Therapeutic Advances and Challenges for the Management of HPV-Associated Oropharyngeal Cancer.

The use of conventional chemotherapy in conjunction with targeted and immunotherapy drugs has emerged as an option to limit the severity of side effects in patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer (HNC), particularly oropharyngeal cancer (OPC). OPC prevalence has increased exponentially in the past 30 years due to the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. This study reports a comprehensive review of clinical trials registered in public databases and reported in the literature (PubMed/Medline, Scopus, and ISI web of science databases). Of the 55 clinical trials identified, the majority (83.3%) were conducted after 2015, of which 77.7% were performed in the United States alone. Eight drugs have been approved by the FDA for HNC, including both generic and commercial forms: bleomycin sulfate, cetuximab (Erbitux), docetaxel (Taxotere), hydroxyurea (Hydrea), pembrolizumab (Keytruda), loqtorzi (Toripalimab-tpzi), methotrexate sodium (Trexall), and nivolumab (Opdivo). The most common drugs to treat HPV-associated OPC under these clinical trials and implemented as well for HPV-negative HNC include cisplatin, nivolumab, cetuximab, paclitaxel, pembrolizumab, 5-fluorouracil, and docetaxel. Few studies have highlighted the necessity for new drugs specifically tailored to patients with HPV-associated OPC, where molecular mechanisms and clinical prognosis are distinct from HPV-negative tumors. In this context, we identified most mutated genes found in HPV-associated OPC that can represent potential targets for drug development. These include TP53, PIK3CA, PTEN, NOTCH1, RB1, FAT1, FBXW7, HRAS, KRAS, and CDKN2A.

Coexisting Molecular Alterations Increase the Risk of Malignancy in Thyroid Nodules with Copy Number Alterations.

Molecular mutations and alterations play a role in thyroid tumorigenesis. Different alterations are associated with different clinical and pathological characteristics. Copy number alterations (CNAs) are known to be present in some thyroid tumors; however, their idiosyncratic clinicopathological implications are not yet well elucidated. A retrospective chart review was performed to identify patients with CNAs on pre-operative molecular testing results who subsequently underwent surgical treatment between January 2016 and April 2022 at McGill University teaching hospitals. Of the 316 patients with thyroid nodules who opted for molecular testing with ThyroSeqV3 followed by surgery, 67 (21.2%) nodules were positive for CNAs, including 23 Bethesda III, 31 Bethesda IV, 12 Bethesda V and 1 Bethesda VI nodules. On surgical pathology, 29.9% were benign and 70.1% were malignant or non-invasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features (NIFTP). Among those that were malignant/NIFTP, 17.02% were considered to be aggressive cancers. The presence of other molecular alterations was found to be an independent predictor of malignancy in multivariate analysis (OR = 5.087, 95% C.I. = 1.12-23.04, p = 0.035). No unique factor was correlated with aggressiveness; however, CNA-positive thyroid nodules that were associated with high-risk mutations such as BRAF V600E, TP53, NTRK1/3 fusion, or PTEN mutation with high allele frequency (AF) ended up being aggressive cancers. Most of the CNA-positive thyroid nodules resulted in follicular patterned tumors in 41 (65.2%) cases and oncocytic tumors in 20 (29.9%) cases. This study demonstrates that 70.1% of surgically resected thyroid nodules with CNAs were malignant/NIFTP. Most CNA-positive thyroid nodules were either oncocytic patterned tumors or follicular patterned tumors. Furthermore, CNA-positive thyroid nodules were more likely to be malignant if they were associated with other molecular alterations or mutations.

The significance of dynamin 2 expression for prostate cancer progression, prognostication, and therapeutic targeting.

Dynamin 2 (Dyn2) is essential for intracellular vesicle formation and trafficking, cytokinesis, and receptor endocytosis. In this study, we investigated the implication of Dyn2 as a prognostic marker and therapeutic target for progressive prostate cancer (PCA). We evaluated Dyn2 protein expression by immunohistochemistry in two cohorts: men with localized PCA treated by retropubic radical prostatectomy (n = 226), and men with advanced/castrate-resistant PCA (CRPC) treated by transurethral resection of prostate (TURP) (n = 253). The role of Dyn2 in cell invasiveness was assessed by in vitro and in vivo experiments using androgen-responsive and refractory PCA preclinical models. Dyn2 expression was significantly increased across advanced stages of PCA compared to benign prostate tissue (P < 0.0001). In the CRPC cohort, high Dyn2 was associated with higher Gleason score (P = 0.004) and marginally with cancer-specific mortality (P = 0.052). In preclinical models, Dyn2 gene silencing significantly reduced cell migration and invasion in vitro, as well as tumor size and lymph node metastases in vivo. In isolated PCA cells, Dyn2 was found to regulate focal adhesion turnover, which is critical for cell migration; this mechanism requires full Dyn2 compared to mutants deficient in GTPase activity. In conclusion, Dyn2 overexpression is associated with neoplastic prostate epithelium and is associated with poor prognosis. Inhibition of Dyn2 prevents cell invasiveness in androgen-responsive and -refractory PCA models, supporting the potential benefit of Dyn2 to serve as a therapeutic target for advanced PCA.

Dermatite herpetiforme: manifestações cutâneas e bucais / Dermatitis herpetiformis: cutaneous and oral manifestations

Os autores realizaram uma revisão da literatura sobre dermatite herpetiforme (DH), apresentando os acometimentos cutâneos e bucais. Tal enfermidade, de provável etiologia auto-imune, consiste de uma doença crônica vesicobolhosa caracterizada clinicamente por pápulas e vesículas pruriginosas. Microscopicamente, através de fluorescência, pode ser observada a presença de depósito granular de IgA ao longo de membrana basal. Há associação entre pacientes portadores de DH e a sensibilidade ao glúten, esse achado também encontrado na doença celíaca. O tratamento recomendado para essa enfermidade é medicamentoso associado a uma dieta livre de glúten. Neste artigo discorre-se sobre etiologia, relações com enteropatia, influência do glúten, tratamento e diagnósticos diferenciais.

Estudo da expressão de ácido graxo sintetase, ErbB2 e Ki-67 em Carcinomas Espinocelulares de cabeça e pescoço / Study of the expression of fatty acid synthetase, ErbB2 and Ki-67 in squamous cell carcinomas head and neck

A enzima ácido graxo sintetase (FAS) tem um papel central na biossíntese de ácidos graxos a partir dos precursores acetil-CoA e malonil-CoA. Em condições fisiológicas, FAS participa de processos biológicos como o armazenamento de energia, a produção de ácidos graxos durante a lactação e a síntese de membranas celulares. Vários trabalhos recentes têm demonstrado que a expressão de FAS é elevada em neoplasias malignas como as de próstata, mama, ovário, bexiga, endométrio, tireóide, esôfago, estômago, pulmão, melanoma e sarcomas de partes moles. Apenas um estudo imunohistoquímico realizado em carcinomas espinocelulares (CEC) bucais descreve a produção de FAS neste tipo de neoplasia, sugerindo que a produção desta enzima possa ser indicadora das etapas iniciais de transformação maligna.Uma alta porcentagem das células fortemente positiva para FAS foi também intensamente marcada para ErbB2, com correlação positiva estatisticamente significante (p =0,01). A positividade para ErbB2 foi correlacionada com o grau histológico dos tumores, sendo as áreas bem diferenciadas mais fortemente marcadas na membrana plasmática. Estes resultados mostram que a maioria dos CECs bucais analisados expressas concomitantemente FAS e ErbB2, sugerindo a participação desta última molécula na regulação da expressão gênica de FAS, a qual pode ter um papel biológico na patogênese destas lesões. Além do mais Ki-67 se mostrou um marcador molecular para o prognóstico destas lesões