Beyond tobacco: genomic disparities in lung cancer between smokers and never-smokers.

BACKGROUND: Tobacco use is one of the main risk factors for Lung Cancer (LC) development. However, about 10-20% of those diagnosed with the disease are never-smokers. For Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) there are clear differences in both the clinical presentation and the tumor genomic profiles between smokers and never-smokers. For example, the Lung Adenocarcinoma (LUAD) histological subtype in never-smokers is predominately found in young women of European, North American, and Asian descent. While the clinical presentation and tumor genomic profiles of smokers have been widely examined, never-smokers are usually underrepresented, especially those of a Latin American (LA) background. In this work, we characterize, for the first time, the difference in the genomic profiles between smokers and never-smokers LC patients from Chile. METHODS: We conduct a comparison by smoking status in the frequencies of genomic alterations (GAs) including somatic mutations and structural variants (fusions) in a total of 10 clinically relevant genes, including the eight most common actionable genes for LC (EGFR, KRAS, ALK, MET, BRAF, RET, ERBB2, and ROS1) and two established driver genes for malignancies other than LC (PIK3CA and MAP2K1). Study participants were grouped as either smokers (current and former, n = 473) or never-smokers (n = 200) according to self-report tobacco use at enrollment. RESULTS: Our findings indicate a higher overall GA frequency for never-smokers compared to smokers (58 vs. 45.7, p-value < 0.01) with the genes EGFR, KRAS, and PIK3CA displaying the highest prevalence while ERBB2, RET, and ROS1 the lowest. Never-smokers present higher frequencies in seven out of the 10 genes; however, smokers harbor a more complex genomic profile. The clearest differences between groups are seen for EGFR (15.6 vs. 21.5, p-value: < 0.01), PIK3CA (6.8 vs 9.5) and ALK (3.2 vs 7.5) in favor of never-smokers, and KRAS (16.3 vs. 11.5) and MAP2K1 (6.6 vs. 3.5) in favor of smokers. Alterations in these genes are comprised almost exclusively by somatic mutations in EGFR and mainly by fusions in ALK, and only by mutations in PIK3CA, KRAS and MAP2K1. CONCLUSIONS: We found clear differences in the genomic landscape by smoking status in LUAD patients from Chile, with potential implications for clinical management in these limited-resource settings.

Ovarian cancer ascites proteomic profile reflects metabolic changes during disease progression.

Ovarian cancer (OC) patients develop ascites, an accumulation of ascitic fluid in the peritoneal cavity anda sign of tumour dissemination within the peritoneal cavity. This body fluid is under-researched, mainly regarding the ascites formed during tumour progression that have no diagnostic value and, therefore, are discarded. We performed a discovery proteomics study to identify new biomarkers in the ascites supernatant of OC patients. In this preliminary study, we analyzed a small amount of OC ascites to highlight the importance of not discarding such biological material during treatment, which could be valuable for OC management. Our findings reveal that OC malignant ascitic fluid (MAF) displays a proliferative environment that promotes the growth of OC cells that shift the metabolic pathway using alternative sources of nutrients, such as the cholesterol pathway. Also, OC ascites drained from patients during treatment showed an immunosuppressive environment, with up-regulation of proteins from the signaling pathways of IL-4 and IL-13 and down-regulation from the MHC-II. This preliminary study pinpointed a new protein (Transmembrane Protein 132A) in the OC context that deserves to be better explored in a more extensive cohort of patients' samples. The proteomic profile of MAF from OC patients provides a unique insight into the metabolic kinetics of cancer cells during disease progression, and this information can be used to develop more effective treatment strategies.

Variability and bias in microbiome metagenomic sequencing: an interlaboratory study comparing experimental protocols.

Several studies have documented the significant impact of methodological choices in microbiome analyses. The myriad of methodological options available complicate the replication of results and generally limit the comparability of findings between independent studies that use differing techniques and measurement pipelines. Here we describe the Mosaic Standards Challenge (MSC), an international interlaboratory study designed to assess the impact of methodological variables on the results. The MSC did not prescribe methods but rather asked participating labs to analyze 7 shared reference samples (5 × human stool samples and 2 × mock communities) using their standard laboratory methods. To capture the array of methodological variables, each participating lab completed a metadata reporting sheet that included 100 different questions regarding the details of their protocol. The goal of this study was to survey the methodological landscape for microbiome metagenomic sequencing (MGS) analyses and the impact of methodological decisions on metagenomic sequencing results. A total of 44 labs participated in the MSC by submitting results (16S or WGS) along with accompanying metadata; thirty 16S rRNA gene amplicon datasets and 14 WGS datasets were collected. The inclusion of two types of reference materials (human stool and mock communities) enabled analysis of both MGS measurement variability between different protocols using the biologically-relevant stool samples, and MGS bias with respect to ground truth values using the DNA mixtures. Owing to the compositional nature of MGS measurements, analyses were conducted on the ratio of Firmicutes: Bacteroidetes allowing us to directly apply common statistical methods. The resulting analysis demonstrated that protocol choices have significant effects, including both bias of the MGS measurement associated with a particular methodological choices, as well as effects on measurement robustness as observed through the spread of results between labs making similar methodological choices. In the analysis of the DNA mock communities, MGS measurement bias was observed even when there was general consensus among the participating laboratories. This study was the result of a collaborative effort that included academic, commercial, and government labs. In addition to highlighting the impact of different methodological decisions on MGS result comparability, this work also provides insights for consideration in future microbiome measurement study design.

Volatilomic profiles of gastric juice in gastric cancer patients.

Volatilomics is a powerful tool capable of providing novel biomarkers for the diagnosis of gastric cancer. The main objective of this study was to characterize the volatilomic signatures of gastric juice in order to identify potential alterations induced by gastric cancer. Gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection, coupled with headspace solid phase microextraction as the pre-concentration technique, was used to identify volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released by gastric juice samples collected from 78 gastric cancer patients and two cohorts of controls (80 and 96 subjects) from four different locations (Latvia, Ukraine, Brazil, and Colombia). 1440 distinct compounds were identified in samples obtained from patients and 1422 in samples provided by controls. However, only 6% of the VOCs exhibited an incidence higher than 20%. Amongst the volatiles emitted, 18 showed differences in their headspace concentrations above gastric juice of cancer patients and controls. Ten of these (1-propanol, 2,3-butanedione, 2-pentanone, benzeneacetaldehyde, 3-methylbutanal, butylated hydroxytoluene, 2-pentyl-furan, 2-ethylhexanal, 2-methylpropanal and phenol) appeared at significantly higher levels in the headspace of the gastric juice samples obtained from patients; whereas, eight species showed lower abundance in patients than found in controls. Given that the difference in the volatilomic signatures can be explained by cancer-related changes in the activity of certain enzymes or pathways, the former set can be considered potential biomarkers for gastric cancer, which may assist in developing non-invasive breath tests for the diagnosis of this disease. Further studies are required to elucidate further the mechanisms that underlie the changes in the volatilomic profile as a result of gastric cancer.

Hemangioma infantil. Reporte de un caso de presentacion clinica anular

Reportamos el caso clínico de un lactante menor con una presentación anular de hemangioma, que nos plantea dudas en su clasificación. Se precisan los diagnósticos diferenciales y la necesidad de la determinación del marcador GLUT 1 en hospitales públicos.

We report the clinical case of a young infant with an annular presentation of hemangioma, which raises doubts regarding its classification. Differential diagnoses and the need to determine the GLUT 1 marker in public hospitals are specified.

Hemangioma infantil. Reporte de un caso de presentacion clinica anular / Infantile hemangioma. Report of a case of annular clinical presentation

Reportamos el caso clínico de un lactante menor con una presentación anular de hemangioma, que nos plantea dudas en su clasificación. Se precisan los diagnósticos diferenciales y la necesidad de la determinación del marcador GLUT 1 en hospitales públicos.

We report the clinical case of a young infant with an annular presentation of hemangioma, which raises doubts regarding its classification. Differential diagnoses and the need to determine the GLUT 1 marker in public hospitals are specified.

Male Sex Hormones, Metabolic Syndrome, and Aquaporins: A Triad of Players in Male (in)Fertility.

Infertility is becoming a chronic and emerging problem in the world. There is a resistant stigma that this health condition is mostly due to the female, although the literature supports that the responsibility for the onset of infertility is equally shared between both sexes in more or less equal proportions. Nevertheless, male sex hormones, particularly testosterone (T), are key players in male-related infertility. Indeed, hypogonadism, which is also characterized by changes in T levels, is one of the most common causes of male infertility and its incidence has been interconnected to the increased prevalence of metabolic diseases. Recent data also highlight the role of aquaporin (AQP)-mediated water and solute diffusion and the metabolic homeostasis in testicular cells suggesting a strong correlation between AQPs function, metabolism of testicular cells, and infertility. Indeed, recent studies showed that both metabolic and sexual hormone concentrations can change the expression pattern and function of AQPs. Herein, we review up-to-date information on the involvement of AQP-mediated function and permeability in men with metabolic syndrome and testosterone deficit, highlighting the putative mechanisms that show an interaction between sex hormones, AQPs, and metabolic syndrome that may contribute to male infertility.

Dysregulation of the PRUNE2/PCA3 genetic axis in human prostate cancer: from experimental discovery to validation in two independent patient cohorts.

Background: We have previously shown that the long non-coding (lnc)RNA prostate cancer associated 3 (PCA3; formerly prostate cancer antigen 3) functions as a trans-dominant negative oncogene by targeting the previously unrecognized prostate cancer suppressor gene PRUNE2 (a homolog of the Drosophila prune gene), thereby forming a functional unit within a unique allelic locus in human cells. Here, we investigated the PCA3/PRUNE2 regulatory axis from early (tumorigenic) to late (biochemical recurrence) genetic events during human prostate cancer progression. Methods: The reciprocal PCA3 and PRUNE2 gene expression relationship in paired prostate cancer and adjacent normal prostate was analyzed in two independent retrospective cohorts of clinically annotated cases post-radical prostatectomy: a single-institutional discovery cohort (n=107) and a multi-institutional validation cohort (n=497). We compared the tumor gene expression of PCA3 and PRUNE2 to their corresponding expression in the normal prostate. We also serially examined clinical/pathological variables including time to disease recurrence. Results: We consistently observed increased expression of PCA3 and decreased expression of PRUNE2 in prostate cancer compared with the adjacent normal prostate across all tumor grades and stages. However, there was no association between the relative gene expression levels of PCA3 or PRUNE2 and time to disease recurrence, independent of tumor grades and stages. Conclusions: We concluded that upregulation of the lncRNA PCA3 and targeted downregulation of the protein-coding PRUNE2 gene in prostate cancer could be early (rather than late) molecular events in the progression of human prostate tumorigenesis but are not associated with biochemical recurrence. Further studies of PCA3/PRUNE2 dysregulation are warranted. Funding: We received support from the Human Tissue Repository and Tissue Analysis Shared Resource from the Department of Pathology of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and a pilot award from the University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center. RP and WA were supported by awards from the Levy-Longenbaugh Donor-Advised Fund and the Prostate Cancer Foundation. EDN reports research fellowship support from the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Brazil, and the Associação Beneficente Alzira Denise Hertzog Silva (ABADHS), Brazil. This work has been funded in part by the NCI Cancer Center Support Grants (CCSG; P30) to the University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center (CA118100) and the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CA072720).

Enhancing Immunotherapy in Ovarian Cancer: The Emerging Role of Metformin and Statins.

Ovarian cancer metastization is accompanied by the development of malignant ascites, which are associated with poor prognosis. The acellular fraction of this ascitic fluid contains tumor-promoting soluble factors, bioactive lipids, cytokines, and extracellular vesicles, all of which communicate with the tumor cells within this peritoneal fluid. Metabolomic profiling of ovarian cancer ascites has revealed significant differences in the pathways of fatty acids, cholesterol, glucose, and insulin. The proteins involved in these pathways promote tumor growth, resistance to chemotherapy, and immune evasion. Unveiling the key role of this liquid tumor microenvironment is crucial for discovering more efficient treatment options. This review focuses on the cholesterol and insulin pathways in ovarian cancer, identifying statins and metformin as viable treatment options when combined with standard chemotherapy. These findings are supported by clinical trials showing improved overall survival with these combinations. Additionally, statins and metformin are associated with the reversal of T-cell exhaustion, positioning these drugs as potential combinatory strategies to improve immunotherapy outcomes in ovarian cancer patients.

Fusion Cell Markers in Circulating Tumor Cells from Patients with High-Grade Ovarian Serous Carcinoma.

Cancer is primarily a disease in which late diagnosis is linked to poor prognosis, and unfortunately, detection and management are still challenging. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are a potential resource to address this disease. Cell fusion, an event discovered recently in CTCs expressing carcinoma and leukocyte markers, occurs when ≥2 cells become a single entity (hybrid cell) after the merging of their plasma membranes. Cell fusion is still poorly understood despite continuous evaluations in in vitro/in vivo studies. Blood samples from 14 patients with high-grade serous ovarian cancer (A.C. Camargo Cancer Center, São Paulo, Brazil) were collected with the aim to analyze the CTCs/hybrid cells and their correlation to clinical outcome. The EDTA collected blood (6 mL) from patients was used to isolate/identify CTCs/hybrid cells by ISET. We used markers with possible correlation with the phenomenon of cell fusion, such as MC1-R, EpCAM and CD45, as well as CEN8 expression by CISH analysis. Samples were collected at three timepoints: baseline, after one month (first follow-up) and after three months (second follow-up) of treatment with olaparib (total sample = 38). Fourteen patients were included and in baseline and first follow-up all patients showed at least one CTC. We found expression of MC1-R, EpCAM and CD45 in cells (hybrid) in at least one of the collection moments. Membrane staining with CD45 was found in CTCs from the other cohort, from the other center, evaluated by the CellSearch® system. The presence of circulating tumor microemboli (CTM) in the first follow-up was associated with a poor recurrence-free survival (RFS) (5.2 vs. 12.2 months; p = 0.005). The MC1-R expression in CTM in the first and second follow-ups was associated with a shorter RFS (p = 0.005). CEN8 expression in CTCs was also related to shorter RFS (p = 0.035). Our study identified a high prevalence of CTCs in ovarian cancer patients, as well as hybrid cells. Both cell subtypes demonstrate utility in prognosis and in the assessment of response to treatment. In addition, the expression of MC1-R and EpCAM in hybrid cells brings new perspectives as a possible marker for this phenomenon in ovarian cancer.

Immune Tumor Microenvironment in Ovarian Cancer Ascites.

Ovarian cancer (OC) has a specific type of metastasis, via transcoelomic, and most of the patients are diagnosed at advanced stages with multiple tumors spread within the peritoneal cavity. The role of Malignant Ascites (MA) is to serve as a transporter of tumor cells from the primary location to the peritoneal wall or to the surface of the peritoneal organs. MA comprise cellular components with tumor and non-tumor cells and acellular components, creating a unique microenvironment capable of modifying the tumor behavior. These microenvironment factors influence tumor cell proliferation, progression, chemoresistance, and immune evasion, suggesting that MA play an active role in OC progression. Tumor cells induce a complex immune suppression that neutralizes antitumor immunity, leading to disease progression and treatment failure, provoking a tumor-promoting environment. In this review, we will focus on the High-Grade Serous Carcinoma (HGSC) microenvironment with special attention to the tumor microenvironment immunology.

Exome and Tissue-Associated Microbiota as Predictive Markers of Response to Neoadjuvant Treatment in Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer.

The clinical and pathological responses to multimodal neoadjuvant therapy in locally advanced rectal cancers (LARCs) remain unpredictable, and robust biomarkers are still lacking. Recent studies have shown that tumors present somatic molecular alterations related to better treatment response, and it is also clear that tumor-associated bacteria are modulators of chemotherapy and immunotherapy efficacy, therefore having implications for long-term survivorship and a good potential as the biomarkers of outcome. Here, we performed whole exome sequencing and 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) amplicon sequencing from 44 pre-treatment LARC biopsies from Argentinian and Brazilian patients, treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy or total neoadjuvant treatment, searching for predictive biomarkers of response (responders, n = 17; non-responders, n = 27). In general, the somatic landscape of LARC was not capable to predict a response; however, a significant enrichment in mutational signature SBS5 was observed in non-responders (p = 0.0021), as well as the co-occurrence of APC and FAT4 mutations (p < 0.05). Microbiota studies revealed a similar alpha and beta diversity of bacteria between response groups. Yet, the linear discriminant analysis (LDA) of effect size indicated an enrichment of Hungatella, Flavonifractor, and Methanosphaera (LDA score ≥3) in the pre-treatment biopsies of responders, while non-responders had a higher abundance of Enhydrobacter, Paraprevotella (LDA score ≥3) and Finegoldia (LDA score ≥4). Altogether, the evaluation of these biomarkers in pre-treatment biopsies could eventually predict a neoadjuvant treatment response, while in post-treatment samples, it could help in guiding non-operative treatment strategies.

Evaluation of Bacteria and Fungi DNA Abundance in Human Tissues.

Whereas targeted and shotgun sequencing approaches are both powerful in allowing the study of tissue-associated microbiota, the human: microorganism abundance ratios in tissues of interest will ultimately determine the most suitable sequencing approach. In addition, it is possible that the knowledge of the relative abundance of bacteria and fungi during a treatment course or in pathological conditions can be relevant in many medical conditions. Here, we present a qPCR-targeted approach to determine the absolute and relative amounts of bacteria and fungi and demonstrate their relative DNA abundance in nine different human tissue types for a total of 87 samples. In these tissues, fungi genomes are more abundant in stool and skin samples but have much lower levels in other tissues. Bacteria genomes prevail in stool, skin, oral swabs, saliva, and gastric fluids. These findings were confirmed by shotgun sequencing for stool and gastric fluids. This approach may contribute to a more comprehensive view of the human microbiota in targeted studies for assessing the abundance levels of microorganisms during disease treatment/progression and to indicate the most informative methods for studying microbial composition (shotgun versus targeted sequencing) for various samples types.

Determinantes psicológicos da qualidade-de-vida em pessoas com artrite reumatóide / Determinantes psicológicos de la calidad de vida en personas con artritis reumatoide / Psychological determinants of quality of life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Resumo Objetivo Avaliar o estado emocional, nas dimensões ansiedade e depressão, e a qualidade de vida, em pessoas com artrite reumatóide. Métodos Estudo primário, descritivo e transversal, desenvolvido na região norte de Portugal, com uma amostra de 139 pessoas com artrite reumatóide (79,86% mulheres) e com média de idades de 63.05 anos. Foram aplicados: um questionário sociodemográfico, a escala "Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale" e o questionário "EQ-5D - Avaliação de Ganhos em Saúde". Na análise de dados, por meio do programa IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Statistics 24 , recorreu-se à estatística inferencial, considerando-se estatisticamente significativo um p < 0,05. Resultados Os achados sobre o estado emocional mostraram níveis de ansiedade severos em 45,3%, ansiedade moderada em 36,7%, ansiedade leve em 10,1% e apenas 7,9% dos participantes pontuaram sem ansiedade. A maioria não apresenta sintomatologia depressiva (71,9%) e 13,7% manifestou depressão leve. Os baixos níveis de depressão foram associados a uma melhor qualidade-de-vida, contrariamente aos níveis de ansiedade, onde uma diminuição dos mesmos diminui a qualidade-de-vida (p=0,000). Conclusão Observou-se que a ansiedade e a depressão emergiram como preditores da QDV em pessoas com AR. Para proteger e melhorar a saúde dos pacientes, destaca-se a necessidade de implementar intervenções de enfermagem direcionadas ao controle dos fatores que induzem comportamentos ansiogênicos e depressivos.

Resumen Objetivo Evaluar el estado emocional, en las dimensiones ansiedad y depresión, y la calidad de vida, en personas con artritis reumatoide. Métodos Estudio primario, descriptivo y transversal, desarrollado en la región norte de Portugal, con una muestra de 139 personas con artritis reumatoide (79,86 % mujeres) con un promedio de edad de 63.05 años. Se aplicaron: un cuestionario sociodemográfico, la escala "Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale" y el cuestionario "EQ-5D - Avaliação de Ganhos em Saúde". En el análisis de datos, por medio del programa IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Statistics 24 , se recorrió a la estadística inferencial, y se consideró estadísticamente significante un p < 0,05. Resultados Los hallazgos sobre el estado emocional mostraron niveles de ansiedad severos en 45,3 %, ansiedad moderada en 36,7 %, ansiedad leve en 10,1 % y apenas el 7,9 % de los participantes puntuaron sin ansiedad. La mayoría no presenta sintomatología depresiva (71,9 %) y el 13,7 % manifestó depresión leve. Los bajos niveles de depresión estuvieron asociados a una mejor calidad de vida, contrariamente a los niveles de ansiedad, en la que una disminución en ellos disminuyó la calidad de vida (p=0,000). Conclusión Se observó que la ansiedad y la depresión emergieron como predictores de la CDV en personas con AR. Para proteger y mejorar la salud de los pacientes, se destaca la necesidad de implementar intervenciones de enfermería direccionadas al control de los factores que inducen a comportamientos ansiogénicos y depresivos.

Abstract Objective To assess the emotional states of the anxiety and depression dimensions and the quality of life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Methods A primary, descriptive, and cross-sectional study conducted in the northern region of Portugal, using a sample of 139 people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (79.86% of whom were women) with a mean age of 63.05 years. A sociodemographic questionnaire, the "Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale" and the "EQ-5D - Health Gains questionnaire were administered. Inferential statistics were used to conduct data analysis. IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Statistics 24 program was the instrument of choice and p < 0.05 was deemed statistically significant. Results Findings on emotional state showed severe/extreme anxiety levels in 45.3% of the respondents, moderate anxiety in 36.7% of them, mild anxiety in 10.1% and only 7.9% of participants showed no sign of anxiety. Most of the participants did not present any sort of depressive symptoms (71.9%) and 13.7% of them were diagnosed with mild depression. Low levels of depression were associated with a better quality of life. On the other hand, low levels of anxiety see to lead to poorer quality of life (p=0.000). Conclusion Evidence shows that anxiety and depression are predictors of QOL in patients with RA. That way, nursing interventions aimed at controlling the factors that trigger anxiogenic and depressive behaviours must be implemented to protect and improve patients' health.

A autonomia funcional como determinante da qualidade de vida em pessoas com artrite reumatóide / Functional autonomy as a determinant of quality of life in people with rheumatoid arthritis / La autonomía funcional como determinante de la calidad de vida en personas con artritis reumatoide

Resumo Enquadramento: A artrite reumatóide (AR) é uma doença autoimune, crónica, progressiva e potencialmente incapacitante. As atividades de autocuidado aliviam os sintomas e complicações das doenças, reduzem o tempo de recuperação e a taxa de hospitalização. Objetivos: Avaliar a relação da autonomia funcional com a qualidade de vida (QDV) em pessoas com AR. Metodologia: Estudo descritivo, analítico-correlacional e transversal, desenvolvido na região norte de Portugal, com amostra de 139 pessoas com AR (79,86% mulheres). Instrumento de colheita de dados, onde consta: caracterização sociodemográfica; escala Health Assessment Questionnaire (avaliação da autonomia funcional) e Questionário EQ-5D (avaliação da QDV). Resultados: O valor médio de incapacidade foi de 1,029 (incapacidade moderada), apresentando 48,9% da amostra incapacidade leve, 43,2% moderada e 7,9% elevada. Pontuaram com razoável QDV 90,6% dos participantes e 9,4% com fraca. As pessoas com maior incapacidade, logo menor autonomia funcional, apresentam menor QDV. Conclusão: A autonomia funcional impacta a QDV, influenciando-a positivamente. As intervenções de enfermagem carecem de ser ajustadas às necessidades da pessoa com AR na promoção da autonomia.

Abstract Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, progressive, and potentially disabling autoimmune disease. Self-care activities relieve symptoms and complications of diseases and reduce recovery time and hospital admission rates. Objective: To assess the association between functional autonomy and quality of life (QOL) in people with RA. Methodology: Descriptive, analytical-correlational, and cross-sectional study, developed in the northern region of Portugal, with a sample of 139 people with RA (79.86% women). The data collection instrument included a sociodemographic characterization, the Health Assessment Questionnaire (assessment of functional autonomy), and the EQ-5D Questionnaire (assessment of QOL). Results: The mean value of disability was 1.029 (moderate disability), with 48.9% of the sample showing mild disability, 43.2% moderate disability, and 7.9% severe disability. 90.6% of participants had a reasonable QOL, and 9.4% had a poor QOL. People with greater disability and consequently less functional autonomy have lower QOL. Conclusion: Functional autonomy impacts QOL, influencing it positively. Nursing interventions need to be adjusted to the needs of patients with RA to promote their autonomy.

Resumen Marco contextual: La artritis reumatoide (AR) es una enfermedad autoinmune, crónica, progresiva y potencialmente incapacitante. Las actividades de autocuidado alivian los síntomas y las complicaciones de la enfermedad, reducen el tiempo de recuperación y la tasa de hospitalización. Objetivo: Evaluar la relación de la autonomía funcional con la calidad de vida (CDV) en personas con AR. Metodología: Estudio descriptivo, analítico-correlacional y transversal, desarrollado en la región norte de Portugal, con una muestra de 139 personas con AR (79,86% mujeres). Se usó un instrumento de recogida de datos, donde consta: caracterización sociodemográfica; escala Health Assessment Questionnaire (evaluación de la autonomía funcional) y Cuestionarios EQ-5D (evaluación de la CDV). Resultados: El valor medio de incapacidad fue de 1,029 (incapacidad moderada), el 48,9% de la muestra presentó incapacidad leve, el 43,2% moderada y el 7,9% elevada. El 90,6% de los participantes puntuaron la CVD como razonable y el 9,4% como mala. Las personas con mayor incapacidad, por lo tanto, menor autonomía funcional, presentan menor CDV. Conclusión: La autonomía funcional impacta la CDV e influye en ella de forma positiva. Las intervenciones de enfermería deben ajustarse a las necesidades de la persona con AR para promover su autonomía.

Targeting a cell surface vitamin D receptor on tumor-associated macrophages in triple-negative breast cancer.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive tumor with limited treatment options and poor prognosis. We applied the in vivo phage display technology to isolate peptides homing to the immunosuppressive cellular microenvironment of TNBC as a strategy for non-malignant target discovery. We identified a cyclic peptide (CSSTRESAC) that specifically binds to a vitamin D receptor, protein disulfide-isomerase A3 (PDIA3) expressed on the cell surface of tumor-associated macrophages (TAM), and targets breast cancer in syngeneic TNBC, non-TNBC xenograft, and transgenic mouse models. Systemic administration of CSSTRESAC to TNBC-bearing mice shifted the cytokine profile toward an antitumor immune response and delayed tumor growth. Moreover, CSSTRESAC enabled ligand-directed theranostic delivery to tumors and a mathematical model confirmed our experimental findings. Finally, in silico analysis showed PDIA3-expressing TAM in TNBC patients. This work uncovers a functional interplay between a cell surface vitamin D receptor in TAM and antitumor immune response that could be therapeutically exploited.

Concordance Analysis of ALK Gene Fusion Detection Methods in Patients with Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer from Chile, Brazil, and Peru.

About 4% to 7% of the non-small-cell lung cancer patients have anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangements, and specific targeted therapies improve patients' outcomes significantly. ALK gene fusions are detected by immunohistochemistry or fluorescent in situ hybridization as gold standards in South America. Next-generation sequencing-based assays are a reliable alternative, able to perform simultaneous detection of multiple events from a single sample. We analyzed 4240 non-small-cell lung cancer samples collected in 37 hospitals from Chile, Brazil, and Peru, where ALK rearrangements were determined as part of their standard of care (SofC) using either immunohistochemistry or fluorescent in situ hybridization. A subset of 1450 samples was sequenced with the Oncomine Focus Assay (OFA), and the concordance with the SofC tests was measured. An orthogonal analysis was performed using a real-time quantitative PCR echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4-ALK fusion detection kit. ALK fusion prevalence is similar for Chile (3.67%; N = 2142), Brazil (4.05%; N = 1013), and Peru (4.59%; N = 675). Although a comparison between OFA and SofC assays showed similar sensitivity, OFA had significantly higher specificity and higher positive predictive value, which opens new opportunities for a more specific determination of ALK gene rearrangements.

Mutational Signatures Driven by Epigenetic Determinants Enable the Stratification of Patients with Gastric Cancer for Therapeutic Intervention.

DNA mismatch repair deficiency (dMMR) is associated with the microsatellite instability (MSI) phenotype and leads to increased mutation load, which in turn may impact anti-tumor immune responses and treatment effectiveness. Various mutational signatures directly linked to dMMR have been described for primary cancers. To investigate which mutational signatures are associated with prognosis in gastric cancer, we performed a de novo extraction of mutational signatures in a cohort of 787 patients. We detected three dMMR-related signatures, one of which clearly discriminates tumors with MLH1 gene silencing caused by promoter hypermethylation (area under the curve = 98%). We then demonstrated that samples with the highest exposure of this signature share features related to better prognosis, encompassing clinical and molecular aspects and altered immune infiltrate composition. Overall, the assessment of the prognostic value and of the impact of modifications in MMR-related genes on shaping specific dMMR mutational signatures provides evidence that classification based on mutational signature exposure enables prognosis stratification.

Deep Learning Predicts Underlying Features on Pathology Images with Therapeutic Relevance for Breast and Gastric Cancer.

DNA repair deficiency (DRD) is an important driver of carcinogenesis and an efficient target for anti-tumor therapies to improve patient survival. Thus, detection of DRD in tumors is paramount. Currently, determination of DRD in tumors is dependent on wet-lab assays. Here we describe an efficient machine learning algorithm which can predict DRD from histopathological images. The utility of this algorithm is demonstrated with data obtained from 1445 cancer patients. Our method performs rather well when trained on breast cancer specimens with homologous recombination deficiency (HRD), AUC (area under curve) = 0.80. Results for an independent breast cancer cohort achieved an AUC = 0.70. The utility of our method was further shown by considering the detection of mismatch repair deficiency (MMRD) in gastric cancer, yielding an AUC = 0.81. Our results demonstrate the capacity of our learning-base system as a low-cost tool for DRD detection.