ETV6-NTRK2 Fusion in a Patient With Metastatic Pulmonary Atypical Carcinoid Successfully Treated With Entrectinib: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Pulmonary atypical carcinoid (AC) is an extremely rare neuroendocrine tumor. The neurotrophic tropomyosin receptor kinase (NTRK) fusions are reported in only 0.5% of nonsmall cell lung cancer, and are more rare in AC with only one previously reported case. Currently, there is little established evidence on the optimal therapeutic strategies and prognosis for advanced cases. We present a female patient with metastatic AC after complete resection. Due to low expression of somatostatin receptor in this case, somatostatin analogs and peptide receptor radionuclide therapy were not available. After pursuing other alternative treatments, including chemotherapy (ie, carboplatin, etoposide, capecitabine, temozolomide, and paclitaxel), everolimus, and atezolizumab, she returned with significant progression, including innumerable subcutaneous nodules, left pleura metastasis, multiple bone metastases, and brain metastases. New biopsy analysis revealed an ETV6-NTRK2 fusion. She was immediately administered the first-generation tropomyosin receptor kinase inhibitor entrectinib at a dose of 600 mg q.d. A subsequent month of treatment resulted in a complete response in all of the metastatic lung lesions. To date, she has maintained sustained benefit for at least 1 year from initiation of entrectinib. Here, we present the first case of a female patient with metastatic AC harboring the ETV6-NTRK2 fusion, and successfully treated with entrectinib, providing evidence for the application of entrectinib in patients with NTRK-positive AC, and underscoring the critical role of molecular profiling for such cases.

An alternative spliced UPF2 transcript in pancreatic inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors.

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors (IMTs) are characterized by myofibroblast proliferation and an inflammatory cell infiltrate. Our previous study on IMTs reveals that disrupt NMD pathway causes to lower the threshold for triggering the immune cell infiltration, thereby resulting in inappropriate immune activation. However, myofibroblast differentiation and proliferation is not yet known. METHODS: RT-PCR, RT-qPCR, DNA sequence, western bolt, 5'race analysis and site-specific mutagenesis were used in this study. RESULTS: Here, an alternative spliced (ALS) UPF2 mRNA skipping exon 2 and 3 and corresponding to the truncated UPF2 protein were found in 2 pancreatic IMTs. We showed that the uORF present in the 5'UTR of UPF2 mRNA is responsible for the translation inhibition, whiles ALS UPF2 is more facilitated to be translated into the truncated UPF2 protein. Several mRNA targets of the NMD were upregulated in IMT samples, indicating that the truncated UPF2 function is strongly perturbed, resulted in disrupted NMD pathway in IMTs. These upregulated NMD targets included cdkn1a expression and the generation of high levels of p21 (waf1/cip1), which may contribute to triggering IMTs. CONCLUSION: The disrupt UPFs/NMD pathway may link to molecular alteration associated with differentiation and proliferation for IMTs.

Wideband Interference Cancellation System Based on a Fast and Robust LMS Algorithm.

The interference cancellation ratio (ICR) is a key performance indicator of digital-to-analog hybrid radio frequency (RF) interference cancellation systems. Aiming at the low convergence speed of a digital-to-analog hybrid RF interference cancellation system based on a multi-tap structure (MDARFICS), a novel, fast, and robust variable-step-size least-mean-square (LMS) algorithm based on an improved hyperbolic tangent function (IHVSS-LMS) is proposed. The IHVSS-LMS algorithm adopts an improved hyperbolic tangent function and uses adjustable parameters and the iteration number to jointly adjust the step size, which improves the convergence speed and reduces the computational complexity. Moreover, by using the prior information of the input signal, the non-linear relationship between the step size and the input signal power is established, which enhances the robustness and the ability to suppress interference with mutable power. The IHVSS-LMS algorithm is applied to the MDARFICS. Through theoretical derivation, the convergence speed and the steady-state expressions of the interference cancellation ratio of the MDARFICS are obtained. The simulation results show that under the conditions of high and low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), the robustness, convergence speed, and steady-state error performance of the IHVSS-LMS algorithm are better than the existing variable-step-size algorithm. The experimental results show that using the IHVSS-LMS algorithm, the MDARFICS can not only effectively accelerate the convergence speed by at least three times but can also improve the ICR by more than 3 dB.

miRNA-1290 Promotes Aggressiveness in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma by Targeting IKK1.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group of non-coding RNAs that play diverse roles in pancreatic carcinogenesis. In pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), NF-kB is constitutively activated in most patients and is linked to a mutation in KRAS via IkB kinase complex 1 (IKK1, also known as IKKa). We investigated the link between PDAC aggressiveness and miR-1290. METHODS: We used miRCURYTM LNA Array and in situ hybridization to investigate candidate miRNAs and validated the findings with PCR. The malignant behavior of cell lines was assessed with Cell Counting Kit-8, colony formation, and Transwell assays. A dual-luciferase reporter assay was used to evaluate the interaction between miR-1290 and IKK1. Protein expression was observed by western blotting. RESULTS: In this study, 36 miRNAs were dysregulated in high-grade pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN) and PDAC tissues compared with low-grade PanIN tissues. The area under the curve values of miR-1290 and miR-31-5p were 0.829 and 0.848, respectively (95% confidence interval, 0.722-0.936 and 0.749-0.948, both P < 0.001). There was a significant correlation between miR-1290 and histological differentiation (P = 0.029), pT stage (P = 0.006), and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.001). In addition, the in vitro work showed that miR-1290 promoted PDAC cell proliferation, invasion, and migration. Western blotting and the dual-luciferase reporter assay showed that miR-1290 promoted cancer aggressiveness by directly targeting IKK1. The synergist effect of miR-1290 on the proliferation and metastasis of PDAC cells was attenuated and enhanced by IKK1 overexpression and knockdown, respectively. Consistent with the in vitro results, a subcutaneous tumor mouse model showed that miR-1290 functioned as a potent promoter of PDAC in vivo. CONCLUSION: MiR-1290 may act as an oncogene by directly targeting the 3'-untranslated region of IKK1, and the miR-1290/IKK1 pathway may prove to be a novel diagnostic and therapeutic target for PDAC.

MEG3 Activated by Vitamin D Inhibits Colorectal Cancer Cells Proliferation and Migration via Regulating Clusterin.

The long non-coding RNA maternally expressed gene 3 (MEG3) is frequently dysregulated in human cancers; however, its roles in colorectal cancer (CRC) development are largely unknown. Here, we reported that MEG3 was down-regulated in CRC tissues and CRC patients with lower MEG3 showed poorer overall survival and disease-free survival than those with higher MEG3 level. MEG3 over-expression represses CRC cells proliferation and migration in vivo and in vitro, while MEG3 knockdown leads to the enhanced proliferation and metastasis of CRC cells. In CRC cells, MEG3 over-expression is related to decreased Clusterin mRNA and the corresponding protein levels, and it also directly binds to Clusterin protein through its 732-1174 region. In further, Clusterin over-expression rescues the compromised abilities of proliferation and metastasis induced by MEG3 over-expression, suggesting that MEG3 inhibits the CRC progression through regulating the Clusterin activities. Additionally, we found that 1α,25-(OH)2D and vitamin D receptor (VDR) stimulate MEG3 expression in CRC cells through directly binding to its promoter. These results suggested that MEG3 functions as a tumor suppressor in CRC via regulating the Clusterin activities and may underlie the anticancer activities of vitamin D on CRC cells. The VDR/MEG3/Clusterin signaling pathway may serve as potential therapeutic targets and prognosis biomarkers for CRC patients in future.

Microarray Analysis of the Expression Profile of Long Non-Coding RNAs Indicates lncRNA RP11-263F15.1 as a Biomarker for Diagnosis and Prognostic Prediction of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a devastating malignancy with poor prognostic outcomes. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in the development and progression of carcinogenesis. Nevertheless, little is known about the role of lncRNAs in PDAC. The aim of the current study was to find differentially expressed lncRNAs and related mRNAs in human PDAC tissues and adjacent normal tissues by microarray analysis, and investigate the relationship between lncRNA RP11-263F15.1 levels and the clinicaopathological features of PDAC patients. It was found that 4364 lncRNAs and 4862 related mRNAs were significantly dysregulated in PDAC tissues as compared with adjacent normal tissues with a fold change ≥2.0 (P<0.05). GO and pathway analyses showed that the up-regulated gene profiles were related to several pathways associated with carcinogenesis, while the down-regulated gene profiles were closely correlated with nutrient metabolism. RP11-263F15.1 levels were associated with histologic differentiation (P=0.001). Besides, Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that high expression of RP11-263F15.1 was associated with poor outcomes, but multivariate analysis suggested that RP11-263F15.1 was not an independent factor for predicting prognosis of PDAC. In conclusion, these data indicate that differentially expressed lncRNAs and mRNAs were involved in the carcinogenesis of PDAC, and RP11-263F15.1 may prove to be a potential biomarker for the diagnosis and prognostic prediction of PDAC.

Hypertension and breast cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Observational studies examining the relationship between hypertension and breast cancer risk have reported conflicting findings. We conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize the evidence regarding the association between hypertension and risk of breast cancer. Eligible studies were identified through a comprehensive literature search of PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane library until August 2016. We included observational studies that reported relative risks (RR) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results from individual studies were pooled by using a random-effects model. 29 articles of 30 studies, with totally 11643 cases of breast cancer, were eligible for inclusion in the meta-analysis. We observed a statistically significant association between hypertension and increased breast cancer risk (RR: 1.15; 95% CI: 1.08, 1.22). In the subgroup analysis, we found a positive association between hypertension and breast cancer incidence among postmenopausal women (RR: 1.20; 95% CI: 1.09, 1.31). In contrast, hypertension was not associated with risk of breast cancer among premenopausal women (RR: 0.97; 95% CI: 0.84, 1.12) and Asian population (RR: 1.07; 95% CI: 0.94, 1.22).This meta-analysis collectively suggests a significantly association between hypertension and breast cancer risk, specifically for postmenopausal hypertensive women.