Association of BRCA-mutant pancreatic cancer with high tumor mutational burden (TMB) and higher PD-L1 expression.

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 4133-4133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Seeber ◽  
Alberto Puccini ◽  
Joanne Xiu ◽  
Richard M. Goldberg ◽  
Axel Grothey ◽  
...  

4133 Background: In the U.S. 56,000 Americans are expected to be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2019. Prognosis in pancreatic cancer is poor. Therefore, new treatment strategies are urgently needed to improve survival. BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations have been described to be the most common genetic mutations involved in familial pancreatic cancer. The optimal treatment regimen to use in BRCA-mutant pancreatic cancer has still to be established. Moreover, no data are available on association of BRCA mutation with immune-associated markerssuch as tumor mutational burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI) or PD-L1 expression. Methods: Tumor samples of 2824 patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma were analyzed for BRCA mutation by NGS and for other genes (MiSeq on 47 genes, NextSeq on 592 genes) at Caris Life Sciences, Phoenix, AZ. TMB was calculated based on somatic nonsynonymous missense mutations, and MSI was evaluated by NGS of known MSI loci. PD-L1 expression was evaluated using immunohistochemistry. Results: In 4.4% (N = 124) of all pancreatic adenocarcinoma samples BRCA mutations were detected. BRCA2 mutations were more common: 3.1% (N = 89) vs 1.1% BRCA1 mutations (N = 35). BRCA mutations were associated with younger age ( BRCA1: 61 yrs for mutated vs. 64 for wild-type, p = 0.07; BRCA2: 61 yrs vs. 64, p = 0.002; both: p < 0.001). BRCA mutations were associated with higher MSI-H frequency (4.8% vs. 1.2%, p = 0.002), elevated PD-L1 expression (22% vs. 11%, p < 0.001) and higher TMB (mean 8.7 mut/MB vs. 6.5, p < 0.001); the differences remain significant in MSS tumors (p < 0.05). BRCA-mutant pancreatic carcinomas showed a significantly lower mutation frequencies in TP53 (59% vs 73%, p = 0.001), CKDN2A (13% vs 25%, p = 0.006), but higher frequencies in APC (6.5% vs 2.2%), KMT2A (1.9% vs 0.2%), AMER1 (1.9 vs 0.5%) and SETD2 (3.7% vs 0.4%) mutations (p < 0.05 for all comparisons). Conclusions: BRCA mutations are found in a significant subgroup of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and these carcinomas are associated with an immunogenic tumor profile. These data suggest evaluating PARP inhibitors in combination with immunotherapy in patients with BRCA-mutant pancreatic adenocarcinoma especially in tumors that are MSS.

2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (28) ◽  
pp. 3124-3129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spring Holter ◽  
Ayelet Borgida ◽  
Anna Dodd ◽  
Robert Grant ◽  
Kara Semotiuk ◽  
...  

Purpose The main purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of pathogenic BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in a consecutively ascertained clinic-based cohort of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and describe the clinical and family history characteristics. Patients and Methods Unselected, consecutive, incident patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma were recruited at a single cancer center over a 2-year period. Participants provided blood for DNA analysis and cancer family history, and cancer treatment records were reviewed. DNA from all patients was analyzed by Sanger sequencing and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification for germline variants in BRCA1 and BRCA2. Results Three hundred six patients were eligible for analysis. Pathogenic germline BRCA mutations were identified in 14 patients (4.6%; 95% CI, 2.2% to 6.9%), including 11 patients with a BRCA2 mutation and three patients with a BRCA1 mutation. Having a cancer family history that met genetic testing criteria of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network or the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care or self-reporting as Ashkenazi Jewish was significantly associated with BRCA mutation carrier status (P = .02, P < .001, and P = .05, respectively). However, the majority of the BRCA mutation–positive patients did not actually meet these genetic testing criteria. Conclusion Pathogenic BRCA mutations were identified in 4.6% of a large cohort of clinic-based patients. Considering the implications for family members of BRCA carriers, and possibly tailored chemotherapeutic treatment of patients, our finding has implications for broader BRCA genetic testing for patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.


2021 ◽  
pp. 05-10
Author(s):  
Hanan F. Aly

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a deadly sickness that stays incurable due to past due diagnosis, which renders any healing intervention challenging. Most PDAC sufferers expand de novo diabetes, which exacerbates their morbidity and mortality. How PDAC triggers diabetes continues to be unfolding. Using a mouse version of KrasG12D-pushed PDAC, which faithfully recapitulates the development of the human sickness, we determined a large and selective depletion of β-cells, taking place very early on the degrees of preneoplastic lesions. Mechanistically, it turned into observed that accelerated TGF beta (TGF-β) signaling throughout PDAC development induced erosion of β-mobileular mass thru apoptosis. Suppressing TGF-β signaling, both pharmacologically thru TGF-β immunoneutralization or genetically thru deletion of Smad4 or TGF-β kind II receptor (TβRII), afforded size able safety in opposition to PDAC-pushed β-mobileular depletion. From a translational perspective, each activation of TGF-β signaling and depletion of β-cells often arise in human PDAC, imparting a mechanistic cause of the pathogenesis of diabetes in PDAC sufferers, and similarly implicating new- onset diabetes as a capability early prognostic marker for PDAC. In this mini review we try to analyze the principle relationships between pancreatic cancer and diabetes and vice versa in addition to the implication of TGF-β signaling as a likely goal for attenuating diabetes in pancreatic most cancers patients.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 3119
Author(s):  
Rita T. Lawlor ◽  
Paola Mattiolo ◽  
Andrea Mafficini ◽  
Seung-Mo Hong ◽  
Maria L. Piredda ◽  
...  

Tumor mutational burden (TMB) is a numeric index that expresses the number of mutations per megabase (muts/Mb) harbored by tumor cells in a neoplasm. TMB can be determined using different approaches based on next-generation sequencing. In the case of high values, it indicates a potential response to immunotherapy. In this systematic review, we assessed the potential predictive role of high-TMB in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), as well as the histo-molecular features of high-TMB PDAC. High-TMB appeared as a rare but not-negligible molecular feature in PDAC, being present in about 1.1% of cases. This genetic condition was closely associated with mucinous/colloid and medullary histology (p < 0.01). PDAC with high-TMB frequently harbored other actionable alterations, with microsatellite instability/defective mismatch repair as the most common. Immunotherapy has shown promising results in high-TMB PDAC, but the sample size of high-TMB PDAC treated so far is quite small. This study highlights interesting peculiarities of PDAC harboring high-TMB and may represent a reliable starting point for the assessment of TMB in the clinical management of patients affected by pancreatic cancer.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 391-398
Author(s):  
Livia Petrusel ◽  
Maria Bilibou ◽  
Vasile Drug ◽  
Daniel Corneliu Leucuta ◽  
Radu Seicean ◽  
...  

Background and Aims: Pancreatic cancer is associated with poor survival and quality of life. In Romania the prognostic influence of known risk factors for pancreatic adenocarcinoma, such as age, smoking, chronic pancreatitis, diabetes mellitus, and obesity is little known. Their importance in developing cancer in families with a history of adenocarcinoma is less studied. This study aims to assess the risk factors in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, in familial pancreatic adenocarcinoma, in neuroendocrine tumors and to evaluate their predictive role on survival. Methods: We performed a prospective bicentric study of patients with pancreatic tumors detected in transabdominal imaging; we assessed the risk factors and their possible association with survival. Results: 312 pancreatic cancer patients (279 with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and 24 patients with neuroendocrine tumors, and nine patients with other malignant types) and 312 controls were included. The median body mass index was significantly higher in patients with neuroendocrine tumors. Positive family history for pancreatic cancer was found in 4% of patients with pancreatic cancer. The risk for familial pancreatic carcinoma was associated with the presence of new-onset diabetes (OR: 4.64, p=0.018). The multivariate logistic analysis suggested that advanced age (OR: 1.67), smoking (OR: 1.67), low body mass index (OR: 12.07), and diabetes (OR: 3.91) were risk factors for pancreatic cancer. The overall survival analysis after adjustment for age and tumor stage showed only advanced tumoral stage (HR=1.6, p=0.003) and metastasis as independent predicting factors (HR=1.67, p<0.001). Conclusion: Our study suggests that diabetes, smoking, underweight, and age over 60 years are risk factors for pancreatic cancer. Patients with a family history of pancreatic cancer, especially those with new-onset diabetes, should be followed carefully and considered for screening. Only an advanced tumor stage was associated with poor overall survival for patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-93
Author(s):  
Luca Digiacomo ◽  
Francesca Giulimondi ◽  
Daniela Pozzi ◽  
Alessandro Coppola ◽  
Vincenzo La Vaccara ◽  
...  

Due to late diagnosis, high incidence of metastasis, and poor survival rate, pancreatic cancer is one of the most leading cause of cancer-related death. Although manifold recent efforts have been done to achieve an early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, CA-19.9 is currently the unique biomarker that is adopted for the detection, despite its limits in terms of sensitivity and specificity. To identify potential protein biomarkers for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), we used three model liposomes as nanoplatforms that accumulate proteins from human plasma and studied the composition of this biomolecular layer, which is known as protein corona. Indeed, plasma proteins adsorb on nanoparticle surface according to their abundance and affinity to the employed nanomaterial, thus even small differences between healthy and PDAC protein expression levels can be, in principle, detected. By mass spectrometry experiments, we quantified such differences and identified possible biomarkers for PDAC. Some of them are already known to exhibit different expressions in PDAC proteomes, whereas the role of other relevant proteins is still not clear. Therefore, we predict that the employment of nanomaterials and their protein corona may represent a useful tool to amplify the detection sensitivity of cancer biomarkers, which may be used for the early diagnosis of PDAC, with clinical implication for the subsequent therapy in the context of personalized medicine.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1612
Author(s):  
Julie Earl ◽  
Emma Barreto ◽  
María E. Castillo ◽  
Raquel Fuentes ◽  
Mercedes Rodríguez-Garrote ◽  
...  

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) presents many challenges in the clinic and there are many areas for improvement in diagnostics and patient management. The five-year survival rate is around 7.2% as the majority of patients present with advanced disease at diagnosis that is treatment resistant. Approximately 10–15% of PDAC cases have a hereditary basis or Familial Pancreatic Cancer (FPC). Here we demonstrate the use of circulating free DNA (cfDNA) in plasma as a prognostic biomarker in PDAC. The levels of cfDNA correlated with disease status, disease stage, and overall survival. Furthermore, we show for the first time via BEAMing that the majority of hereditary or familial PDAC cases (around 84%) are negative for a KRAS somatic mutation. In addition, KRAS mutation negative cases harbor somatic mutations in potentially druggable genes such as KIT, PDGFR, MET, BRAF, and PIK3CA that could be exploited in the clinic. Finally, familial or hereditary cases have a longer overall survival compared to sporadic cases (10.2 vs. 21.7 months, respectively). Currently, all patients are treated the same in the clinic with cytotoxic agents, although here we demonstrate that there are different subtypes of tumors at the genetic level that could pave the way to personalized treatment.


2017 ◽  
Vol 313 (5) ◽  
pp. G524-G536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandrina Maertin ◽  
Jason M. Elperin ◽  
Ethan Lotshaw ◽  
Matthias Sendler ◽  
Steven D. Speakman ◽  
...  

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) displays extensive and poorly vascularized desmoplastic stromal reaction, and therefore, pancreatic cancer (PaCa) cells are confronted with nutrient deprivation and hypoxia. Here, we investigate the roles of autophagy and metabolism in PaCa cell adaptation to environmental stresses, amino acid (AA) depletion, and hypoxia. It is known that in healthy cells, basal autophagy is at a low level, but it is greatly activated by environmental stresses. By contrast, we find that in PaCa cells, basal autophagic activity is relatively high, but AA depletion and hypoxia activate autophagy only weakly or not at all, due to their failure to inhibit mechanistic target of rapamycin. Basal, but not stress-induced, autophagy is necessary for PaCa cell proliferation, and AA supply is even more critical to maintain PaCa cell growth. To gain insight into the underlying mechanisms, we analyzed the effects of autophagy inhibition and AA depletion on PaCa cell metabolism. PaCa cells display mixed oxidative/glycolytic metabolism, with oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) predominant. Both autophagy inhibition and AA depletion dramatically decreased OXPHOS; furthermore, pharmacologic inhibitors of OXPHOS suppressed PaCa cell proliferation. The data indicate that the maintenance of OXPHOS is a key mechanism through which autophagy and AA supply support PaCa cell growth. We find that the expression of oncogenic activation mutation in GTPase Kras markedly promotes basal autophagy and stimulates OXPHOS through an autophagy-dependent mechanism. The results suggest that approaches aimed to suppress OXPHOS, particularly through limiting AA supply, could be beneficial in treating PDAC. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Cancer cells in the highly desmoplastic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma confront nutrient [i.e., amino acids (AA)] deprivation and hypoxia, but how pancreatic cancer (PaCa) cells adapt to these conditions is poorly understood. This study provides evidence that the maintenance of mitochondrial function, in particular, oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), is a key mechanism that supports PaCa cell growth, both in normal conditions and under the environmental stresses. OXPHOS in PaCa cells critically depends on autophagy and AA supply. Furthermore, the oncogenic activation mutation in GTPase Kras upregulates OXPHOS through an autophagy-dependent mechanism.


2015 ◽  
Vol 148 (4) ◽  
pp. S-13
Author(s):  
Ujjwal M. Mahajan ◽  
Enno Langhoff ◽  
Eithne Costello ◽  
William Greenhalf ◽  
Christopher Halloran ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-121
Author(s):  
V. U. Rayn ◽  
◽  
M. A. Persidskiy ◽  
E. V. Malakhova ◽  
I. V. Anuchina ◽  
...  

Aim. To establish the association between pancreatic cancer precursor lesions and chronic opisthorchiasis. Materials and methods. A single center case-control study was conducted at a low-volume pancreatic surgery center in Khanty-Mansiysk. We retrospectively collected morphological data from 47 pancreatoduodenectomies performed for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. The study group included 23 cases of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma with concomitant chronic Opisthorchis felineus invasion which were compared to 24 controls consisting of “pure” cancer. Qualitative analysis was performed using χ2 Pearson criterion. Exact Fisher test was used for small samples. Time to progression and overall survival rates were calculated using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Data were collected and analyzed in Statistica 7.0. Results. PanINs were seen in 41,7% pancreata resected for ductal adenocarcinoma of the head and in 95,7% cases of pancreatic cancer in background of chronic opisthorchiasis (р = 0,000; 95% CI 3,5-268). PanIN high grade were observed only in opisthorchiasis group. In mixed pathology invasive cancer component tended to be more dedifferentiated and advanced when compared to pure cancer group (p = 0,029). Median disease free survival was 9 mo. in both groups and overall survival was 13 mo. in non-opisthorchiasis group and 15,3 mo. in opisthorchiasis group (р = 0,437). Conclusion. Chronic opisthorchiasis is associated with pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in background of opisthorchiasis with preneoplastic lesions tend to be more advanced in stage and poorly differentiated. Disease free and overall survival have no statistically significant differences in patients with and without Opisthorchis felineus invasion.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewelina Barcińska ◽  
Justyna Wierzbicka ◽  
Agata Zauszkiewicz-Pawlak ◽  
Dagmara Jacewicz ◽  
Aleksandra Dabrowska ◽  
...  

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is one of the most aggressive human malignancies, where the 5-year survival rate is less than 4% worldwide. Successful treatment of pancreatic cancer is a challenge for today’s oncology. Several studies showed that increased levels of oxidative stress may cause cancer cells damage and death. Therefore, we hypothesized that oxidative as well as nitro-oxidative stress is one of the mechanisms inducing pancreatic cancer programmed cell death. We decided to use silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) (2.6 and 18 nm) as a key factor triggering the reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells (PANC-1). Previously, we have found that AgNPs induced PANC-1 cells death. Furthermore, it is known that AgNPs may induce an accumulation of ROS and alteration of antioxidant systems in different type of tumors, and they are indicated as promising agents for cancer therapy. Then, the aim of our study was to evaluate the implication of oxidative and nitro-oxidative stress in this cytotoxic effect of AgNPs against PANC-1 cells. We determined AgNP-induced increase of ROS level in PANC-1 cells and pancreatic noncancer cell (hTERT-HPNE) for comparison purposes. We found that the increase was lower in noncancer cells. Reduction of mitochondrial membrane potential and changes in the cell cycle were also observed. Additionally, we determined the increase in RNS level: nitric oxide (NO) and nitric dioxide (NO2) in PANC-1 cells, together with increase in family of nitric oxide synthases (iNOS, eNOS, and nNOS) at protein and mRNA level. Disturbance of antioxidant enzymes: superoxide dismutase (SOD1, SOD2, and SOD3), glutathione peroxidase (GPX-4) and catalase (CAT) were proved at protein and mRNA level. Moreover, we showed cells ultrastructural changes, characteristic for oxidative damage. Summarizing, oxidative and nitro-oxidative stress and mitochondrial disruption are implicated in AgNPs-mediated death in human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells.


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