Uncategorized – Page 16850 – 1stOncology™: Cancer Intelligence Service

Quantification of mutant alleles in circulating tumor DNA can predict survival in lung cancer.

We aimed to investigate the feasibility of droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) for the quantitative and dynamic detection of EGFR mutations and next generation sequencing (NGS) for screening EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) resistance-relevant mutations in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) from advanced lung adenocarcinoma (ADC) patients.
Detection limit of EGFR mutation in ctDNA by ddPCR was 0.04%. Taking the EGFR mutation in tumor tissue as the golden standard, the concordance of EGFR mutations detected in ctDNA was 74% (54/73). Patients with EGFR mutation in ctDNA (n = 54) superior progression-free survival (PFS, median, 12.6 vs. 6.7 months, P &lt; 0.001) and overall survival (OS, median, 35.6 vs. 23.8 months, P = 0.028) compared to those with EGFR wild type in ctDNA (n = 19). Patients with high EGFR-mutated abundance in ctDNA (&gt; 5.15%) showed better PFS compared to those with low EGFR mutated abundance (≤ 5.15%) (PFS, median, 15.4 vs. 11.1 months, P = 0.021). NGS results showed that 66.6% (8/12) total mutational copy number were elevated and 76.5% (26/34) mutual mutation frequency increased after disease progression.
Seventy-three advanced ADC patients with tumor tissues carrying EGFR mutations and their matched pre- and post-EGFR-TKIs plasma samples were enrolled in this study. Absolute quantities of plasma EGFR mutant and wild-type alleles were measured by ddPCR. Multi-genes testing was performed using NGS in 12 patients.
Dynamic and quantitative analysis of EGFR mutation in ctDNA could guide personalized therapy for advanced ADC. NGS shows good performance in multiple genes testing especially novel and uncommon genes.

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Anti-miR-21 Suppresses Hepatocellular Carcinoma Growth via Broad Transcriptional Network Deregulation.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a significant clinical challenge with few therapeutic options available to cancer patients. MicroRNA 21-5p (miR-21) has been shown to be upregulated in HCC, but the contribution of this oncomiR to the maintenance of tumorigenic phenotype in liver cancer remains poorly understood. We have developed potent and specific single-stranded oligonucleotide inhibitors of miR-21 (anti-miRNAs) and used them to interrogate dependency on miR-21 in a panel of liver cancer cell lines. Treatment with anti-miR-21, but not with a mismatch control anti-miRNA, resulted in significant derepression of direct targets of miR-21 and led to loss of viability in the majority of HCC cell lines tested. Robust induction of caspase activity, apoptosis, and necrosis was noted in anti-miR-21-treated HCC cells. Furthermore, ablation of miR-21 activity resulted in inhibition of HCC cell migration and suppression of clonogenic growth. To better understand the consequences of miR-21 suppression, global gene expression profiling was performed on anti-miR-21-treated liver cancer cells, which revealed striking enrichment in miR-21 target genes and deregulation of multiple growth-promoting pathways. Finally, in vivo dependency on miR-21 was observed in two separate HCC tumor xenograft models. In summary, these data establish a clear role for miR-21 in the maintenance of tumorigenic phenotype in HCC in vitro and in vivo.
miR-21 is important for the maintenance of the tumorigenic phenotype of HCC and represents a target for pharmacologic intervention.
©2015 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper).

Tumor necrosis factor receptor 2-signaling in CD133-expressing cells in renal clear cell carcinoma.

Compared to normal kidney, renal clear cell carcinomas (ccRCC) contain increased numbers of interstitial, non-hematopoietic CD133+cells that express stem cell markers and exhibit low rates of proliferation. These cells fail to form tumors upon transplantation but support tumor formation by differentiated malignant cells. We hypothesized that killing of ccRCC CD133+ (RCCCD133+) cells by cytotoxic agents might be enhanced by inducing them to divide. Since tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF), signalling through TNFR2, induces proliferation of malignant renal tubular epithelial cells, we investigated whether TNFR2 might similarly affect RCCCD133+cells. We compared treating organ cultures of ccRCC vs adjacent nontumour kidney (NK) and RCCCD133+vs NK CD133+ (NKCD133+) cell cultures with wild-type TNF (wtTNF) or TNF muteins selective for TNFR1 (R1TNF) or TNFR2 (R2TNF). In organ cultures, R2TNF increased expression of TNFR2 and promoted cell cycle entry of both RCCCD133+ and NKCD133+ but effects were greater in RCCCD133+. In contrast, R1TNF increased TNFR1 expression and promoted cell death. Importantly, cyclophosphamide triggered much more cell death in RCCCD133+ and NKCD133+cells pre-treated with R2TNF as compared to untreated controls. We conclude that selective engagement of TNFR2 by TNF can drives RCCCD133+ proliferation and thereby increase sensitivity to cell cycle-dependent cytotoxicity.

Selective inhibitors of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL: Balancing antitumor activity with on-target toxicity.

The induction of apoptosis in tumor cells represents a promising approach to the treatment of cancer. Accordingly, compounds that interact with the Bcl-2 family of proteins, which are critical regulators of the apoptotic process, have been widely pursued as potential anticancer agents. While encouraging antitumor activity in clinical trials has been observed with some of these compounds, their therapeutic utility is often limited by accompanying toxicities associated with the interaction with this family of proteins. As a result, there has been recent interest in identifying agents that can selectively target a single Bcl-2 family member (such as Bcl-2 or Bcl-xL), with the expectation that improved therapeutic margins can be achieved. In this review, we outline the biological rationale behind this approach, and highlight key examples of selective compounds from the recent literature alongside the structural basis for the reported selectivity.
Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Correlation of PD-L1 tumor expression and treatment outcomes in patients with renal cell carcinoma receiving sunitinib or pazopanib: results from COMPARZ, a randomized controlled trial.

The interaction of programmed death-1 ligand (PD-L1) with its receptor (PD-1) on T cells inactivates antitumor immune responses. PD-L1 expression has been associated with poor outcomes in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) but has not been investigated in advanced RCC patients receiving VEGF-targeted therapy.
Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded specimens were collected at baseline from patients in the COMPARZ trial. Tumor cell PD-L1 expression by IHC was evaluated using H-score (HS). Dual PD-L1/CD68 staining was used to differentiate PD-L1 tumor expression from tumor-associated macrophages. Intratumor CD8-positive T cells were quantified morphometrically. Associations between biomarkers and survival were investigated using the log-rank test.
HS data were available from 453 of 1,110 patients. Sixty-four percent of patients had negative PD-L1 expression (HS = 0). Patients with HS &gt; 55 (n = 59, 13%) had significantly shorter overall survival (OS) than those with HS ≤ 55 in both pazopanib and sunitinib arms (median 15.1 vs. 35.6 and 15.3 vs. 27.8 months, respectively, P = 0.03). In both arms, median OS was shortest in patients with HS &gt; 55 and intratumor CD8-positive T-cell counts &gt; 300 (9.6 and 11.9 months with pazopanib and sunitinib, respectively). Median OS in patients with HS ≤ 55 and CD8-positive T-cell counts ≤ 300 was 36.8 and 28.0 months with pazopanib and sunitinib, respectively. Progression-free survival results were similar to OS results.
Increased tumor cell PD-L1, or PD-L1 plus tumor CD8-positive T-cell counts, were associated with shorter survival in patients with metastatic RCC receiving VEGF-targeted agents. These findings may have implications for future design of randomized clinical trials in advanced RCC.
©2014 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper).

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Category: Uncategorized

Quantification of mutant alleles in circulating tumor DNA can predict survival in lung cancer.

Anti-miR-21 Suppresses Hepatocellular Carcinoma Growth via Broad Transcriptional Network Deregulation.

Tumor necrosis factor receptor 2-signaling in CD133-expressing cells in renal clear cell carcinoma.

Selective inhibitors of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL: Balancing antitumor activity with on-target toxicity.

Correlation of PD-L1 tumor expression and treatment outcomes in patients with renal cell carcinoma receiving sunitinib or pazopanib: results from COMPARZ, a randomized controlled trial.