection of global form in Glass patterns. We found linear improvement in coherence thresholds with increasing temporal frequency (Experiment 1), particularly in stimuli with large dot-pair separations (Experiment 2). These results support the notion that temporal and orientation information sum to boost sensitivity to visually obscure objects, and are discussed within the framework of "motion streak" detectors.

Global dot integration in typically developing children and in Williams syndrome.

Williams Syndrome (WS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that results in deficits in visuospatial perception and cognition. The dorsal stream vulnerability hypothesis in WS predicts that visual motion processes are more susceptible to damage than visual form processes. We asked WS participants and typically developing children to detect the global structure Glass patterns, under "static" and "dynamic" conditions in order to evaluate this hypothesis. Sequentially presented Glass patterns are coined as dynamic because they induce illusory motion, which is modeled after the interaction between orientation (form) and direction (motion) mechanisms. If the dorsal stream vulnerability holds in WS participants, then they should process real and illusory motion atypically. However, results are consistent with the idea that form and motion integration mechanisms are functionally delayed or attenuated in WS. Form coherence thresholds for both static and dynamic Glass patterns in WS were similar to those of 4-5year old children, younger than what is predicted by mental age. Dynamic presentation of Glass patterns improved thresholds to the same degree as typical participants. Motion coherence thresholds in WS were similar to those of mental age matches. These data pose constraints on the dorsal vulnerability hypothesis, and refine our understanding of the relationship between form and motion processing in development.

Interpretation of single and serial measures of HE4 and CA125 in asymptomatic women at high risk for ovarian cancer.

BACKGROUND: Human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) is approved for clinical use with CA125 to predict epithelial ovarian cancer in women with a pelvic mass or in remission after chemotherapy. Previously reported reference ranges for HE4 are inconsistent. METHODS: We report positivity thresholds yielding 90%, 95%, 98%, and 99% specificity for age-defined populations of healthy women for HE4, CA125, and Risk of Ovarian Malignancy Algorithm (ROMA), a weighted average of HE4 and CA125. HE4 and CA125 were measured in 1,780 samples from 778 healthy women aged >25 years with a documented deleterious mutation, or aged >35 years with a significant family history. Effects on marker levels of a woman's age, ethnicity, and epidemiologic characteristics were estimated, as were the population-specific means, variances, and within- and between-woman variances used to generate longitudinal screening algorithms for these markers. RESULTS: CA125 levels were lower with Black ethnicity (P = 0.008). Smoking was associated with higher HE4 (P = 0.007) and ROMA (P < 0.019). Continuous oral contraceptive use decreased levels of CA125 (P = 0.041), and ROMA (P = 0.12). CA125 was lower in women age ≥55, and HE4 increased with age (P < 0.01), particularly among women age ≥55. CONCLUSIONS: Because of the strong effect of age on HE4, thresholds for HE4 are best defined for women of specific ages. Age-specific population thresholds for HE4 for 95% specificity ranged from 41.4 pmol/L for women age 30 to 82.1 pmol/L for women age 80. IMPACT: Incorporation of serial marker values from screening history reduces personalized thresholds for CA125 and HE4 but is inappropriate for ROMA.

Distinct effects of attention on the neural responses to form and motion processing: a SSVEP source-imaging study.

We measured neural responses to local and global aspects of form and motion stimuli using frequency-tagged, steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) combined with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. Random dot stimuli were used to portray either dynamic Glass patterns (Glass, 1969) or coherent motion displays. SSVEPs were used to estimate neural activity in a set of fMRI-defined visual areas in each subject. To compare activity associated with local versus global processing, we analyzed two frequency components of the SSVEP in each visual area: the high temporal frequency at which the local dots were updated (30 Hz) and the much lower frequency corresponding to updates in the global structure (0.83 Hz). Local and global responses were evaluated in the context of two different behavioral tasks--subjects had to either direct their attention toward or away from the global coherence of the stimuli. The data show that the effect of attention on global and local responses is both stimulus and visual area dependent. When attention was directed away from stimulus coherence, both local and global responses were higher in the coherent motion than Glass pattern condition. Directing attention to coherence in Glass patterns enhanced global activity in areas LOC, hMT+, V4, V3a, and V1, while attention to global motion modulated responses by a smaller amount in a smaller set of areas: V4, hMT+, and LOC. In contrast, directing attention towards stimulus coherence weakly increased local responses to both coherent motion and Glass patterns. These results suggest that visual attention differentially modulates the activity of early visual areas at both local and global levels of structural encoding.

The relationship of global form and motion detection to reading fluency.

Visual motion processing in typical and atypical readers has suggested aspects of reading and motion processing share a common cortical network rooted in dorsal visual areas. Few studies have examined the relationship between reading performance and visual form processing, which is mediated by ventral cortical areas. We investigated whether reading fluency correlates with coherent motion detection thresholds in typically developing children using random dot kinematograms. As a comparison, we also evaluated the correlation between reading fluency and static form detection thresholds. Results show that both dorsal and ventral visual functions correlated with components of reading fluency, but that they have different developmental characteristics. Motion coherence thresholds correlated with reading rate and accuracy, which both improved with chronological age. Interestingly, when controlling for non-verbal abilities and age, reading accuracy significantly correlated with thresholds for coherent form detection but not coherent motion detection in typically developing children. Dorsal visual functions that mediate motion coherence seem to be related maturation of broad cognitive functions including non-verbal abilities and reading fluency. However, ventral visual functions that mediate form coherence seem to be specifically related to accurate reading in typically developing children.

Enumeration of small and large numerosities: the effect of element visibility.

Precise enumeration is associated with small numerosities within the subitizing range (<4 items), while approximate enumeration is associated with large numerosities (>4 items). To date, there is still debate on whether a single continuous process or dual mutually exclusive processes mediate enumeration of small and large numerosities. Here, we evaluated a compromise between these two notions: that the precise representation of number is limited to small numerosities, but that the approximate representation of numerosity spans across both small and large numerosities. We assessed the independence of precise and approximate enumeration by looking at how luminance contrast affected enumeration of elements that differ by ones (1-8) or by tens (10-80). We found that enumeration functions of ones and tens have different characteristics, which is consistent with the presence of two number systems. Subitizing was preserved for small numerosities. However, simply decreasing element visibility changed the variability signatures of small numerosities to match those of large numerosities. Together, our results suggest that small numerosities are mediated by both precise and approximate representations of numerosity.

De novo sequencing of circulating miRNAs identifies novel markers predicting clinical outcome of locally advanced breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been recently detected in the circulation of cancer patients, where they are associated with clinical parameters. Discovery profiling of circulating small RNAs has not been reported in breast cancer (BC), and was carried out in this study to identify blood-based small RNA markers of BC clinical outcome. METHODS: The pre-treatment sera of 42 stage II-III locally advanced and inflammatory BC patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) followed by surgical tumor resection were analyzed for marker identification by deep sequencing all circulating small RNAs. An independent validation cohort of 26 stage II-III BC patients was used to assess the power of identified miRNA markers. RESULTS: More than 800 miRNA species were detected in the circulation, and observed patterns showed association with histopathological profiles of BC. Groups of circulating miRNAs differentially associated with ER/PR/HER2 status and inflammatory BC were identified. The relative levels of selected miRNAs measured by PCR showed consistency with their abundance determined by deep sequencing. Two circulating miRNAs, miR-375 and miR-122, exhibited strong correlations with clinical outcomes, including NCT response and relapse with metastatic disease. In the validation cohort, higher levels of circulating miR-122 specifically predicted metastatic recurrence in stage II-III BC patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that certain miRNAs can serve as potential blood-based biomarkers for NCT response, and that miR-122 prevalence in the circulation predicts BC metastasis in early-stage patients. These results may allow optimized chemotherapy treatments and preventive anti-metastasis interventions in future clinical applications.

The effect of viewing eccentricity on enumeration.

Visual acuity and contrast sensitivity progressively diminish with increasing viewing eccentricity. Here we evaluated how visual enumeration is affected by visual eccentricity, and whether subitizing capacity, the accurate enumeration of a small number (∼3) of items, decreases with more eccentric viewing. Participants enumerated gratings whose (1) stimulus size was constant across eccentricity, and (2) whose stimulus size scaled by a cortical magnification factor across eccentricity. While we found that enumeration accuracy and precision decreased with increasing eccentricity, cortical magnification scaling of size neutralized the deleterious effects of increasing eccentricity. We found that size scaling did not affect subitizing capacities, which were nearly constant across all eccentricities. We also found that size scaling modulated the variation coefficients, a normalized metric of enumeration precision, defined as the standard deviation divided by the mean response. Our results show that the inaccuracy and imprecision associated with increasing viewing eccentricity is due to limitations in spatial resolution. Moreover, our results also support the notion that the precise number system is restricted to small numerosities (represented by the subitizing limit), while the approximate number system extends across both small and large numerosities (indexed by variation coefficients) at large eccentricities.

Patterns and trajectories in Williams Syndrome: the case of visual orientation discrimination.

Williams Syndrome (WS) is a developmental disorder typified by deficits in visuospatial cognition. To understand the nature of this deficit, we characterized how people with WS perceive visual orientation, a fundamental ability related to object identification. We compared WS participants to typically developing children (3-6 years of age) and typical adults in an orientation discrimination task with four stimulus types (small circular, large circular, collinear elongated and parallel elongated gratings). We measured orientation discrimination thresholds and the proportion of orthogonal errors (i.e., mirror-image reversal errors). We evaluated how these metrics (1) are modulated by stimulus condition, and (2) vary with chronological or mental age. We found that orientation perception in WS is comparable to that of typically developing children. Orientation discrimination thresholds were better for elongated gratings than circular gratings across all participant groups. For large circular gratings, the proportion of orthogonal errors was disproportionately greater in WS participants and typically developing 3-6 year old children than in typical adults. Moreover, we found that the ability to judge orientation in WS improves with increasing mental age, but not chronological age. These results suggest that orientation discrimination in WS is developmentally arrested, as opposed to abnormal or delayed.