Medical Specialties Commons^™

Discovery Of A Drug To Treat Airway Mucus Hypersecretion, Burton F Dickey, Ying Lai, Manfred Frick, Axel T Brunger

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Racial And Ethnic Trends And Disparities In Nsclc, Kristin M Primm, Hui Zhao, Daphne C Hernandez, Shine Chang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Detailed evaluations of racial and ethnic trends and disparities in NSCLC outcomes are lacking, and it remains unclear whether recent advances in screening and targeted therapies for NSCLC have benefited all population groups equally.

Methods: Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results 18-registry data, we evaluated trends in overall and stage-specific NSCLC incidence (2007-2018) among patients aged 55 to 79 years by sex and race and ethnicity. Overall and stage-specific 2-year cause-specific survival rates were calculated by sex and race and ethnicity. Health Disparities software calculated absolute (difference) and relative (ratio) disparity measures comparing racial and ethnic groups with …

Pathways And Barriers To Careers In Academic Clinical Cancer Prevention: A Qualitative Study, Melissa Y Kok, Janelle C Chavez, Pompeyo R Quesada, Oluwapelumi T Adegoke, Shine Chang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

National surveys document steady declines over time in interest in academic medicine and cancer prevention careers (Am J Prev Med 54(3):444-8, 2018). Through interviews with 16 academic cancer prevention physicians at one comprehensive cancer center, this study identifies motivations and barriers to physician careers in academic cancer prevention and proposes recommendations to increase recruitment. Participants reported that cancer prevention was vague to them early in training, impairing career exploration. Further, without role models and opportunities to learn about cancer prevention, many were ignorant of career options. Many had incorrect views about cancer prevention practice being mainly within the scope of …

Spatial Charting Of Single-Cell Transcriptomes In Tissues, Runmin Wei, Siyuan He, Shanshan Bai, Emi Sei, Min Hu, Alastair Thompson, Ken Chen, Savitri Krishnamurthy, Nicholas E Navin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Single-cell RNA sequencing methods can profile the transcriptomes of single cells but cannot preserve spatial information. Conversely, spatial transcriptomics assays can profile spatial regions in tissue sections, but do not have single-cell resolution. Here, we developed a computational method called CellTrek that combines these two datasets to achieve single-cell spatial mapping through coembedding and metric learning approaches. We benchmarked CellTrek using simulation and in situ hybridization datasets, which demonstrated its accuracy and robustness. We then applied CellTrek to existing mouse brain and kidney datasets and showed that CellTrek can detect topological patterns of different cell types and cell states. We …

Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Mapping Of Proliferation Centers Allows The Distinction Of Accelerated Phase From Large Cell Transformation In Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Siba El Hussein, Pingjun Chen, L Jeffrey Medeiros, John D Hazle, Jia Wu, Joseph D Khoury

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL) is characterized morphologically by numerous small lymphocytes and pale nodules composed of prolymphocytes and paraimmunoblasts known as proliferation centers (PCs). Patients with CLL can undergo transformation to a more aggressive lymphoma, most often diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), known as Richter transformation (RT). An accelerated phase of CLL (aCLL) also may be observed which correlates with subsequent transformation to DLBCL, and may represent an early stage of transformation. Distinguishing PCs in CLL from aCLL or RT can be diagnostically challenging, particularly in small needle biopsy specimens. Available guidelines pertaining to distinguishing CLL from its' …

Generation Of A Homozygous Knock-In Human Embryonic Stem Cell Line Expressing Meos4b-Tagged Ctr1, Yi-Hung Chen, Pei-San Huang, Meng-Hsuan Wen, Manhua Pan, Dung-Fang Lee, Tai-Yen Chen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Copper transporter 1 (CTR1) is the major membrane protein responsible for cellular copper (Cu) uptake and mediates cellular copper homeostasis. To elucidate CTR1's behavior using imaging approaches, we generated a homozygous knock-in human embryonic stem cell (hESC) clone expressing photoconvertible fluorescence protein mEos4b-tagged endogenous CTR1 using CRISPR-Cas9 mediated homologous recombination. The engineered cells express functional CTR1-mEos4b fusion and have normal stem cell morphology. They remain pluripotent and can be differentiated into all three germ layers in vitro. This resource allows the study of CTR1 at an endogenous level in different cellular contexts using microscopy.

Phase Ii Study Of Durvalumab (Anti-Pd-L1) And Trametinib (Meki) In Microsatellite Stable (Mss) Metastatic Colorectal Cancer (Mcrc), Benny Johnson, Cara L Haymaker, Edwin R Parra, Luisa Maren Solis Soto, Xuemei Wang, Jane V Thomas, Arvind Dasari, Van K Morris, Kanwal Raghav, Eduardo Vilar, Bryan K Kee, Cathy Eng, Christine M Parseghian, Robert A Wolff, Younghee Lee, Daniele Lorenzini, Caddie Laberiano-Fernandez, Anuj Verma, Wenhua Lang, Ignacio I Wistuba, Andrew Futreal, Scott Kopetz, Michael J Overman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Monotherapy with immune checkpoint blockade is ineffective for patients (pts) with microsatellite stable (MSS) metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). This study investigates whether the combination of trametinib (T) with durvalumab (D) can alter the immune tumor microenvironment (TME) by successfully priming and activating T-cells.

Methods: Open-label, single-center, phase II trial with primary endpoint of immune-related response rate for combination of T+D in refractory MSS mCRC pts (NCT03428126). T is 2 mg/day orally starting 1 week prior to D, which is given 1500 mg intravenously every 4 weeks. Simon 2-stage design used to enroll 29 pts into first stage, …

Plasma Metabolomics Analysis Of Aspirin Treatment And Risk Of Colorectal Adenomas, Elizabeth L Barry, Veronika Fedirko, Yutong Jin, Ken Liu, Leila A Mott, Janet L Peacock, Michael N Passarelli, John A Baron, Dean P Jones

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Despite substantial observational and experimental evidence that aspirin use can provide protection against the development of colorectal neoplasia, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved is inadequate and limits our ability to use this drug effectively and safely for chemoprevention. We employed an untargeted plasma metabolomics approach using liquid chromatography with high-resolution mass spectroscopy to explore novel metabolites that may contribute to the chemopreventive effects of aspirin. Associations between levels of metabolic features in plasma and aspirin treatment were investigated among 523 participants in a randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial of two doses of aspirin (81 or 325 mg/day) and were …

Microbiome Dynamics During Chemoradiation Therapy For Anal Cancer, Daniel Lin, Molly B El Alam, Joseph Abi Jaoude, Ramez Kouzy, Jae L Phan, Jacob H Elnaggar, Brianna Resendiz, Andrea Y Delgado Medrano, Erica J Lynn, Nicholas D Nguyen, Sonal S Noticewala, Geena G Mathew, Emma B Holliday, Bruce D Minsky, Prajnan Das, Van K Morris, Cathy Eng, Melissa P Mezzari, Joseph F Petrosino, Nadim J Ajami, Ann H Klopp, Cullen M Taniguchi, Lauren E Colbert

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Patients with localized squamous cell carcinoma of the anus (SCCA) who experience treatment toxicity or recurrences have few therapeutic options. Investigation into the microbiome's influence on treatment toxicity and its potential use as a predictive biomarker could improve these patients' outcomes. Our study presents the first longitudinal characterization of the SCCA tumor microbiome and its associations with treatment-related toxicities.

Methods and materials: This prospective cohort study included patients with nonmetastatic SCCA receiving standard-of-care chemoradiation therapy. Anorectal swabs of the tumor site were collected before, during, and after treatment. Patient-reported quality-of-life metrics were collected at similar time points. 16S rRNA …

Impact Of Somatic Mutations On Survival Outcomes In Patients With Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma, Jennifer Rui Wang, Matthew Montierth, Li Xu, Maitrayee Goswami, Xiao Zhao, Gilbert Cote, Wenyi Wang, Priyanka Iyer, Ramona Dadu, Naifa L Busaidy, Stephen Y Lai, Neil D Gross, Renata Ferrarotto, Charles Lu, Gary Brandon Gunn, Michelle D Williams, Mark Routbort, Mark E Zafereo, Maria E Cabanillas

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) uniformly present with aggressive disease, but the mutational landscape of tumors varies. We aimed to determine whether tumor mutations affect survival outcomes in ATC.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients who underwent mutation sequencing using targeted gene panels between 2005 and 2019 at a tertiary referral center were included. Associations between mutation status and survival outcomes were assessed using Cox proportional hazards models.

RESULTS: A total of 202 patients were included, where 122 died of ATC (60%). The median follow-up was 31 months (interquartile range, 18-45 months). The most common mutations were in

CONCLUSION: Mutation analysis provides …

Mediating And Maintaining Methylation While Minimizing Mutation: Recent Advances On Mammalian Dna Methyltransferases, Xiaodong Cheng, Robert M Blumenthal

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Mammalian genomes are methylated on carbon-5 of many cytosines, mostly in CpG dinucleotides. Methylation patterns are maintained during mitosis via DNMT1, and regulatory factors involved in processes that include histone modifications. Methylation in a sequence longer than CpG can influence the binding of sequence-specific transcription factors, thus affecting gene expression. 5-Methylcytosine deamination results in C-to-T transition. While some mutations are beneficial, most are not; so boosting C-to-T transitions can be dangerous. Given the role of DNMT3A in establishing de novo DNA methylation during development, it is this CpG methylation and deamination that provide the major mutagenic impetus in the DNMT3A …

Assessing The Practicality Of Using A Single Knowledge-Based Planning Model For Multiple Linac Vendors, Raphael J Douglas, Adenike Olanrewaju, Lifei Zhang, Beth M Beadle, Laurence E Court

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Knowledge-based planning (KBP) has been shown to be an effective tool in quality control for intensity-modulated radiation therapy treatment planning and generating high-quality plans. Previous studies have evaluated its ability to create consistent plans across institutions and between planners within the same institution as well as its use as teaching tool for inexperienced planners. This study evaluates whether planning quality is consistent when using a KBP model to plan across different treatment machines.

Materials and methods: This study used a RapidPlan model (Varian Medical Systems) provided by the vendor, to which we added additional planning objectives, maximum dose limits, …

Love And Fear: A Special Issue, C Sue Carter, Robert Dantzer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Love and fear were forged by the same fundamental evolutionary processes that permitted life on Earth. Both love and fear are deeply interwoven with the adaptive management of stress and disease. Love and fear share common roots and both can play a role in reproduction, survival, perceived safety and wellbeing. This special issue of Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology focuses specifically on the causes and consequences of love from the interactive perspectives of evolution, neurobiology and culture.

Clinical Activity Of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase-Targeted Therapies In Patients With Non-V600 Braf-Mutant Tumors, Matthew Dankner, Yifan Wang, Rouhi Fazelzad, Benny Johnson, Caroline A Nebhan, Ibiayi Dagogo-Jack, Nathaniel J Myall, Georg Richtig, Jillian W P Bracht, Marco Gerlinger, Eiji Shinozaki, Takayuki Yoshino, Daisuke Kotani, Jason R Fangusaro, Oliver Gautschi, Julien Mazieres, Jeffrey A Sosman, Scott Kopetz, Vivek Subbiah, Michael A Davies, Anna L Groover, Ryan J Sullivan, Keith T Flaherty, Douglas B Johnson, Andrea Benedetti, David W Cescon, Anna Spreafico, George Zogopoulos, April A N Rose

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Non-V600 mutations comprise approximately 35% of all BRAF mutations in cancer. Many of these mutations have been identified as oncogenic drivers and can be classified into three classes according to molecular characteristics. Consensus treatment strategies for class 2 and 3 BRAF mutations have not yet been established.

Methods: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis with published reports of individual patients with cancer harboring class 2 or 3 BRAF mutations from 2010 to 2021, to assess treatment outcomes with US Food and Drug Administration-approved mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway targeted therapy (MAPK TT) according to BRAF class, cancer type, …

Selinexor In Advanced, Metastatic Dedifferentiated Liposarcoma: A Multinational, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial, Mrinal M Gounder, Albiruni Abdul Razak, Neeta Somaiah, Sant Chawla, Javier Martin-Broto, Giovanni Grignani, Scott M Schuetze, Bruno Vincenzi, Andrew J Wagner, Bartosz Chmielowski, Robin L Jones, Richard F Riedel, Silvia Stacchiotti, Elizabeth T Loggers, Kristen N Ganjoo, Axel Le Cesne, Antoine Italiano, Xavier Garcia Del Muro, Melissa Burgess, Sophie Piperno-Neumann, Christopher Ryan, Mary F Mulcahy, Charles Forscher, Nicolas Penel, Scott Okuno, Anthony Elias, Lee Hartner, Tony Philip, Thierry Alcindor, Bernd Kasper, Peter Reichardt, Lore Lapeire, Jean-Yves Blay, Christine Chevreau, Claudia Maria Valverde Morales, Gary K Schwartz, James L Chen, Hari Deshpande, Elizabeth J Davis, Garth Nicholas, Stefan Gröschel, Helen Hatcher, Florence Duffaud, Antonio Casado Herráez, Roberto Diaz Beveridge, Giuseppe Badalamenti, Mikael Eriksson, Christian Meyer, Margaret Von Mehren, Brian A Van Tine, Katharina Götze, Filomena Mazzeo, Alexander Yakobson, Aviad Zick, Alexander Lee, Anna Estival Gonzalez, Andrea Napolitano, Mark A Dickson, Dayana Michel, Changting Meng, Lingling Li, Jianjun Liu, Osnat Ben-Shahar, Dane R Van Domelen, Christopher J Walker, Hua Chang, Yosef Landesman, Jatin J Shah, Sharon Shacham, Michael G Kauffman, Steven Attia

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Antitumor activity in preclinical models and a phase I study of patients with dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DD-LPS) was observed with selinexor. We evaluated the clinical benefit of selinexor in patients with previously treated DD-LPS whose sarcoma progressed on approved agents.

Methods: SEAL was a phase II-III, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Patients age 12 years or older with advanced DD-LPS who had received two-five lines of therapy were randomly assigned (2:1) to selinexor (60 mg) or placebo twice weekly in 6-week cycles (crossover permitted). The primary end point was progression-free survival (PFS). Patients who received at least one dose of …

Regulation And Function Of Id2 In Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells, Rachel L Babcock, Yifan Zhou, Bhakti Patel, Taylor T Chrisikos, Laura M Kahn, Allison M Dyevoich, Yusra B Medik, Stephanie S Watowich

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are specialized type I interferon (IFN-I) producing cells that promote anti-viral immune responses and contribute to autoimmunity. Development of pDCs requires the transcriptional regulator E2-2 and is opposed by inhibitor of DNA binding 2 (Id2). Prior work indicates Id2 is induced in pDCs upon maturation and may affect pDC IFN-I production via suppression of E2-2, suggesting an important yet uncharacterized role in this lineage. We found TLR7 agonists stimulate Id2 mRNA and protein expression in pDCs. We further show that transcriptional activation of Id2 is dependent on the E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme Ubc13, but independent of IFN-I …

Probing The Structure And Function Of Polymerase Θ Helicase-Like Domain, Scott Vanson, Yuzhen Li, Richard D Wood, Sylvie Doublié

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

DNA Polymerase θ is the key actuator of the recently identified double-strand break repair pathway, theta-mediated end joining (TMEJ). It is the only known polymerase to have a 3-domain architecture containing an independently functional family A DNA polymerase tethered by a long central region to an N-terminal helicase-like domain (HLD). Full-length polymerase θ and the isolated HLD hydrolyze ATP in the presence of DNA, but no processive DNA duplex unwinding has been observed. Based on sequence and structure conservation, the HLD is classified as a member of helicase superfamily II and, more specifically, the Ski2-like family. The specific subdomain composition …

Clinical Outcomes Of Patients With Recurrent Microsatellite-Stable Endometrial Cancer In Early-Phase Immunotherapy Clinical Trials, Jeffrey A How, Amir A Jazaeri, Siqing Fu, Jordi Rodon Ahnert, Jing Gong, Bettzy Stephen, Hanna Ferreira Dalla Pria, Priya Bhosale, Amber Johnson, Ying Yuan, Funda Meric-Bernstam, Aung Naing

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Recurrent microsatellite stable (MSS) endometrial cancer has poor response to conventional therapy and limited efficacy with immune checkpoint monotherapy. We conducted a retrospective study of recurrent MSS endometrial cancer patients enrolled in immunotherapy-based clinical trials at MD Anderson Cancer Center between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2019. Patients were evaluated for radiologic response using RECIST 1.1 criteria, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). Thirty-five patients were treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors: 8 with monotherapy, 17 with immunotherapy (IO) in combination with another IO-only, and 10 with IO in combination with non-IO therapy. Among those treated with combination IO …

Ppp1r7 Is A Novel Translocation Partner Of Cbfb Via T(2; 16)(Q37; Q22) In Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Lulu Wang, Wei Wang, Hannah C Beird, Xueqian Cheng, Hong Fang, Guilin Tang, Gokce A Toruner, C Cameron Yin, M James You, Ghayas C Issa, Gautam Borthakur, Guang Peng, Joseph D Khoury, L Jeffrey Medeiros, Zhenya Tang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In a subset of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cases, the core binding factor beta subunit gene (CBFB) was rearranged via inv(16)(p13.1q22) or t(16;16)(p13.1;q22), in which the smooth muscle myosin heavy chain 11 gene (MYH11) was the partner (CBFB::MYH11). Rare variants of CBFB rearrangement occurring via non-classic chromosomal aberrations have been reported, such as t(1;16), t(2;16), t(3;16), t(5;16), and t(16;19), but the partners of CBFB have not been characterized. We report a case of AML with a complex karyotype, including t(2;16)(q37;q22), in which the protein phosphatase 1 regulatory subunit 7 gene (PPP1R7) at …

Targeting De Novo Lipogenesis And The Lands Cycle Induces Ferroptosis In Kras-Mutant Lung Cancer, Caterina Bartolacci, Cristina Andreani, Gonçalo Vale, Stefano Berto, Margherita Melegari, Anna Colleen Crouch, Dodge L Baluya, George Kemble, Kurt Hodges, Jacqueline Starrett, Katerina Politi, Sandra L Starnes, Daniele Lorenzini, Maria Gabriela Raso, Luisa M Solis Soto, Carmen Behrens, Humam Kadara, Boning Gao, Ignacio I Wistuba, John D Minna, Jeffrey G Mcdonald, Pier Paolo Scaglioni

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Mutant KRAS (KM), the most common oncogene in lung cancer (LC), regulates fatty acid (FA) metabolism. However, the role of FA in LC tumorigenesis is still not sufficiently characterized. Here, we show that KMLC has a specific lipid profile, with high triacylglycerides and phosphatidylcholines (PC). We demonstrate that FASN, the rate-limiting enzyme in FA synthesis, while being dispensable in EGFR-mutant or wild-type KRAS LC, is required for the viability of KMLC cells. Integrating lipidomic, transcriptomic and functional analyses, we demonstrate that FASN provides saturated and monounsaturated FA to the Lands cycle, the process remodeling oxidized phospholipids, such as PC. Accordingly, …

Molecular Profiles Of Serum-Derived Extracellular Vesicles In High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer, Li Zhao, Sara Corvigno, Shaolin Ma, Joseph Celestino, Nicole D Fleming, Richard A Hajek, Adrian Lankenau Ahumada, Nicholas B Jennings, Erika J Thompson, Hongli Tang, Shannon N Westin, Amir A Jazaeri, Jianhua Zhang, P Andrew Futreal, Anil K Sood, Sanghoon Lee

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Patients with high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSC) who have no visible residual disease (R0) after primary surgery have the best clinical outcomes, followed by patients who undergo neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) and have a response enabling interval cytoreductive surgery. Clinically useful biomarkers for predicting these outcomes are still lacking. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been recognized as liquid biopsy-based biomarkers for early cancer detection and disease surveillance in other disease settings. In this study, we performed extensive molecular characterization of serum-derived EVs and correlated the findings with therapeutic outcomes in patients with HGSC. Using EV-DNA whole-genome sequencing and EV-RNA sequencing, we identified …

Two-Pore Channel Blockade By Phosphoinositide Kinase Inhibitors Ym201636 And Pi-103 Determined By A Histidine Residue Near Pore-Entrance, Canwei Du, Xin Guan, Jiusheng Yan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Human two-pore channels (TPCs) are endolysosomal cation channels and play an important role in NAADP-evoked Ca2+ release and endomembrane dynamics. We found that YM201636, a PIKfyve inhibitor, potently inhibits PI(3,5)P2-activated human TPC2 with an IC50 of 0.16 μM. YM201636 also effectively inhibits NAADP-activated TPC2 and a constitutively-open TPC2 L690A/L694A mutant channel; whereas it exerts little effect when applied in the channel's closed state. PI-103, a YM201636 analog and an inhibitor of PI3K and mTOR, also inhibits human TPC2 with an IC50 of 0.64 μM. With mutational, virtual docking, and molecular dynamic simulation analyses, we found that YM201636 and PI-103 directly …

Tdp1-Independent Pathways In The Process And Repair Of Top1-Induced Dna Damage, Huimin Zhang, Yun Xiong, Dan Su, Chao Wang, Mrinal Srivastava, Mengfan Tang, Xu Feng, Min Huang, Zhen Chen, Junjie Chen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Anticancer drugs, such as camptothecin (CPT), trap topoisomerase I (TOP1) on DNA and form TOP1 cleavage complexes (TOP1cc). Alternative repair pathways have been suggested in the repair of TOP1cc. However, how these pathways work with TDP1, a key repair enzyme that specifically hydrolyze the covalent bond between TOP1 catalytic tyrosine and the 3'-end of DNA and contribute to the repair of TOP1cc is poorly understood. Here, using unbiased whole-genome CRISPR screens and generation of co-deficient cells with TDP1 and other genes, we demonstrate that MUS81 is an important factor that mediates the generation of excess double-strand breaks (DSBs) in TDP1 …

Sox9 Directs Divergent Epigenomic States In Brain Tumor Subtypes, Debosmita Sardar, Hsiao-Chi Chen, Amanda Reyes, Srinidhi Varadharajan, Antrix Jain, Carrie Mohila, Rachel Curry, Brittney Lozzi, Kavitha Rajendran, Alexis Cervantes, Kwanha Yu, Ali Jalali, Ganesh Rao, Stephen C Mack, Benjamin Deneen

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

Epigenetic dysregulation is a universal feature of cancer that results in altered patterns of gene expression that drive malignancy. Brain tumors exhibit subtype-specific epigenetic alterations; however, the molecular mechanisms responsible for these diverse epigenetic states remain unclear. Here, we show that the developmental transcription factor Sox9 differentially regulates epigenomic states in high-grade glioma (HGG) and ependymoma (EPN). Using our autochthonous mouse models, we found that Sox9 suppresses HGG growth and expands associated H3K27ac states, while promoting ZFTA-RELA (ZR

Limited Benefit From The Addition Of Immunotherapy To Chemotherapy In Tki-Refractory Egfr-Mutant Lung Adenocarcinoma, Lingzhi Hong, Whitney E Lewis, Monique Nilsson, Sonia Patel, Susan Varghese, Melvin J Rivera, Robyn R Du, Pingjun Chen, Haley N Kemp, Waree Rinsurongkawong, Simon Heeke, Amy R Spelman, Yasir Y Elamin, Marcelo V Negrao, Boris Sepesi, Don L Gibbons, J Jack Lee, Jia Wu, Natalie I Vokes, John V Heymach, Jianjun Zhang, Xiuning Le

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The benefit of chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy in EGFR-mutant lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) patients whose tumor developed resistance to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) is not thoroughly investigated. The goal of this retrospective cohort study is to assess the clinical efficiency of immunotherapy alone or in combination with chemotherapy in a real-world setting.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study enrolled LUAD patients with EGFR sensitive mutations whose tumor had acquired resistance to EGFR TKIs and received systemic treatment with chemotherapy (chemo; n = 84), chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy (chemoIO; n = 30), chemotherapy plus bevacizumab with or without IO (withBev; n …

Neuronal Activity Induces Glucosylceramide That Is Secreted Via Exosomes For Lysosomal Degradation In Glia, Liping Wang, Guang Lin, Zhongyuan Zuo, Yarong Li, Seul Kee Byeon, Akhilesh Pandey, Hugo J Bellen

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

Recessive variants in GBA1 cause Gaucher disease, a prevalent form of lysosome storage disease. GBA1 encodes a lysosomal enzyme that hydrolyzes glucosylceramide (GlcCer) into glucose and ceramide. Its loss causes lysosomal dysfunction and increased levels of GlcCer. We generated a null allele of the Drosophila ortholog Gba1b by inserting the Gal4 using CRISPR-Cas9. Here, we show that Gba1b is expressed in glia but not in neurons. Glial-specific knockdown recapitulates the defects found in Gba1b mutants, and these can be rescued by glial expression of human GBA1. We show that GlcCer is synthesized upon neuronal activity, and it is transported …

Kras Mutations As Essential Promoters Of Lymphangiogenesis Via Extracellular Vesicles In Pancreatic Cancer, Radu Pirlog, George A Calin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Kirsten rat sarcoma virus (KRAS) gene mutations are present in more than 90% of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDACs). KRASG12D is the most frequent alteration, promoting preneoplastic lesions and associating with a more aggressive phenotype. These tumors possess increased intratumoral lymphatic networks and frequent lymph node (LN) metastases. In this issue of the JCI, Luo, Li, et al. explored the relationship between the presence of the KRASG12D mutation and lymphangiogenesis in PDAC. The authors used in vitro and in vivo models and an elegant mechanistic approach to describe an alternative pathway for lymphangiogenesis promotion. KRASG12D induced SUMOylation of heterogenous nuclear ribonucleoprotein …

Pneumonitis After Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapies In Patients With Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Retrospective Cohort Study, Ajay Sheshadri, Alberto A Goizueta, Vickie R Shannon, David London, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Hagop M Kantarjian, Farhad Ravandi-Kashani, Tapan M Kadia, Marina Y Konopleva, Courtney D Dinardo, Sherry Pierce, Abdulrazzak Zarifa, Aya A Albittar, Linda L Zhong, Fechukwu O Akhmedzhanov, Muhammad H Arain, Mansour Alfayez, Ahmad Alotaibi, Mehmet Altan, Aung Naing, Tito R Mendoza, Myrna C B Godoy, Girish Shroff, Sang T Kim, Saadia A Faiz, Dimitrios P Kontoyiannis, Fareed Khawaja, Kristofer Jennings, Naval G Daver

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), combined with hypomethylating agents, can be used to treat acute myeloid leukemia (AML), but this strategy results in a high rate of pneumonitis. The authors sought to determine risk factors for pneumonitis development and whether pneumonitis increased mortality.

Methods: The authors conducted a retrospective review of 258 AML patients who received ICI-containing regimens from 2016 to 2018. A multidisciplinary adjudication committee diagnosed pneumonia and pneumonitis by reviewing symptoms, imaging, microbiology, and response to therapies. To measure risk factors for pneumonitis and mortality, multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were constructed. Pneumonia, pneumonitis, and disease progression were …

Infiltration Of Peripheral Immune Cells Into The Olfactory Bulb In A Mouse Model Of Acute Nasal Inflammation, Hinami Asano, Sanae Hasegawa-Ishii, Ken Arae, Aki Obara, Geoffroy Laumet, Robert Dantzer, Atsuyoshi Shimada

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Chronic nasal inflammation induces robust olfactory bulb (OB) atrophy in mice. Here we examined initial events that occur in the OB after bilateral intranasal administration of lipopolysaccharide, focusing on the olfactory nerve fibers and meninges. We analyzed the time course of OB and meninges inflammation using histological and biochemical approaches. Within 12 h, we observed increased chemokine expression and transient infiltration of peripheral immune cells into the OB, resulting in the development of pro-inflammatory status in the OB. Meningeal immunity was activated. Resident microglia produced anti-inflammatory cytokines within 24 h. These could be the initial events that lead to OB …

The Origin Of Bladder Cancer From Mucosal Field Effects, Jolanta Bondaruk, Roman Jaksik, Ziqiao Wang, David Cogdell, Sangkyou Lee, Yujie Chen, Khanh Ngoc Dinh, Tadeusz Majewski, Li Zhang, Shaolong Cao, Feng Tian, Hui Yao, Paweł Kuś, Huiqin Chen, John N Weinstein, Neema Navai, Colin Dinney, Jianjun Gao, Dan Theodorescu, Christopher Logothetis, Charles C Guo, Wenyi Wang, David Mcconkey, Peng Wei, Marek Kimmel, Bogdan Czerniak

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Whole-organ mapping was used to study molecular changes in the evolution of bladder cancer from field effects. We identified more than 100 dysregulated pathways, involving immunity, differentiation, and transformation, as initiators of carcinogenesis. Dysregulation of interleukins signified the involvement of inflammation in the incipient phases of the process. An aberrant methylation/expression of multiple HOX genes signified dysregulation of the differentiation program. We identified three types of mutations based on their geographic distribution. The most common were mutations restricted to individual mucosal samples that targeted uroprogenitor cells. Two types of mutations were associated with clonal expansion and involved large areas of …