scholarly journals Radiogenomic signatures reveal multiscale intratumour heterogeneity associated with biological functions and survival in breast cancer

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming Fan ◽  
Pingping Xia ◽  
Robert Clarke ◽  
Yue Wang ◽  
Lihua Li

Abstract Advanced tumours are often heterogeneous, consisting of subclones with various genetic alterations and functional roles. The precise molecular features that characterize the contributions of multiscale intratumour heterogeneity to malignant progression, metastasis, and poor survival are largely unknown. Here, we address these challenges in breast cancer by defining the landscape of heterogeneous tumour subclones and their biological functions using radiogenomic signatures. Molecular heterogeneity is identified by a fully unsupervised deconvolution of gene expression data. Relative prevalence of two subclones associated with cell cycle and primary immunodeficiency pathways identifies patients with significantly different survival outcomes. Radiogenomic signatures of imaging scale heterogeneity are extracted and used to classify patients into groups with distinct subclone compositions. Prognostic value is confirmed by survival analysis accounting for clinical variables. These findings provide insight into how a radiogenomic analysis can identify the biological activities of specific subclones that predict prognosis in a noninvasive and clinically relevant manner.

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ugo Testa ◽  
Germana Castelli ◽  
Elvira Pelosi

Breast cancer is the most commonly occurring cancer in women. There were over two-million new cases in world in 2018. It is the second leading cause of death from cancer in western countries. At the molecular level, breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease, which is characterized by high genomic instability evidenced by somatic gene mutations, copy number alterations, and chromosome structural rearrangements. The genomic instability is caused by defects in DNA damage repair, transcription, DNA replication, telomere maintenance and mitotic chromosome segregation. According to molecular features, breast cancers are subdivided in subtypes, according to activation of hormone receptors (estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor), of human epidermal growth factors receptor 2 (HER2), and or BRCA mutations. In-depth analyses of the molecular features of primary and metastatic breast cancer have shown the great heterogeneity of genetic alterations and their clonal evolution during disease development. These studies have contributed to identify a repertoire of numerous disease-causing genes that are altered through different mutational processes. While early-stage breast cancer is a curable disease in about 70% of patients, advanced breast cancer is largely incurable. However, molecular studies have contributed to develop new therapeutic approaches targeting HER2, CDK4/6, PI3K, or involving poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors for BRCA mutation carriers and immunotherapy.


2010 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. BMI.S6184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sun Tian ◽  
Paul Roepman ◽  
Laura J van't Veer ◽  
Rene Bernards ◽  
Femke De Snoo ◽  
...  

Background MammaPrint was developed as a diagnostic tool to predict risk of breast cancer metastasis using the expression of 70 genes. To better understand the tumor biology assessed by MammaPrint, we interpreted the biological functions of the 70-genes and showed how the genes reflect the six hallmarks of cancer as defined by Hanahan and Weinberg. Results We used a bottom-up system biology approach to elucidate how the cellular processes reflected by the 70-genes work together to regulate tumor activities and progression. The biological functions of the genes were analyzed using literature research and several bioinformatics tools. Protein-protein interaction network analyses indicated that the 70-genes form highly interconnected networks and that their expression levels are regulated by key tumorigenesis related genes such as TP53, RB1, MYC, JUN and CDKN2A. The biological functions of the genes could be associated with the essential steps necessary for tumor progression and metastasis, and cover the six well-defined hallmarks of cancer, reflecting the acquired malignant characteristics of a cancer cell along with tumor progression and metastasis-related biological activities. Conclusion Genes in the MammaPrint gene signature comprehensively measure the six hallmarks of cancer-related biology. This finding establishes a link between a molecular signature and the underlying molecular mechanisms of tumor cell progression and metastasis.


Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Caswell-Jin ◽  
Carina Lorenz ◽  
Christina Curtis

Breast cancer comprises a heterogeneous group of tumor subtypes, whether defined by immunohistochemistry of key proteins, RNA expression profiles, or genetic alterations, and each of these subtypes may benefit from a distinct treatment approach. However, there can be striking heterogeneity within tumors, which may pose challenges to the development of personalized approaches to therapy. Intratumor heterogeneity can be divided into three main categories: genetic, phenotypic, and microenvironmental. Here, we review technologies to interrogate these three categories of heterogeneity in patient samples, as well as the current state of understanding of these categories in breast cancer, from cell to cell, across different regions of the same tumor mass, across treatment, and across metastasis. Efforts to characterize tumor heterogeneity longitudinally will be crucial to the development of personalized oncology for breast cancer. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Cancer Biology, Volume 5 is March 4, 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 955-963
Author(s):  
Gennaro Gadaleta-Caldarola ◽  
Rosanna Nenna ◽  
Laura Lanotte ◽  
Antonio Doronzo ◽  
Arianna Gadaleta-Caldarola ◽  
...  

Metaplastic breast cancer (MPBC) is a rare and aggressive tumor type in great need of satisfactory therapies. Although most cases of MPBC are ‘triple negative’, they are nonetheless related to worse outcomes compared with other triple-negative invasive tumors. MPBC presents high levels of genetic and molecular heterogeneity, suggesting that novel targeted therapies can be exploited. Overexpression of PD-L1 and high levels of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes have also been observed in these tumors, suggesting a role for immunotherapy. We present an updated literature revision on clinical, histopathological and molecular features of MPBC and their significance to prognosis and therapy options. We discuss emerging efforts to improve and personalize prognostic and therapeutic approaches, exploiting the molecular signature of MPBC with targeted therapies and immunotherapies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e13006-e13006
Author(s):  
Mingwei Li ◽  
Tongtong Yang ◽  
Huina Wang ◽  
Feng Lou ◽  
Shanbo Cao

e13006 Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in women world-wide. Assessments of genomic variants in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) have generated great enthusiasm for their potential application as clinically actionable biomarkers in the management of BC. Alterations in homologous recombination repair (HRR), are a determinant of sensitivity to platinum chemotherapy and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARPi) in BC. However, as far as we known, most of HRR genes, except BRCA1/2, have not yet been fully understood to date. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the comprehensive HRR genetic alteration profile of breast tumors among Chinese patients by ctDNA analysis. Methods: Plasma ctDNA from 259 patients with BC were deeply sequenced via next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques using AcornMed Biotechnology for 808 genes panel. Molecular profiles were reviewed to identify somatic and germline pathogenic mutations in the 14 HRR genes ( ATM, BRCA1, BRCA2, BRIP1, CHEK1, CHEK2, FANCA, PALB2, RAD51B, RAD51C, RAD51D, RAD54L, CDK12, and BARD1) . Results: At our institution, 259 patients underwent NGS analysis of BC specimens. The median age was 46 (range from 31 to 79). Based on the analysis of the genetic alteration profile from our cohort, at least one of the HRR genes was observed from 29.34% of the tumor samples, with BRCA1 (8.11%), BRCA2 (5.79%), RAD51C (5.02%), CDK12 (4.63%), CHEK2 (1.93%), ATM (1.16%), and BARD1 (1.16%) as the most commonly altered genes. As compared with MSKCC dataset (Table), genetic alterations detected from our cohort affected genes involved in HRR (29.34% vs. 14.03%, P<0.0001) pathways, with statistically different genetic alteration rates. Moreover, BRCA1/2, RAD51C, CDK12 and CHEK2 mutations exhibited higher mutation rates, whereas ATM, BRIP1 and PALB2 mutations presented a lower mutation rate in Chinese patients with breast cancer (P<0.05). Conclusions: CtDNA can characterize the mutational feature of HRR in BC. our study contributes to the understanding of the HRR pathways and specific genetic alterations harbored by Chinese patients with BC that could potentially be developed as markers of treatment response to targeted therapeutics. Ref: Razavi P, Chang MT, Xu GT, et al. The Genomic Landscape of Endocrine-Resistant Advanced Breast Cancers. Cancer Cell. 2018 Sep 10;34(3):427-438.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2018.08.008.[Table: see text]


Author(s):  
Apilak Worachartcheewan ◽  
Alla P. Toropova ◽  
Andrey A. Toropov ◽  
Reny Pratiwi ◽  
Virapong Prachayasittikul ◽  
...  

Background: Sirtuin 1 (Sirt1) and sirtuin 2 (Sirt2) are NAD+ -dependent histone deacetylases which play important functional roles in removal of the acetyl group of acetyl-lysine substrates. Considering the dysregulation of Sirt1 and Sirt2 as etiological causes of diseases, Sirt1 and Sirt2 are lucrative target proteins for treatment, thus there has been great interest in the development of Sirt1 and Sirt2 inhibitors. Objective: This study compiled the bioactivity data of Sirt1 and Sirt2 for the construction of quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models in accordance with the OECD principles. Method: Simplified molecular input line entry system (SMILES)-based molecular descriptors were used to characterize the molecular features of inhibitors while the Monte Carlo method of the CORAL software was employed for multivariate analysis. The data set was subjected to 3 random splits in which each split separated the data into 4 subsets consisting of training, invisible training, calibration and external sets. Results: Statistical indices for the evaluation of QSAR models suggested good statistical quality for models of Sirt1 and Sirt2 inhibitors. Furthermore, mechanistic interpretation of molecular substructures that are responsible for modulating the bioactivity (i.e. promoters of increase or decrease of bioactivity) was extracted via the analysis of correlation weights. It exhibited molecular features involved Sirt1 and Sirt2 inhibitors. Conclusion: It is anticipated that QSAR models presented herein can be useful as guidelines in the rational design of potential Sirt1 and Sirt2 inhibitors for the treatment of Sirtuin-related diseases.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 470-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazia Parveen ◽  
Amen Shamim ◽  
Seunghee Cho ◽  
Kyeong Kyu Kim

Background: Although most nucleotides in the genome form canonical double-stranded B-DNA, many repeated sequences transiently present as non-canonical conformations (non-B DNA) such as triplexes, quadruplexes, Z-DNA, cruciforms, and slipped/hairpins. Those noncanonical DNAs (ncDNAs) are not only associated with many genetic events such as replication, transcription, and recombination, but are also related to the genetic instability that results in the predisposition to disease. Due to the crucial roles of ncDNAs in cellular and genetic functions, various computational methods have been implemented to predict sequence motifs that generate ncDNA. Objective: Here, we review strategies for the identification of ncDNA motifs across the whole genome, which is necessary for further understanding and investigation of the structure and function of ncDNAs. Conclusion: There is a great demand for computational prediction of non-canonical DNAs that play key functional roles in gene expression and genome biology. In this study, we review the currently available computational methods for predicting the non-canonical DNAs in the genome. Current studies not only provide an insight into the computational methods for predicting the secondary structures of DNA but also increase our understanding of the roles of non-canonical DNA in the genome.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 832-836
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Buono ◽  
Francesco Schettini ◽  
Francesco Perri ◽  
Grazia Arpino ◽  
Roberto Bianco ◽  
...  

Traditionally, breast cancer (BC) is divided into different subtypes defined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) according to the expression of hormone receptors and overexpression/amplification of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), with crucial therapeutic implications. In the last few years, the definition of different BC molecular subgroups within the IHC-defined subtypes and the identification of the important role that molecular heterogeneity can play in tumor progression and treatment resistance have inspired the search for personalized therapeutic approaches. In this scenario, translational research represents a key strategy to apply knowledge from cancer biology to the clinical setting, through the study of all the tumors “omics”, including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, epigenomics, and metabolomics. Importantly, the introduction of new high-throughput technologies, such as next generation sequencing (NGS) for the study of cancer genome and transcriptome, greatly amplifies the potential and the applications of translational research in the oncology field. Moreover, the introduction of new experimental approaches, such as liquid biopsy, as well as new-concept clinical trials, such as biomarker-driven adaptive studies, may represent a turning point for BC translational research. </P><P> It is likely that translational research will have in the near future a significant impact on BC care, especially by giving us the possibility to dissect the complexity of tumor cell biology and develop new personalized treatment strategies.


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