Keratin 17 modulates the immune topography of pancreatic cancer.

BACKGROUND: The immune microenvironment impacts tumor growth, invasion, metastasis, and patient survival and may provide opportunities for therapeutic intervention in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Although never studied as a potential modulator of the immune response in most cancers, Keratin 17 (K17), a biomarker of the most aggressive (basal) molecular subtype of PDAC, is intimately involved in the histogenesis of the immune response in psoriasis, basal cell carcinoma, and cervical squamous cell carcinoma. Thus, we hypothesized that K17 expression could also impact the immune cell response in PDAC, and that uncovering this relationship could provide insight to guide the development of immunotherapeutic opportunities to extend patient survival. METHODS: Multiplex immunohistochemistry (mIHC) and automated image analysis based on novel computational imaging technology were used to decipher the abundance and spatial distribution of T cells, macrophages, and tumor cells, relative to K17 expression in 235 PDACs. RESULTS: K17 expression had profound effects on the exclusion of intratumoral CD8+ T cells and was also associated with decreased numbers of peritumoral CD8+ T cells, CD16+ macrophages, and CD163+ macrophages (p < 0.0001). The differences in the intratumor and peritumoral CD8+ T cell abundance were not impacted by neoadjuvant therapy, tumor stage, grade, lymph node status, histologic subtype, nor KRAS, p53, SMAD4, or CDKN2A mutations. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, K17 expression correlates with major differences in the immune microenvironment that are independent of any tested clinicopathologic or tumor intrinsic variables, suggesting that targeting K17-mediated immune effects on the immune system could restore the innate immunologic response to PDAC and might provide novel opportunities to restore immunotherapeutic approaches for this most deadly form of cancer.

Safety and ease of awake fiberoptic intubation with use of oxygen insufflation versus suction to clear secretions during procedure.

Background and Aims: During awake fiberoptic intubation (AFOI), clearing secretions is usually done by suctioning. The study objectives were to assess the safety of AFOI with the use of oxygen insufflation versus suction to clear secretions from the field of vision during the procedure as assessed by incidence of desaturation <95%, ease of intubation, and time taken to secure the airway. Material and methods: This prospective randomized study was conducted in 40 adult patients with difficult airways requiring AFOI. All patients received dexmedetomidine 0.5mcg/kg intravenously, and the airway was topicalized. In Group-S suction and in Group-O oxygen was connected to the suction port of the bronchoscope to clear the secretions by activating the suction knob during bronchoscopy. Ease of intubation was scored as easy, moderate, and hard. Results: Incidence of desaturation to <95% and the need for oxygen supplementation were significantly high in Group S compared to Group O (60% vs. 10%). Incidence of easy intubation (80% vs. 75%) and time taken to intubate (50.1 ± 16.6 vs. 53.8 ± 21.0 s) were comparable. The number of times (median) suctioning was done in Group S was significantly high compared to the number of oxygen insufflations required in Group O [3 (1-6) vs. 2 (0-5), P 0.033]. Desaturation to <95% was significantly low in Group O compared to Group S during bronchoscopy (10% vs. 60%, P 0.002). Conclusion: The use of oxygen insufflation to clear secretions from the field of vision during AFOI is a safer alternative to suctioning as this technique reduces the chance of desaturation during the procedure without affecting ease of intubation, number of attempts, time taken for it, or patient comfort.

Keratin 17 is a sensitive and specific biomarker of urothelial neoplasia.

There is a clinical need to identify novel biomarkers to improve diagnostic accuracy for the detection of urothelial tumors. The current study aimed to evaluate keratin 17 (K17), an oncoprotein that drives cell cycle progression in cancers of multiple anatomic sites, as a diagnostic biomarker of urothelial neoplasia in bladder biopsies and in urine cytology specimens. We evaluated K17 expression by immunohistochemistry in formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded tissue specimens of non-papillary invasive urothelial carcinoma (UC) (classical histological cases), high grade papillary UC (PUC-LG), low grade papillary UC (PUC-HG), papillary urothelial neoplasia of low malignant potential (PUNLMP), and normal bladder mucosa. A threshold was established to dichotomize K17 status in tissue specimens as positive vs. negative, based on the proportion of cells that showed strong staining. In addition, K17 immunocytochemistry was performed on urine cytology slides, scoring positive test results based on the detection of K17 in any urothelial cells. Mann-Whitney and receiver operating characteristic analyses were used to compare K17 expression between histologic diagnostic categories. The median proportion of K17 positive tumor cells was 70% (range 20-90%) in PUNLMP, 30% (range 5-100%) in PUC-LG, 20% (range 1-100%), in PUC-HG, 35% (range 5-100%) in UC but staining was rarely detected (range 0-10%) in normal urothelial mucosa. Defining cases in which K17 was detected in ≥10% of cells were considered positive, the sensitivity of K17 in biopsies was 89% (95% CI: 80-96%) and the specificity was 88% (95% CI: 70-95%) to distinguish malignant lesions (PUC-LG, PUC-HG, and UC) from normal urothelial mucosa. Furthermore, K17 immunocytochemistry had a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 96% for urothelial carcinoma in 112 selected urine specimens. Thus, K17 is a sensitive and specific biomarker of urothelial neoplasia in tissue specimens and should be further explored as a novel biomarker for the cytologic diagnosis of urine specimens.

Keratin 17 and A2ML1 are negative prognostic biomarkers in non-small cell lung cancer.

Although the overall prognosis for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has improved over the past several decades, there are still survival differences that are not accurately defined by clinicopathological factors. Thus, there is an unmet clinical need to develop novel approaches to enhance prognostic accuracy for these patients. Keratin 17 (K17) is a negative prognostic biomarker in a wide range of cancer types, including pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and pulmonary adenocarcinoma (LUAD), but has yet to be investigated as a prognostic biomarker in primary lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). Based on TCGA RNA-seq data, alpha-2-macroglobulin like 1 (A2ML1), a protease inhibitor, is highly correlated with K17 in other solid tumors, including pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and is also a prognostic biomarker for LSCC, although the prognostic accuracy of A2ML1 for LUAD has not been tested. Thus, we hypothesized that A2ML1 expression correlates with K17 expression and that K17/A2ML1 co-testing could provide complementary prognostic data for NSCLC. The aims of this study were to explore K17 and A2ML1 as dual prognostic biomarkers, using publicly available gene expression databases [The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)] LSCC (n=266), LUAD (n=271)] and multiplexed immunohistochemistry (mIHC) on representative sections of LSCC (n=104) and LUAD (n=107) from two major academic medical centers. Our results suggest that using either mRNA or mIHC-based methods, combined K17 and A2ML1 testing provides information, independent of other clinicopathologic variables, that could impact treatment decisions for patients with NSCLC.

Keratin 17 is a prognostic and predictive biomarker in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the role of keratin 17 (K17) as a predictive biomarker for response to chemotherapy by defining thresholds of K17 expression based on immunohistochemical tests that could be used to optimize therapeutic intervention for patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). METHODS: We profiled K17 expression, a hallmark of the basal molecular subtype of PDAC, by immunohistochemistry in 2 cohorts of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded PDACs (n = 305). We determined a K17 threshold of expression to optimize prognostic stratification according to the lowest Akaike information criterion and explored the potential relationship between K17 and chemoresistance by multivariate predictive analyses. RESULTS: Patients with advanced-stage, low K17 PDACs treated using 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-based chemotherapeutic regimens had 3-fold longer survival than corresponding cases treated with gemcitabine-based chemotherapy. By contrast, PDACs with high K17 did not respond to either regimen. The predictive value of K17 was independent of tumor mutation status and other clinicopathologic variables. CONCLUSIONS: The detection of K17 in 10% or greater of PDAC cells identified patients with shortest survival. Among patients with low K17 PDACs, 5-FU-based treatment was more likely than gemcitabine-based therapies to extend survival.

Keratin 17 modulates the immune topography of pancreatic cancer.

Background: The immune microenvironment impacts tumor growth, invasion, metastasis, and patient survival and may provide opportunities for therapeutic intervention in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Although never studied as a potential modulator of the immune response in most cancers, Keratin 17 (K17), a biomarker of the most aggressive (basal) molecular subtype of PDAC, is intimately involved in the histogenesis of the immune response in psoriasis, basal cell carcinoma, and cervical squamous cell carcinoma. Thus, we hypothesized that K17 expression could also impact the immune cell response in PDAC, and that uncovering this relationship could provide insight to guide the development of immunotherapeutic opportunities to extend patient survival. Methods: Multiplex immunohistochemistry (mIHC) and automated image analysis based on novel computational imaging technology were used to decipher the abundance and spatial distribution of T cells, macrophages, and tumor cells, relative to K17 expression in 235 PDACs. Results: K17 expression had profound effects on the exclusion of intratumoral CD8 + T cells and was also associated with decreased numbers of peritumoral CD8 + T cells, CD16 + macrophages, and CD163 + macrophages (p < 0.0001). The differences in the intratumor and peritumoral CD8 + T cell abundance were not impacted by neoadjuvant therapy, tumor stage, grade, lymph node status, histologic subtype, nor KRAS, p53, SMAD4, or CDKN2A mutations. Conclusions: Thus, K17 expression correlates with major differences in the immune microenvironment that are independent of any tested clinicopathologic or tumor intrinsic variables, suggesting that targeting K17-mediated immune effects on the immune system could restore the innate immunologic response to PDAC and might provide novel opportunities to restore immunotherapeutic approaches for this most deadly form of cancer.

Dry heat sterilization as a method to recycle N95 respirator masks: The importance of fit.

In times of crisis, including the current COVID-19 pandemic, the supply chain of filtering facepiece respirators, such as N95 respirators, are disrupted. To combat shortages of N95 respirators, many institutions were forced to decontaminate and reuse respirators. While several reports have evaluated the impact on filtration as a measurement of preservation of respirator function after decontamination, the equally important fact of maintaining proper fit to the users' face has been understudied. In the current study, we demonstrate the complete inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 and preservation of fit test performance of N95 respirators following treatment with dry heat. We apply scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, Raman spectroscopy, and contact angle measurements to analyze filter material changes as a consequence of different decontamination treatments. We further compared the integrity of the respirator after autoclaving versus dry heat treatment via quantitative fit testing and found that autoclaving, but not dry heat, causes the fit of the respirator onto the users face to fail, thereby rendering the decontaminated respirator unusable. Our findings highlight the importance to account for both efficacy of disinfection and mask fit when reprocessing respirators to for clinical redeployment.

Keratin 17 Is a Novel Cytologic Biomarker for Urothelial Carcinoma Diagnosis.

OBJECTIVES: The microscopic features of urine cytology specimens are subjective and may not reliably distinguish between benign urothelial cells and low-grade urothelial carcinoma (UC). Prior studies demonstrated that keratin 17 (K17) detection in biopsies is highly sensitive for UC. The current study aimed to define K17 diagnostic test performance for initial screening and detect recurrent UC in urine specimens. METHODS: K17 was detected by immunocytochemistry (ICC) in consecutively collected urine specimens (2018-2019). A qualitative score for the K17 test was determined in 81 samples (discovery cohort) and validated in 98 samples (validation cohort). K17 sensitivity and specificity were analyzed in both cohorts across all grades of UC. RESULTS: Based on the discovery cohort, the presence of 5 or more K17 immunoreactive urothelial cells (area under the curve = 0.90; P < .001) was the optimal threshold to define a K17-positive test. The sensitivity of the K17 ICC test for biopsy-confirmed UC was 35 of 36 (97%) and 18 of 21 (86%) in the discovery and validation cohorts, respectively. K17 was positive in 16 of 19 (84%) specimens with biopsy-confirmed low-grade UC and in 34 of 34 (100%) of specimens with high-grade UC. CONCLUSIONS: K17 ICC is a highly sensitive diagnostic test for initial screening and detection of recurrence across all grades of UC.

Keratin 17 Expression Predicts Poor Clinical Outcome in Patients With Advanced Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

The major roles of keratin 17 (K17) as a prognostic biomarker have been highlighted in a range of human malignancies. However, its relevance to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains unexplored. In this study, the relationship between K17 expression and clinicopathologic parameters and survival were determined by RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) in 90 ESCCs and by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in 68 ESCCs. K17 expression was significantly higher in ESCC than in paired normal tissues at both the messenger RNA and protein levels. K17 messenger RNA and staining by IHC were significantly correlated with aggressive characteristics, including advanced clinical stage, invasion depth, and lymph node metastases; and were predictive of poor prognosis in advanced disease patients. Furthermore, K17 expression was detected by IHC in high-grade premalignant lesions of the esophageal mucosa, suggesting that K17 could also be a biomarker of dysplasia of the esophageal mucosa. Overall, this study established that K17 is a negative prognostic biomarker for the most common subtype of esophageal cancer.

Keratin 17 testing in pancreatic cancer needle aspiration biopsies predicts survival.

BACKGROUND: Although pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has one of the lowest 5-year survival rates of all cancers, differences in survival exist between patients with clinically identical characteristics. The authors previously demonstrated that keratin 17 (K17) expression in PDAC, measured by RNA sequencing or immunohistochemistry (IHC), is an independent negative prognostic biomarker. Only 20% of cases are candidates for surgical resection, but most patients are diagnosed by needle aspiration biopsy (NAB). The aims of this study were to determine whether there was a correlation in K17 scores detected in matched NABs and surgical resection tissue sections and whether K17 IHC in NAB cell block specimens could be used as a negative prognostic biomarker in PDAC. METHODS: K17 IHC was performed for a cohort of 70 patients who had matched NAB cell block and surgical resection samples to analyze the correlation of K17 expression levels. K17 IHC was also performed in cell blocks from discovery and validation cohorts. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards regression models were analyzed to determine survival differences in cases with different levels of K17 IHC expression. RESULTS: K17 IHC expression correlated in matched NABs and resection tissues. NAB samples were classified as high for K17 when ≥80% of tumor cells showed strong (2+) staining. High-K17 cases, including stage-matched cases, had shorter survival. CONCLUSIONS: K17 has been identified as a robust and independent prognostic biomarker that stratifies clinical outcomes for cases that are diagnosed by NAB. Testing for K17 also has the potential to inform clinical decisions for optimization of chemotherapeutic interventions.

An unbiased high-throughput drug screen reveals a potential therapeutic vulnerability in the most lethal molecular subtype of pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is predicted to become the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States by 2020, due in part to innate resistance to widely used chemotherapeutic agents and limited knowledge about key molecular factors that drive tumor aggression. We previously reported a novel negative prognostic biomarker, keratin 17 (K17), whose overexpression in cancer results in shortened patient survival. In this study, we aimed to determine the predictive value of K17 and explore the therapeutic vulnerability in K17-expressing PDAC, using an unbiased high-throughput drug screen. Patient-derived data analysis showed that K17 expression correlates with resistance to gemcitabine (Gem). In multiple in vitro and in vivo models of PDAC, spanning human and murine PDAC cells, and orthotopic xenografts, we determined that the expression of K17 results in a more than twofold increase in resistance to Gem and 5-fluorouracil, key components of current standard-of-care chemotherapeutic regimens. Furthermore, through an unbiased drug screen, we discovered that podophyllotoxin (PPT), a microtubule inhibitor, showed significantly higher sensitivity in K17-positive compared to K17-negative PDAC cell lines and animal models. In the clinic, another microtubule inhibitor, paclitaxel (PTX), is used in combination with Gem as a first-line chemotherapeutic regimen for PDAC. Surprisingly, we found that when combined with Gem, PPT, but not PTX, was synergistic in inhibiting the viability of K17-expressing PDAC cells. Importantly, in preclinical models, PPT in combination with Gem effectively decreased tumor growth and enhanced the survival of mice bearing K17-expressing tumors. This provides evidence that PPT and its derivatives could potentially be combined with Gem to enhance treatment efficacy for the ~ 50% of PDACs that express high levels of K17. In summary, we reported that K17 is a novel target for developing a biomarker-based personalized treatment for PDAC.

Altered RNA Splicing by Mutant p53 Activates Oncogenic RAS Signaling in Pancreatic Cancer.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is driven by co-existing mutations in KRAS and TP53. However, how these mutations collaborate to promote this cancer is unknown. Here, we uncover sequence-specific changes in RNA splicing enforced by mutant p53 which enhance KRAS activity. Mutant p53 increases expression of splicing regulator hnRNPK to promote inclusion of cytosine-rich exons within GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs), negative regulators of RAS family members. Mutant p53-enforced GAP isoforms lose cell membrane association, leading to heightened KRAS activity. Preventing cytosine-rich exon inclusion in mutant KRAS/p53 PDACs decreases tumor growth. Moreover, mutant p53 PDACs are sensitized to inhibition of splicing via spliceosome inhibitors. These data provide insight into co-enrichment of KRAS and p53 mutations and therapeutics targeting this mechanism in PDAC.

Keratin 17 is a negative prognostic biomarker in high-grade endometrial carcinomas.

Keratin 17 (K17) has been established as a negative prognostic biomarker in cervical and ovarian cancers but has not previously been evaluated as a prognostic biomarker in endometrial adenocarcinoma. The association of K17 with decreased patient survival may be explained in part by the discovery that K17 drives tumor aggression by serving as a nuclear shuttle of p27, leading to cell cycle progression and tumor growth. The current study tests the hypothesis that K17 mRNA and protein levels correlate with decreased survival of patients with high-grade endometrial cancer. Gene expression data (mRNA) from The Cancer Genome Atlas were analyzed for 271 high-grade endometrial carcinomas and K17 immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed on a separate cohort of 119 high-grade endometrial cancer cases from two academic medical centers. Survival analyses were determined by Cox proportional hazards regression. High K17 mRNA and IHC correlated with decreased overall survival (HR: 1.8, P = .0101, HR: 1.8, P = .0488, respectively). K17 was positive in malignant glandular cells of the endometrium but not in other tissues, including endometrial stroma, myometrium and uterine sarcoma. These results support the conclusion that K17 is a negative prognostic biomarker in high-grade endometrial carcinoma and that K17 IHC test results could be used to inform decisions related to therapeutic intervention.

Keratin 17 identifies the most lethal molecular subtype of pancreatic cancer.

Although the overall five-year survival of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is dismal, there are survival differences between cases with clinically and pathologically indistinguishable characteristics, suggesting that there are uncharacterized properties that drive tumor progression. Recent mRNA sequencing studies reported gene-expression signatures that define PDAC molecular subtypes that correlate with differences in survival. We previously identified Keratin 17 (K17) as a negative prognostic biomarker in other cancer types. Here, we set out to determine if K17 is as accurate as molecular subtyping of PDAC to identify patients with the shortest survival. K17 mRNA was analyzed in two independent PDAC cohorts for discovery (n = 124) and validation (n = 145). Immunohistochemical localization and scoring of K17 immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed in a third independent cohort (n = 74). Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional-hazard regression models were analyzed to determine cancer specific survival differences in low vs. high mRNA K17 expressing cases. We established that K17 expression in PDACs defines the most aggressive form of the disease. By using Cox proportional hazard ratio, we found that increased expression of K17 at the IHC level is also associated with decreased survival of PDAC patients. Additionally, within PDACs of advanced stage and negative surgical margins, K17 at both mRNA and IHC level is sufficient to identify the subgroup with the shortest survival. These results identify K17 as a novel negative prognostic biomarker that could inform patient management decisions.

Postoperative Ultrasound Guided Continuous Femoral Nerve Blockade for Unilateral Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Comparison of 0.125% Bupivacaine and 0.2% Ropivacaine.

CONTEXT: Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is associated with severe postoperative pain which increases morbidity and mortality. AIMS: The aim of the study was to compare the analgesic efficacy and motor blockade of continuous infusion of 0.125% bupivacaine and 0.2% ropivacaine in femoral nerve block following unilateral TKA and to assess the effectiveness of femoral nerve block. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: One hundred and fifty patients undergoing unilateral total knee replacement surgery were included in this prospective observational comparative study. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Patients are divided into two groups of 75 each. Femoral nerve catheter was placed at the end of surgery using ultrasound. Postoperative analgesia and motor blockade were compared for the next 24 h using visual analog scale (VAS) score, additional analgesic requirement, and Bromage scale. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Student's t-test and Chi-square test were applied. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference in pain between the two groups though VAS score (during rest and movement) and opioid consumption were lower in bupivacaine group. Nearly 28.6% patients experienced pain and required additional analgesics. Seventy-two percent among them complained of pain in the popliteal region supplied by sciatic nerve. Eight patients excluded from the study also had pain in the popliteal fossa. There was a statistically significant difference in motor blockade between the two groups at 12, 18, and 24 h after starting infusion. Bupivacaine group had a higher percentage of type three blocks compared to ropivacaine group. CONCLUSION: Continuous femoral nerve block (CFNB) with 0.125% bupivacaine infusion provided better analgesia with denser motor blockade compared to 0.2% ropivacaine infusion. CFNB alone is not sufficient to provide adequate analgesia following unilateral TKA.