Femoral osteomyelitis caused by oral anaerobic bacteria with mixed bacteremia of Campylobacter rectus and Parvimonas micra in a chronic periodontitis patient: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Campylobacter rectus is a gram-negative rod, and Parvimonas micra is a gram-positive coccus, both of which are oral anaerobes that cause chronic periodontitis. Chronic periodontitis can cause bacteremia and systemic diseases, including osteomyelitis. Hematogenous osteomyelitis caused by anaerobic bacteria is uncommon, and to date, there have been no reports of mixed bacteremia with C. rectus and P. micra. Here, we report the first case of osteomyelitis of the femur caused by anaerobic bacteria with mixed bacteremia of C. rectus and P. micra caused by chronic periodontitis. CASE PRESENTATION: A 75-year-old man with chronic periodontitis, hyperuricemia, and benign prostatic hyperplasia was admitted to the hospital with a fracture of the left femur. The patient had left thigh pain for 4 weeks prior to admission. Left femoral intramedullary nail fixation was performed, and a large amount of abscess and necrotic tissue was found intraoperatively. The cultures of abscess specimens were identified as P. micra, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and C. rectus. C. rectus and P. micra were also isolated from blood cultures. C. rectus was identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry and 16 S ribosomal RNA sequencing. Sulbactam-ampicillin was administered for approximately 1 month, after which it was replaced by oral clavulanic acid-amoxicillin for long-term suppressive treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Only five cases of bloodstream infection with C. rectus have been reported, and this is the first report of mixed bacteremia with P. micra. Clinicians should consider that chronic periodontitis caused by rare oral anaerobic bacteria can cause systemic infections, such as osteomyelitis.

A Case of Salvage Maxillectomy for Recurrent Oral Cancer After Boron Neutron Capture Therapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, pedicle flaps instead of free flap transfer were recommended for head and neck reconstruction to reduce infection risk. Boron neutron-capture therapy in Japan was clinically approved in 2020 as a salvage radiotherapy for recurrent head and neck cancer following chemoradiotherapy. The efficacy and safety of salvage surgery following boron neutron-capture therapy remain unclear. CASE REPORT: We describe a 57-year-old male with crT4aN0M0 oral cancer after three different forms of radiotherapy including boron neutron-capture therapy, treated by salvage partial maxillectomy with both buccal fat pad and nasoseptal flaps. His postsurgical course was successful, without tracheostomy, and he had no Clavien- Dindo grade 3 or 4 complications. The pathological diagnosis was T4a squamous cell carcinoma with a negative surgical margin. No recurrence or metastasis had occurred at 113 days postoperatively. No opioid consumption was needed postoperatively. CONCLUSION: Pathological negative margins were achieved in this case and there were no severe complications. Further accrual of cases salvage surgery following boron neutron-capture therapy is required to clarify treatment strategies for recurrent head and neck cancer.

Serum CD109 levels reflect the node metastasis status in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Various biomarkers are being developed for the early diagnosis of cancer and for predicting its prognosis. The aim of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic significance of serum CD109 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). METHODS: The serum CD109 levels in a total of 112 serum samples collected before and after surgery from 56 HNSCC patients were analyzed with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The clinical factor that showed a statistically significant association with both the preoperative serum CD109 level, and the CD109 index: which was defined as the ratio of the preoperative serum CD109 level to the postoperative serum CD109 level, were assessed. The correlations between the serum CD109 levels and lymph node density (LND), pathological features such as lymphatic invasion, and serum SCC antigen levels were also assessed. RESULTS: The ELISA measurement revealed that preoperative serum CD109 levels were elevated in patients with node metastasis-positive and stage IV disease, in comparison to those with node metastasis-negative and Stage I+II+III disease, respectively. A multiple regression analysis indicated that serum CD109 level was significantly associated with the node metastasis status. A Spearman's rank correlation analysis also revealed a positive correlation between the preoperative serum CD109 level and LND. Furthermore, the probabilities of the overall and relapse-free survival were significantly lower in patients with a preoperative serum CD109 level of ≥38.0 ng/ml and a CD109 index of ≥1.6, respectively, than in others. There was no significant correlation between the serum CD109 and SCC antigen levels. CONCLUSIONS: The serum CD109 levels were elevated in patients with advanced stage disease, reflecting the node metastasis status. CD109 in sera could be a novel prognostic marker for HNSCC involving lymph node metastasis.

Recurrent ameloblastoma with both hypercalcemia and BRAF mutation: A case report.

This case report describes a mandibular ameloblastoma with both BRAF V600E mutation and rare hypercalcemia. The patient without distant metastasis underwent subtotal mandibulectomy using double flaps of fibula and anterolateral thigh. A whole body computed tomography scan taken 69 months after surgery revealed neither recurrence nor metastasis.

A single-arm, phase 2 study of steroid-containing mouthwash for the prevention of everolimus-associated stomatitis in multiple tumor types.

BACKGROUND: Everolimus is a mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor used in the treatment of multiple tumor types, and its most common toxicity, stomatitis, can affect patient quality of life. Recent studies in breast cancer have supported the efficacy of steroid mouthwash for the prevention of everolimus-associated stomatitis. However, a few studies have been reported to date, and none have examined this effect in other tumor types. METHODS: This single-arm phase 2 study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of steroid-containing mouthwash for the prevention of stomatitis in patients with multiple tumor types receiving everolimus. The primary outcome was incidence of grade ≥ 2 stomatitis at 8 weeks of everolimus with steroid-containing mouthwash prophylaxis. We also assessed the stability of steroid-containing mouthwash components. RESULTS: Twenty-nine patients were evaluated, of which 76% had breast cancer and 24% had neuroendocrine tumors originating in the lung, gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, or of unknown primary origin. Grade ≥ 2 stomatitis incidence at 8 weeks was 28.1% (90% CI 16.2-46.1); the higher confidence limit exceeded the prespecified threshold of 30%. No patients developed grade ≥ 3 stomatitis. Most stomatitis occurred behind the oral cavity, with no lesions observed on the lips or floor of the mouth. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings did not support a prophylactic effect of steroid-containing mouthwash on everolimus-associated stomatitis. Given the needs of prevention of everolimus-associated stomatitis in various tumor types, further studies in a larger population using a randomized controlled trial design are, therefore, required to confirm the efficacy of steroid-containing mouthwash.

CD109 is a component of exosome secreted from cultured cells.

Exosomes are 50-100-nm-diameter membrane vesicles released from various types of cells. Exosomes retain proteins, mRNAs and miRNAs, which can be transported to surrounding cells. CD109 is a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored glycoprotein, and is released from the cell surface to the culture medium in vitro. Recently, it was reported that secreted CD109 from the cell surface downregulates transforming growth factor-ß signaling in human keratinocytes. In this study, we revealed that CD109 is a component of the exosome in conditioned medium. FLAG-tagged human CD109 (FLAG-CD109) in conditioned medium secreted from HEK293 cells expressing FLAG-CD109 (293/FLAG-CD109) was immunoprecipitated with anti-FLAG affinity gel, and the co-precipitated proteins were analyzed by mass spectrometry and western blotting. Exosomal proteins were associated with CD109. We revealed the presence of CD109 in exosome fractions from conditioned medium of 293/FLAG-CD109. Moreover, the localization of CD109 in the exosome was demonstrated using immuno-electron microscopy. When we used HEK293 cells expressing FLAG-tagged truncated CD109, which does not contain the C-terminal region, the association of truncated CD109 with exosomes was not detected in conditioned medium. These findings indicate that CD109 is an exosomal protein and that the C-terminal region of CD109 is required for its presence in the exosome.

CD109 attenuates TGF-ß1 signaling and enhances EGF signaling in SK-MG-1 human glioblastoma cells.

CD109 is a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored cell surface protein that is frequently detected in squamous cell carcinomas. CD109 is a negative regulator of TGF-ß1 signaling in human keratinocytes, and the N-terminal fragment of CD109 secreted from cells after cleavage by the furin protease is important for modulating TGF-ß1 signaling. Previously, we found that CD109 is expressed in human glioblastoma cells; however, the role of CD109 in glioblastoma cells is not established. Here, we describe the effects of CD109 in human glioblastoma cell lines. Three glioblastoma cell lines, SK-MG-1, U251MG and MG178, were tested and CD109 overexpression attenuated TGF-ß1 signaling and enhanced EGF signaling in SK-MG-1, but not in U251MG or MG178. The N-terminal CD109 fragment in SK-MG-1 was hyperglycosylated compared with that in MG178 or U251MG. The conditioned medium of CD109-overexpressing SK-MG-1, containing the secreted N-terminal CD109, had a negative effect on TGF-ß1 signaling in wild-type SK-MG-1 and MG178, whereas it did not show any effect on EGF signaling. In addition, cell surface CD109 interacts with EGF receptor in SK-MG-1 overexpressing CD109, and exhibited enhanced cell migration and invasion. These findings suggest that CD109 attenuates TGF-ß1 signaling and enhances EGF signaling in SK-MG-1 cells and that the membrane-anchored CD109 may play major roles in the EGF signaling pathway.

Detection of a soluble form of CD109 in serum of CD109 transgenic and tumor xenografted mice.

CD109, a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored glycoprotein, is expressed at high levels in some human tumors including squamous cell carcinomas. As CD109 is reportedly cleaved by furin and its soluble form is secreted into culture medium in vitro, we hypothesized that CD109 could serve as a tumor marker in vivo. In this study, we investigated CD109 as a novel serum tumor marker using transgenic mice that overexpress mouse CD109 (mCD109-TG mice) and tumor xenografted mice inoculated with human CD109 (hCD109)-overexpressing HEK293 cells. In sera and urine of mCD109-TG mice, mCD109 was detected using western blotting. In xenografted mice, hCD109 secreted from inoculated tumors was detected in sera, using western blotting and CD109 ELISA. Concentrations of tumor-secreted CD109 increased proportionally as tumors enlarged. Concentrations of secreted CD109 decreased notably by 17 h after tumor resection, and became undetectable 48 h after resection. The half-life of tumor-secreted CD109 was about 5.86±0.17 h. These results indicate that CD109 is present in serum as a soluble form, and suggest its potential as a novel tumor marker in patients with cancers that express CD109.

Chemoradiotherapy for maxillary sinus adenoid cystic carcinoma using superselective intra-arterial infusion via a superficial temporal artery.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of concurrent intra-arterial infusion chemoradiotherapy for adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) has been described in only a few reports. Herein, we report on 2 patients with unresectable ACC of the maxillary sinus treated with this approach. METHODS: Patients received concurrent chemoradiotherapy. External beam radiation was administered 5 times a week at 2 Gray (Gy) per fraction for a total of 60 Gy. Chemotherapy consisting of docetaxel and cisplatin was administered by superselective intra-arterial infusion via a superficial temporal artery. RESULTS: After the completion of all treatments in both patients, biopsy specimens of the primary lesions showed complete disappearance of all viable and nonviable tumor cells and new bone formation at the bony walls of the maxillary sinus. Although complications such as mucositis, neutropenia, and anorexia were observed, they were well-tolerated and manageable. CONCLUSION: Concurrent chemoradiotherapy using superselective intra-arterial infusion is a potential option for patients with unresectable maxillary ACC.

Epidermal hyperplasia and appendage abnormalities in mice lacking CD109.

CD109, a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored glycoprotein, is highly expressed in several types of human cancer tissues, in particular, squamous cell carcinomas. In normal human tissues, human CD109 expression is limited to certain cell types including myoepithelial cells of the mammary, lacrimal, salivary, and bronchial glands and basal cells of the prostate and bronchial epithelium. Although CD109 has been reported to negatively regulate transforming growth factor-ß signaling in keratinocytes in vitro, its physiologic role in vivo remains largely unknown. To investigate the function of CD109 in vivo, we generated CD109-deficient (CD109(-/-)) mice. Although CD109(-/-) mice were born normally, transient impairment of hair growth was observed. At histologic analysis, kinked hair shafts, ectatic hair follicles with an accumulation of sebum, and persistent hyperplasia of the epidermis and sebaceous glands were observed in CD109(-/-) mice. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed thickening of the basal and suprabasal layers in the epidermis of CD109(-/-) mice, which is where endogenous CD109 is expressed in wild-type mice. Although CD109 was reported to negatively regulate transforming growth factor-ß signaling, no significant difference in levels of Smad2 phosphorylation was observed in the epidermis between wild-type and CD109(-/-) mice. Instead, Stat3 phosphorylation levels were significantly elevated in the epidermis of CD109(-/-) mice compared with wild-type mice. These results suggest that CD109 regulates differentiation of keratinocytes via a signaling pathway involving Stat3.

Osteogenic induction of bone marrow-derived stromal cells on simvastatin-releasing, biodegradable, nano- to microscale fiber scaffolds.

Tissue engineering is an effective approach for the treatment of bone defects. Statins have been demonstrated to promote osteoblastic differentiation of bone marrow-derived stromal cells (BMSCs). Electrospun biodegradable fibers have also shown applicability to drug delivery in the form of bone tissue engineered scaffolds with nano- to microscale topography and high porosity similar to the natural extracellular matrix (ECM). The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of a simvastatin-releasing, biodegradable, nano- to microscale fiber scaffold (SRBFS) for bone tissue engineering with BMSCs. Simvastatin was released from SRBFS slowly. BMSCs were observed to spread actively and rigidly adhere to SRBFS. BMSCs on SRBFS showed an increase in alkaline phosphatase activity 2 weeks after cell culture. Furthermore, osteoclastogenesis was suppressed by SRBFS in vitro. The new bone formation and mineralization in the SRBFS group were significantly better than in the biodegradable fiber scaffold (BFS) without simvastatin 12 weeks after implantation of the cell-scaffold construct into an ectopic site on the murine back. These results suggest that SRBFS promoted osteoblastic differentiation of BMSCs in vitro and in vivo, and demonstrate feasibility as a bone engineering scaffold.

Optimization of hyperthermia and dendritic cell immunotherapy for squamous cell carcinoma.

The aims of this study were to explore the feasibility of a novel combination therapy comprising hyperthermia (HT) and dendritic cell (DC) application for squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and to optimize the conditions of this therapy. In vitro, the correlation between maturation of DCs by co-culture with SCCVII cells and HT was investigated. DCs did not mature in simple HT (43 °C for 30 min) with SCCVII cells. On the other hand, DC maturation occurred in additional mild HT (mHT: 41 °C for 30 min) with simple HT. To assess whether additional mHT was effective, in vivo combined treatment was performed using tumor-bearing C3H/HeJ mice. A more suppressive effect of tumor growth was observed, and cytotoxic T cell infiltration was significantly increased by adding mHT compared to conventional only simple HT with DCs. These phenomena also occurred in non-treated contralateral tumors as well as treated ones. Our data suggest that the combination of 43 °C preheated simple HT SCCVII tumors and additional 41 °C heat mHT promotes DC maturation, resulting in suppression of tumor growth systemically and lifetime prolongation in mice. A three-step process of additional mHT after local HT and intratumoral immature DC (iDC) injection could be a more effective and novel method for the treatment of SCC.

Correlation of pathological grade and tumor stage of urothelial carcinomas with CD109 expression.

Bladder cancer is one of the most common malignant diseases. Since a high-rate of recurrence is a serious problem for early stage urothelial carcinomas, new strategies for the management of recurrent urothelial carcinomas have been explored. CD109 is a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored glycoprotein and is expressed in various cancer tissues, mainly squamous cell carcinomas. CD109 negatively controls transforming growth factor (TGF)-ß/Smad signaling in vitro. In this study, we analyzed the clinical significance of CD109 expression in bladder cancer using immunohistochemistry. Of 156 urothelial carcinoma tissues, 69.9% were positive for CD109, whereas CD109 was not expressed in seven normal bladder epithelia. CD109 expression was significantly higher in non-muscle-invasive (pTa+pT1) or low-grade (G1+G2) tumors than in muscle-invasive (pT2-4) or high-grade (G3) tumors, and was associated with cancer-specific survival. Simultaneous immunostaining of CD109 and phosphorylated Smad2 showed an inverse immunoreactivity relationship between the two, suggesting that CD109 inhibits TGF-ß/Smad signaling in tumor tissues. Interestingly, CD109 was found to be highly expressed in the basal layer of non-invasive urothelial carcinomas, and the expression pattern was similar to that of CD44, a marker of cancer stem cells. These findings suggest that CD109 is involved in bladder tumorigenesis and is a potential target for cancer immunotherapy.

Up-regulation of CD109 expression is associated with carcinogenesis of the squamous epithelium of the oral cavity.

CD109 is a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored glycoprotein whose expression is up-regulated in squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) of the lung, esophagus, and uterus. The purpose of this study was to evaluate CD109 expression in oral tumors, including premalignant lesions, and to assess the clinical application of CD109 in oral cancer. CD109 expression in oral normal and tumor tissues from 124 patients was examined by immunohistochemical staining with anti-CD109 antibody, and significant relations between clinical features and CD109 expression were statistically assessed. We found that high levels of CD109 expression were frequently detected in SCCs and premalignant lesions of the oral cavity, but not in normal squamous epithelia. The CD109 expression level was higher in well-differentiated SCCs than in poorly differentiated SCCs. Furthermore, premalignant lesions highly expressing CD109 showed higher risk to progress to SCCs. Oral SCC cell lines overexpressing CD109 exhibited accelerated cell growth in vitro compared with control cell lines. In addition, overexpression of CD109 impaired the transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1-mediated suppression of cell growth. These findings suggest that CD109 plays a role in the development of oral cancers, and is a useful prognostic marker to predict malignant transformation of premalignant lesions.

CD109 expression in basal-like breast carcinoma.

Breast cancer can be classified into several subtypes based on gene expression profiling. Basal-like breast carcinoma (BLC) has a triple negative phenotype, that is, the subtype lacks the estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PgR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). It has been recently reported that CD109, a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored cell surface protein, is a new breast myoepithelial marker. In the present study CD109 expression was investigated in invasive ductal carcinomas (IDC) of the breast on immunohistochemistry. Eighty-eight formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded breast carcinoma sections were immunostained with anti-CD109, anti-cytokeratin 5/6 (CK5/6), anti-calponin, anti-vimentin and anti-p63 antibodies. CD109 expression was detected in 18 of 30 basal-like breast carcinomas (BLC) but not in other types of 53 IDC (non-BLC) that were positive for ER, PgR and/or HER2. The percentage of CD109-positive tissues (60%) in BLC was similar to that of CK5/6 (63%) and higher than that of other myoepithelial markers including p63 (23%), calponin (33%) and vimentin (33%). Statistical analysis indicated that the CD109-positive group in BLC, but not the CK5/6-positive group in BLC, was associated with reduced fat invasion (P < 0.05). These findings indicate that CD109 is a useful diagnostic marker for BLC and that CD109 expression may affect biological properties of cancer cells.

High-level expression of CD109 is frequently detected in lung squamous cell carcinomas.

CD109 is a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored cell surface protein, which is a member of the alpha2-macroglobulin/C3, C4, C5 family of thioester-containing proteins. It has been reported that CD109 is expressed in a subset of hematopoietic cells, endothelial cells and several kinds of human tumors. Herein it is reported that the CD109 protein is preferentially expressed in lung squamous cell carcinomas compared with other types of lung carcinoma including adenocarcinomas, large cell carcinomas and small cell carcinomas. Immunohistochemical staining of surgically resected lung specimens using an anti-CD109 antibody detected CD109 expression in basal cells of bronchial and bronchiolar epithelia and myoepithelial cells of bronchial secretary glands, but not in bronchial and bronchiolar apical epithelial cells and alveolar epithelial cells. Furthermore, the CD109 immunoreactivity was observed in squamous cell carcinomas at a high frequency compared with other types of lung carcinoma. Although the detailed function of CD109 protein is unclear, these results suggest that CD109 expression may play a role in the development of lung squamous cell carcinoma.

CD109, a new marker for myoepithelial cells of mammary, salivary, and lacrimal glands and prostate basal cells.

The CD109 gene encodes a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored cell surface protein. Herein it is shown that CD109 is highly expressed in myoepithelial cells of mammary, salivary, and lacrimal glands; and in prostate basal cells. The anti-CD109 antibody generated by the authors was available for formalin-fixed paraffin section, and it strongly stained myoepithelial cells and basal cells but not ductal, acinar, and secretory cells in these glands. CD109 expression was negative in examined breast ductal carcinomas and prostate adenocarcinomas. These findings indicate that CD109 is a useful marker for the diagnosis of invasive breast and prostate carcinomas.