scholarly journals Renal Cell Tumors: Uncovering the Biomarker Potential of ncRNAs

Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 2214
Author(s):  
Gonçalo Outeiro-Pinho ◽  
Daniela Barros-Silva ◽  
Margareta P. Correia ◽  
Rui Henrique ◽  
Carmen Jerónimo
Keyword(s):  
Renal Cell ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Patient Management ◽  
Scale Validation ◽  
Clinical Importance ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Clinical Implementation ◽  
Renal Cell Tumors ◽  
Patient Responsiveness ◽  
Improve Patient Management

Renal cell tumors (RCT) remain as one of the most common and lethal urological tumors worldwide. Discrimination between (1) benign and malignant disease, (2) indolent and aggressive tumors, and (3) patient responsiveness to a specific therapy is of major clinical importance, allowing for a more efficient patient management. Nonetheless, currently available tools provide limited information and novel strategies are needed. Over the years, a putative role of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) as disease biomarkers has gained relevance and is now one of the most prolific fields in biological sciences. Herein, we extensively sought the most significant reports on ncRNAs as potential RCTs’ diagnostic, prognostic, predictive, and monitoring biomarkers. We could conclude that ncRNAs, either alone or in combination with currently used clinical and pathological parameters, might represent key elements to improve patient management, potentiating the implementation of precision medicine. Nevertheless, most ncRNA biomarkers require large-scale validation studies, prior to clinical implementation.

scholarly journals Blood-Based Biomarkers for Glioma in the Context of Gliomagenesis: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamza Ali ◽  
Romée Harting ◽  
Ralph de Vries ◽  
Meedie Ali ◽  
Thomas Wurdinger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Scale Validation ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Area Under The Curve ◽  
Clinical Implementation ◽  
Glial Tumor ◽  
Multiple Biomarkers ◽  
Degree Of Malignancy ◽  
New Research

BackgroundGliomas are the most common and aggressive tumors of the central nervous system. A robust and widely used blood-based biomarker for glioma has not yet been identified. In recent years, a plethora of new research on blood-based biomarkers for glial tumors has been published. In this review, we question which molecules, including proteins, nucleic acids, circulating cells, and metabolomics, are most promising blood-based biomarkers for glioma diagnosis, prognosis, monitoring and other purposes, and align them to the seminal processes of cancer.MethodsThe Pubmed and Embase databases were systematically searched. Biomarkers were categorized in the identified biomolecules and biosources. Biomarker characteristics were assessed using the area under the curve (AUC), accuracy, sensitivity and/or specificity values and the degree of statistical significance among the assessed clinical groups was reported.Results7,919 references were identified: 3,596 in PubMed and 4,323 in Embase. Following screening of titles, abstracts and availability of full-text, 262 articles were included in the final systematic review. Panels of multiple biomarkers together consistently reached AUCs >0.8 and accuracies >80% for various purposes but especially for diagnostics. The accuracy of single biomarkers, consisting of only one measurement, was far more variable, but single microRNAs and proteins are generally more promising as compared to other biomarker types.ConclusionPanels of microRNAs and proteins are most promising biomarkers, while single biomarkers such as GFAP, IL-10 and individual miRNAs also hold promise. It is possible that panels are more accurate once these are involved in different, complementary cancer-related molecular pathways, because not all pathways may be dysregulated in cancer patients. As biomarkers seem to be increasingly dysregulated in patients with short survival, higher tumor grades and more pathological tumor types, it can be hypothesized that more pathways are dysregulated as the degree of malignancy of the glial tumor increases. Despite, none of the biomarkers found in the literature search seem to be currently ready for clinical implementation, and most of the studies report only preliminary application of the identified biomarkers. Hence, large-scale validation of currently identified and potential novel biomarkers to show clinical utility is warranted.

scholarly journals Immunotherapy Monitoring with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors Based on [18F]FDG PET/CT in Metastatic Melanomas and Lung Cancer

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (21) ◽  
pp. 5160
Author(s):  
Egesta Lopci
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Clinical Laboratory ◽  
Scale Validation ◽  
Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Laboratory Data ◽  
Major Change ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
Response Criteria ◽  
Clinical Implementation ◽  
Pet Ct

Immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors has prompted a major change not only in cancer treatment but also in medical imaging. In parallel with the implementation of new drugs modulating the immune system, new response criteria have been developed, aiming to overcome clinical drawbacks related to the new, unusual, patterns of response characterizing both solid tumors and lymphoma during the course of immunotherapy. The acknowledgement of pseudo-progression, hyper-progression, immune-dissociated response and so forth, has become mandatory for all imagers dealing with this clinical scenario. A long list of acronyms, i.e., irRC, iRECIST, irRECIST, imRECIST, PECRIT, PERCIMT, imPERCIST, iPERCIST, depicts the enormous effort made by radiology and nuclear medicine physicians in the last decade to optimize imaging parameters for better prediction of clinical benefit in immunotherapy regimens. Quite frequently, a combination of clinical-laboratory data with imaging findings has been tested, proving the ability to stratify patients into various risk groups. The next steps necessarily require a large scale validation of the most robust criteria, as well as the clinical implementation of immune-targeting tracers for immuno-PET or the exploitation of radiomics and artificial intelligence as complementary tools during the course of immunotherapy administration. For the present review article, a summary of PET/CT role for immunotherapy monitoring will be provided. By scrolling into various cancer types and applied response criteria, the reader will obtain necessary information for better understanding the potentials and limitations of the modality in the clinical setting.

scholarly journals School Choice During a Period of Radical School Reform. Evidence from Academy Conversion in England

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Bertoni ◽  
Stephen Gibbons ◽  
Olmo Silva
Keyword(s):  
School Choice ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
English Education ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
State Control ◽  
High Performing ◽  
Opt Out ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
Expected Benefits ◽  
State Schools

Abstract We study how demand responds to the rebranding of existing state schools as autonomous ‘academies’ in the context of a radical and large-scale reform to the English education system. The academy programme encouraged schools to opt out of local state control and funding, but provided parents and students with limited information on the expected benefits. We use administrative data on school applications for three cohorts of students to estimate whether this rebranding changes schools’ relative popularity. We find that families – particularly higher-income, White British – are more likely to rank converted schools above non-converted schools on their applications. We also find that it is mainly schools that are high-performing, popular and proximate to families’ homes that attract extra demand after conversion. Overall, the patterns we document suggest that families read academy conversion as a signal of future quality gains – although this signal is in part misleading as we find limited evidence that conversion causes improved performance.

scholarly journals Multicenter Evaluation of an ELISA for the Detection of Cryptosporidium spp. Antigen in Clinical Human Stool Samples

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 209
Author(s):  
Romy Razakandrainibe ◽  
Célia Mérat ◽  
Nathalie Kapel ◽  
Marc Sautour ◽  
Karine Guyot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Cryptosporidium Oocyst ◽  
Clinical Importance ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Elisa Test ◽  
Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽  
Cryptosporidium Spp ◽  
Stool Samples ◽  
Conventional Microscopy ◽  
Human Stool

Human cryptosporidiosis remains underdiagnosed, and rapid/accurate diagnosis is of clinical importance. Diagnosis of the Cryptosporidium oocyst in stool samples by conventional microscopy is labor-intensive, time-consuming, and requires skillful experience. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the usefulness of a coproantigen enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test in detecting Cryptosporidium spp. from fecal specimens. For this aim, we evaluated the performances of a commercial ELISA (CoproELISA Cryptosporidium kit, Savyon Diagnostics, Israel) for the detection of Cryptosporidium spp. in random clinical stool samples through a multicenter study. The sensitivity and specificity for coproantigen ELISA were 98.86% and 94.32%, respectively. The coproantigen ELISA results indicate that the simple, rapid, reliable, and standardized immunoassay test is sensitive and specific for routine diagnosis, and may be useful for large-scale epidemiological studies of cryptosporidiosis.

scholarly journals Prospect of positron emission tomography for abdominal aortic aneurysm risk stratification

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richa Gandhi ◽  
Michael Bell ◽  
Marc Bailey ◽  
Charalampos Tsoumpas
Keyword(s):  
Positron Emission Tomography ◽  
Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm ◽  
Aortic Aneurysm ◽  
Risk Stratification ◽  
Patient Management ◽  
Emission Tomography ◽  
Clinical Implementation ◽  
Positron Emission ◽  
Abdominal Aortic

AbstractAbdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) disease is characterized by an asymptomatic, permanent, focal dilatation of the abdominal aorta progressing towards rupture, which confers significant mortality. Patient management and surgical decisions rely on aortic diameter measurements via abdominal ultrasound surveillance. However, AAA rupture can occur at small diameters or may never occur at large diameters, implying that anatomical size is not necessarily a sufficient indicator. Molecular imaging may help identify high-risk patients through AAA evaluation independent of aneurysm size, and there is the question of the potential role of positron emission tomography (PET) and emerging role of novel radiotracers for AAA. Therefore, this review summarizes PET studies conducted in the last 10 years and discusses the usefulness of PET radiotracers for AAA risk stratification. The most frequently reported radiotracer was [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose, indicating inflammatory activity and reflecting the biomechanical properties of AAA. Emerging radiotracers include [18F]-labeled sodium fluoride, a calcification marker, [64Cu]DOTA-ECL1i, an indicator of chemokine receptor type 2 expression, and [18F]fluorothymidine, a marker of cell proliferation. For novel radiotracers, preliminary trials in patients are warranted before their widespread clinical implementation. AAA rupture risk is challenging to evaluate; therefore, clinicians may benefit from PET-based risk assessment to guide patient management and surgical decisions.

Exploiting Synthetic Lethal Network for Precision Treatment of Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhicheng Liu ◽  
Dongxu Lin ◽  
Linmeng Zhang ◽  
Chen Yang ◽  
Bin Guo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Renal Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Renal Cell ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Clear Cell ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Synthetic Lethality ◽  
Treatment Modalities ◽  
Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

Abstract Background The emerging of targeted therapies has revolutionized the treatment modalities of advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) over the past fifteen years. However, lack of personalized treatment limits the development of effective clinical guidelines and improvement of patient prognosis. In this study, large-scale genomic profiles of ccRCC cohorts were exploited for conducting an integrative analysis. Method Based on synthetic lethality (SL), a concept that simultaneous losses of two genes cause cell death while a single loss does not, we sought to develop a computational pipeline to infer potential SL partners of ccRCC. Drug response prediction were received from three pharmacological databases to select agents which are likely to be effective in precisely treating patients with target gene mutation. Results We developed a credible method to identify SL pairs and determined a list of 72 candidate pairs which might be utilized to selectively eliminate tumors with genetic aberrations through SL partners of specific mutations. Further analysis identified BRD4 and PRKDC as novel medicine targets for patients with BAP1 mutations. After mapping these target genes to comprehensive drug datasets, two agents (BI-2536 and PI-103) were found to have considerable therapeutic potential in BAP1 mutant tumors. Conclusion Overall, our findings provide insight into the overview of ccRCC mutation patterns and offer novel opportunities for improving individualized cancer treatment.

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