miR-877-5p as a Potential Link between Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Development and Metabolic Syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a risk factor for breast cancer (BC) that increases its aggressiveness and metastasis. The prevalence of MS is higher in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), which is the molecular subtype with the worst prognosis. The molecular mechanisms underlying this association have not been fully elucidated. MiRNAs are small, non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression. Aberrant expression of miRNAs in both tissues and fluids are linked to several pathologies. The aim of this work was to identify circulating miRNAs in patients with alterations associated with MS (AAMS) that also impact on BC. Using microarray technology, we detected 23 miRNAs altered in the plasma of women with AAMS that modulate processes linked to cancer. We found that let-7b-5p and miR-28-3p were decreased in plasma from patients with AAMS and also in BC tumors, while miR-877-5p was increased. Interestingly, miR-877-5p expression was associated with lower patient survival, and its expression was higher in PAM50 basal-like BC tumors compared to the other molecular subtypes. Analyses from public databases revealed that miR-877-5p was also increased in plasma from BC patients compared to plasma from healthy donors. We identified IGF2 and TIMP3 as validated target genes of miR-877-5p whose expression was decreased in BC tissue and moreover, was negatively correlated with the levels of this miRNA in the tumors. Finally, a miRNA inhibitor against miR-877-5p diminished viability and tumor growth of the TNBC model 4T1. These results reveal that miR-877-5p inhibition could be a therapeutic option for the treatment of TNBC. Further studies are needed to investigate the role of this miRNA in TNBC progression.

Ibero-American Consensus Review and Incorporation of New Biomarkers for Clinical Practice in Colorectal Cancer.

Advances in genomic technologies have significantly improved the management of colorectal cancer (CRC). Several biomarkers have been identified in CRC that enable personalization in the use of biologic agents that have shown to enhance the clinical outcomes of patients. However, technologies used for their determination generate massive amounts of information that can be difficult for the clinician to interpret and use adequately. Through several discussion meetings, a group of oncology experts from Spain and several Latin American countries reviewed the latest literature to provide practical recommendations on the determination of biomarkers in CRC based on their clinical experience. The article also describes the importance of looking for additional prognostic biomarkers and the use of histopathology to establish an adequate molecular classification. Present and future of immunotherapy biomarkers in CRC patients are also discussed, together with several techniques for marker determination, including liquid biopsy, next-generation sequencing (NGS), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and fecal immunohistochemical tests. Finally, the role of Molecular Tumor Boards in the diagnosis and treatment of CRC is described. All of this information will allow us to highlight the importance of biomarker determination in CRC.

Senescent mesenchymal stem/stromal cells in pre-metastatic bone marrow of untreated advanced breast cancer patients.

Breast cancer is the predominant form of carcinoma among women worldwide, with 70% of advanced patients developing bone metastases, with a high mortality rate. In this sense, the bone marrow (BM) mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) are critical for BM/bone homeostasis, and failures in their functionality, transform the BM into a pre-metastatic niche (PMN). We previously found that BM-MSCs from advanced breast cancer patients (BCPs, infiltrative ductal carcinoma, stage III-B) have an abnormal profile. This work aims to study some of the metabolic and molecular mechanisms underlying MSCs shift from a normal to an abnormal profile in this group of patients. A comparative analysis was undertaken, which included self-renewal capacity, morphology, proliferation capacity, cell cycle, reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and senescence-associated ß­galactosidase (SA­ß­gal) staining of BM-derived MSCs isolated from 14 BCPs and 9 healthy volunteers (HVs). Additionally, the expression and activity of the telomerase subunit TERT, as well as telomere length, were measured. Expression levels of pluripotency, osteogenic, and osteoclastogenic genes (OCT-4, SOX-2, M-CAM, RUNX-2, BMP-2, CCL-2, M-CSF, and IL-6) were also determined. The results showed that MSCs from BCPs had reduced ,self-renewal and proliferation capacity. These cells also exhibited inhibited cell cycle progression and phenotypic changes, such as an enlarged and flattened appearance. Additionally, there was an increase in ROS and senescence levels and a decrease in the functional capacity of TERT to preserve telomere length. We also found an increase in pro-inflammatory/pro-osteoclastogenic gene expression and a decrease in pluripotency gene expression. We conclude that these changes could be responsible for the abnormal functional profile that MSCs show in this group of patients.

Spontaneous Osteoclastogenesis, a risk factor for bone metastasis in advanced luminal A-type breast cancer patients.

Introduction: Osteolytic bone metastasis in advanced breast cancer stages are a major complication for patient´s quality life and a sign of low survival prognosis. Permissive microenvironments which allow cancer cell secondary homing and later proliferation are fundamental for metastatic processes. The causes and mechanisms behind bone metastasis in breast cancer patients are still an unsolved puzzle. Therefore, in this work we contribute to describe bone marrow pre-metastatic niche in advanced breast cancer patients. Results: We show an increase in osteoclasts precursors with a concomitant imbalance towards spontaneous osteoclastogenesis which can be evidenced at bone marrow and peripheral levels. Pro-osteoclastogenic factors RANKL and CCL-2 may contribute to bone resorption signature observed in bone marrow. Meanwhile, expression levels of specific microRNAs in primary breast tumors may already indicate a pro-osteoclastogenic scenario prior to bone metastasis. Discussion: The discovery of prognostic biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets linked to bone metastasis initiation and development are a promising perspective for preventive treatments and metastasis management in advanced breast cancer patients.

Patient Safety and Satisfaction in Home Chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy is increasingly being administered in patients' homes, improving quality of life and patient comfort as well as reducing use of inpatient facilities and costs. This article describes outcomes of home chemotherapy administered by trained nurses to adult patients with solid tumors or hematological diseases. This descriptive study was conducted between February 2018 and May 2020. Variables examined included age, sex, diagnosis, routes of administration, adverse effects, tolerance, and patient satisfaction. One hundred forty-seven patients (57.14% male) with an average age of 67.8 years agreed to participate. A total of 1018 chemotherapy sessions were examined. The most common diagnoses were prostate cancer, colon cancer, and high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes. Thirty-five percent (n = 356) of the sessions were conducted with: Azacytidine, 5-Fluoruracil, Oxaliplatin + Docetaxel + Leucovorin + Fluorouracil, and Leuprolide Acetate. The routes of administration included: intravenous (69.25%), intramuscular (13.75%), subcutaneous (15.32%), and intravesical (1.66%). Very good tolerance was reported after 87.81% of sessions and good after 8.45%. Adverse events during administration occurred in 7 sessions (0.7%); all were considered minor events. In the 24 hours following administration, 62 adverse events (6.1%) were reported, again all considered minor. All patients reported feeling just as safe as in the hospital. Our results contribute to the feasibility and safety of home chemotherapy.

Efficacy and Safety of Nivolumab in Previously Treated Patients With Non-Small-cell Lung Cancer: Real World Experience in Argentina.

BACKGROUND: Nivolumab was the first anti-programmed cell death 1 drug approved in Argentina for non-small-cell lung cancer treatment in the second-line setting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study was a multicenter, observational, retrospective study of patients with progression to stage IV NSCLC during platinum-based chemotherapy who had received nivolumab monotherapy in a drug-expanded access program in Argentina. RESULTS: The data from 109 patients were assessed retrospectively for safety and clinical outcomes. The follow-up period was 8.83 months (interquartile range, 3.4-12.67); 57.8% were men, 29.4% were current smokers, and 78.0% had a diagnosis of nonsquamous cell cancer. The median number of chemotherapy lines before nivolumab was 2 (range, 1-4). Also, 59.6% had received radiotherapy and 89% had received platinum-based chemotherapy. The drug-related toxicity rate was 78.9%, the grade 2-3 toxicity rate was 28.4%, and 33.9% of patients had required corticosteroids. The treatment response was evaluated in 104 patients. The best response was a complete response in 2 (2%), partial response in 28 (27%), stable disease in 33 (32%), and progressive disease in 41 (39%). Univariate analysis revealed that the absence of corticosteroid use (P = .034), toxicity grade 1-3 (P = .0025), and performance status of ≤ 1 (P = .049) were associated with longer disease-free survival, performance status of ≤ 1 (P < .001), and toxicity grade 1-3 (P = .001) were associated with longer overall survival. On multivariate Cox regression analysis, toxicity grade 1-3 (hazard ratio [HR], 0.44; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.24-0.81; P = .008) and age ≤ 50 years (HR, 0.28; 95% CI, 0.13-0.61; P = .001) were associated with longer progression-free survival and corticosteroid use was associated with shorter progression-free survival (HR, 2.06; 95% CI, 1.22-3.48; P = .007). CONCLUSIONS: The use of nivolumab in the real world setting in patients with heavily pretreated NSCLC was well tolerated and showed promising clinical efficacy. The performance status, use of corticosteroids, and immune-mediated toxicity seem to be the conditions that can affect the clinical outcomes.

Analysis of EML4-ALK rearrangement in non-small cell lung cancer in Argentina.

INTRODUCTION: Identification of EML4-ALK rearrangement by FISH test has become standard in advanced NSCLC patients. There is limited information about the prevalence and clinical characteristics of ALK translocation in Latin America. The aim of our study was to evaluate this lung cancer subtype features in Argentinian patients and the factibility of FISH test with different methods used for obtaining tissue samples. METHODS: Between August 2014 and February 2017, 183 non-squamous NSCLC patients were prospectively enrolled from five Argentinian institutions. Different techniques and procedures were used to obtained tissue samples material. ALK determination was performed by FISH and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Correlation with clinico-pathological information and different biopsy procedures was assessed. RESULTS: From 183 non-squamous NSCLC samples, 131 could perform FISH test, finding 123 (93.9%) negative and 8 (6.1%) positive patients. Fifty-one samples were not evaluable by FISH, 35 because of technical problems and 16 due to not/weak signal. The difficulties in obtaining adequate FISH tests were observed significantly more frequently for fine-needle aspiration (FNA) and core-needle biopsy than for excisional and incisional biopsy (p = 0.009). Regarding the procedures, surgery was the most efficient, obtaining only 12.7% (10/79) of not evaluable samples for FISH, while CT guided biopsy and transbronchial biopsy (TBB) failed in 43.8% (21/48) and 41.3% (19/46) of patients respectively (p < 0.001). We observed a significant association between ALK translocation and never smoking habit (p = 0.004). CONCLUSION: Our ALK rearrangements frequency (6.1%) was similar to the reports worldwide. One of the major determinants for the ALK FISH test success is the quality of the tissue sample obtained.

Changes in the peripheral blood and bone marrow from untreated advanced breast cancer patients that are associated with the establishment of bone metastases.

Bone metastasis is an incurable complication of breast cancer affecting 70-80 % of advanced patients. It is a multistep process that includes tumour cell mobilisation, intravasation, survival in the circulation, extravasation, migration and proliferation in the bone marrow/bone. Although novel findings demonstrate the bone marrow microenvironment significance in bone metastatic progression, a majority of studies have focused on end-stage disease and little is known about how the pre-metastatic niche arises in the bone marrow/bone tissues. We demonstrated a significant increase in patients' peripheral blood plasma ability to induce transendothelial migration of MCF-7 cells compared with healthy volunteers. Moreover, high RANKL, MIF and OPG levels in patients' peripheral blood could play a role in the intravasation, angiogenesis, survival and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of circulating tumour cells. Also, we observed a significant increase in patients' bone marrow plasma capacity to induce transendothelial migration of MDA-MB231 and MCF-7 cells compared with healthy volunteers. Furthermore, patients' bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells could control the recruitment of tumour cells, modifying the MCF-7 and MDA-MB231 cell migration. In addition, we found a significantly higher MDA-MB231 cell proliferation when we used patients' bone marrow plasma compared with healthy volunteers. Interestingly, PDGF-AB, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 levels in patients' bone marrow were significantly higher than the values of healthy volunteers, suggesting that they could be involved in the cancer cell extravasation, bone resorption and cancer cell proliferation. We believe that these results can reveal new information about what alterations happen in the bone marrow of advanced breast cancer patients before bone colonisation, changes that create optimal soil for the metastatic cascade progression.

Behaviour of mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow of untreated advanced breast and lung cancer patients without bone osteolytic metastasis.

Tumour cells can find in bone marrow (BM) a niche rich in growth factors and cytokines that promote their self-renewal, proliferation and survival. In turn, tumour cells affect the homeostasis of the BM and bone, as well as the balance among haematopoiesis, osteogenesis, osteoclastogenesis and bone-resorption. As a result, growth and survival factors normally sequestered in the bone matrix are released, favouring tumour development. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from BM can become tumour-associated fibroblasts, have immunosuppressive function, and facilitate metastasis by epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Moreover, MSCs generate osteoblasts and osteocytes and regulate osteoclastogenesis. Therefore, MSCs can play an important pro-tumorigenic role in the formation of a microenvironment that promotes BM and bone metastasis. In this study we showed that BM MSCs from untreated advanced breast and lung cancer patients, without bone metastasis, had low osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation capacity compared to that of healthy volunteers. In contrast, chondrogenic differentiation was increased. Moreover, MSCs from patients had lower expression of CD146. Finally, our data showed higher levels of Dkk-1 in peripheral blood plasma from patients compared with healthy volunteers. Because no patient had any bone disorder by the time of the study we propose that the primary tumour altered the plasticity of MSCs. As over 70 % of advanced breast cancer patients and 30-40 % of lung cancer patients will develop osteolytic bone metastasis for which there is no total cure, our findings could possibly be used as predictive tools indicating the first signs of future bone disease. In addition, as the MSCs present in the BM of these patients may not be able to regenerate bone after the tumour cells invasion into BM/bone, it is possible that they promote the cycle between tumour cell growth and bone destruction.

Fijacion lumbopelvica en un caso de tumor sacro de celulas gigantes / Spinal - pelvic fixation in a sacral giant cell tumor

Objectives: To describe a spinal-pelvic fixation system in a patient with a primary sacral neoplasma that caused spinal-pelvic instability. Description: A 26 years old female patient harboring a sacral tumor was treated two years before by surgery with a good clinical outcome. Intervention: The tumor recurred and it was successfully resected in a second surgery that required fixation by using a modified Galveston technique and bony fusion. Two years later, she suffered a new recurrence without neurological deficit.Conclusion: In patients harboring sacral neoplasms associated to spinal pelvic instability, tumor resection followed by modified Galveston technique is the best way to achieve stabilization and symptomatic relief

Fijacion lumbopelvica en un caso de tumor sacro de celulas gigantes / Spinal - pelvic fixation in a sacral giant cell tumor

Objectives: To describe a spinal-pelvic fixation system in a patient with a primary sacral neoplasma that caused spinal-pelvic instability. Description: A 26 years old female patient harboring a sacral tumor was treated two years before by surgery with a good clinical outcome. Intervention: The tumor recurred and it was successfully resected in a second surgery that required fixation by using a modified Galveston technique and bony fusion. Two years later, she suffered a new recurrence without neurological deficit.Conclusion: In patients harboring sacral neoplasms associated to spinal pelvic instability, tumor resection followed by modified Galveston technique is the best way to achieve stabilization and symptomatic relief (AU)