scholarly journals Targeted Neoadjuvant Therapies in HR+/HER2−Breast Cancers: Challenges for Improving pCR

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 458
Author(s):  
Nandini Dey ◽  
Jennifer Aske ◽  
Pradip De

A strong association of pCR (pathological complete response) with disease-free survival or overall survival is clinically desirable. The association of pCR with disease-free survival or overall survival in ER+/HER2−breast cancers following neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NAT) or neoadjuvant endocrine therapy (NET) is relatively low as compared to the other two subtypes of breast cancers, namely triple-negative and HER2+ amplified. On the bright side, a neoadjuvant model offers a potential opportunity to explore the efficacy of novel therapies and the associated genomic alterations, thus providing a rare personalized insight into the tumor’s biology and the tumor cells’ response to the drug. Several decades of research have taught us that the disease’s biology is a critical factor determining the tumor cells’ response to any therapy and hence the final outcome of the disease. Here we propose two scenarios wherein apoptosis can be induced in ER+/HER2− breast cancers expressing wild type TP53 and RB genes following combinations of BCL2 inhibitor, MDM2 inhibitor, and cell-cycle inhibitor. The suggested combinations are contextual and based on the current understanding of the cell signaling in the ER+/HER2− breast cancers. The two combinations of drugs are (1) BCL2 inhibitor plus a cell-cycle inhibitor, which can prime the tumor cells for apoptosis, and (2) BCL2 inhibitor plus an MDM2 inhibitor.

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. BCBCR.S40856 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Sayed ◽  
A.M. Zahran ◽  
M.S.F. Hassan ◽  
D.O. Mohamed

Purpose Despite the therapeutic advances, disease recurrence remains an ever-present threat to the health and well-being of breast cancer survivors. Assessment of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and cancer stem cells (CSCs) during and after treatment may be of value in refining treatment. Methods Three 5 mL blood samples were taken from each patient: the first, at diagnosis; the second, after completion of neoadjuvant anthracyclin-based chemotherapy; and the third, a month after surgery and completion of adjuvant radiotherapy. The absolute numbers of CTCs were identified as CD45-cytokeratin+ cells. CTCs per 5 mL of blood were determined by recording all events in the whole suspension. CSCs were identified as cytokeratin+CD44+CD24-/CD45- cells. The CSCs were expressed as a percentage of CTCs. Results Univariate analysis identified the measurements of baseline CTCs and CSCs, taken after chemotherapy and one month after the cessation of radiotherapy, as prognostic factors for both four-year disease-free survival and four-year overall survival. Multivariable analysis identified the third measurement of CSCs, taken one month after the completion of radiotherapy, as the only independent prognostic factor for the four-year disease-free survival (P < 0.002, hazard ratio [HR] = 1.231, 95% CI 1.077–1.407). The initial CTC measurement was the one factor that reached significance on multivariate analysis (P < 0.03, HR 1.969, 95% CI 1.092–3.551) for the four-year overall survival. Correlation was higher between CTC and CSC counts at diagnosis ( r = 0.654, P < 0.001) than after chemotherapy ( r = 0.317, P < 0.03), because of the more rapid decrease in the mean CTC count with chemotherapy. Conclusion The CTC count could be suitable as one of the measures for monitoring response to chemotherapy, while persistence of CSC after cessation of the treatment of nonmetastatic breast cancer, except hormonal therapy when indicated, may be a reason to consider additional therapy in the future. These findings need confirmation in larger randomized trials.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Feng Xiang ◽  
Linman Li ◽  
Jieling Lin ◽  
Shasha Li ◽  
Guiyuan Peng

Objective. Zao-Jiao-Ci (ZJC), a traditional Chinese medicine, is considered as a promising candidate to treat laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). However, the underlying molecular mechanism remains unclear. Methods. Gene expression profiles of GSE36668 were available from the GEO database, and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of LSCC were obtained by R package; subsequently, enrichment analysis on KEGG and GO of DEGs was performed. The active ingredients of ZJC were screened from the TCMSP database, and the matched candidate targets were obtained by PharmMapper. Furthermore, we constructed protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks of DEGs and candidate targets, respectively, and we screened the core network from the merged network through combining the two PPI networks using Cytoscape 3.7.2. The key targets derived from the core network were analyzed to find out the associated KEGG signal enrichment pathway. By the GEPIA online website, Kaplan–Meier analysis was used to complete the overall survival and disease-free survival of the selected genes in the core module. Results. We identified 96 candidate targets of ZJC and 86 DEGs of LSCC, the latter including 50 upregulated genes and 36 downregulated genes. DEGs were obviously enriched in the following biological functions: extracellular structure organization, the extracellular matrix organization, and endodermal cell differentiation. The 60 key targets from the core network were enriched in the signal pathways including transcriptional misregulation cancer, cell cycle, and so on. We found that LSCC patients with high expression of HIST1H3J, HIST1H3F, and ITGA4 had worse overall survival, while higher expression of NTRK1, COPS5, HIST1H3A, and HIST1H3G had significantly worse disease-free survival. Conclusion. It suggested that the interaction between ZJC and LSCC was related to the signal pathways of transcriptional misregulation cancer and cell cycle, revealing that it may be the mechanism of ZJC in the treatment of LSCC.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liping Zhuang ◽  
Zongguo Yang ◽  
Zhiqiang Meng

Objective. To evaluate the association between upregulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and the outcomes of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods. Using Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets including GSE45436, GSE55092, GSE60502, GSE84402, and GSE17548, we detected upregulated DEGs in tumors. KEGG, GO, and Reactome enrichment analysis of the DEGs was conducted to clarify their function. The impact of the upregulated DEGs on patients’ survival was analyzed based on TCGA profile. Results. 161 shared upregulated DEGs were identified among GSE45436, GSE55092, GSE60502, and GSE84402 profiles. Cell cycle was the shared pathway/biological process in the gene sets investigation among databases of KEGG, GO, and Reactome. After being validated in GSE17548, 13 genes including BUB1B, CCNA2, CCNB1, CCNE2, CDC20, CDC6, CDC7, CDK1, CDK4, CDKN2A, CHEK1, MAD2L1, and MCM3 in cell cycle pathway were shared in the three databases for enrichment. The expression of BUB1B, CCNB1, CDC7, CDC20, and MCM3 was upregulated in HCC tissues when compared with adjacent normal tissues in 6.67%, 7.5%, 8.06%, 5.56%, and 9.72% of HCC patients, respectively. Overexpression of BUB1B, CCNB1, CDC7, CDC20, and MCM3 in HCC tissues accounted for poorer overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in HCC patients (all log rank P < 0.05). BUB1B, CCNB1, CDC7, CDC20, and MCM3 were all overexpressed in HCC patients with neoplasm histologic grade G3-4 compared to those with G1-2 (all P < 0.05). BUB1B, CCNB1, and CDC20 were significantly upregulated in HCC patients with vascular invasion (all P < 0.05). Additionally, levels of BUB1B, CCNB1, CDC7, and CDC20 were significantly higher in HCC patients deceased, recurred, or progressed (all P < 0.05). Conclusion. Correlated with advanced histologic grade and/or vascular invasion, upregulation of BUB1B, CCNB1, CDC7, CDC20, and MCM3 in HCC tissues predicted worse OS and DFS in HCC patients. These genes could be novel therapeutic targets for HCC treatment.


2010 ◽  
Vol 63 (8) ◽  
pp. 744-747 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rutika Mehta ◽  
Rohit K Jain ◽  
Nour Sneige ◽  
Sunil Badve ◽  
Erika Resetkova

One-fifth of breast cancers have the triple-negative phenotype; a good prognostic marker has yet not been described for these tumours. Tumour microarrays from 58 triple-negative patients treated with surgery followed by chemotherapy were analysed for expression of cytokeratin 5/6 (CK5/6), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), vimentin, p63 and cytokeratin 34βE12. The mean patient age was 59.2 years with a follow-up from 39 to 168 months. Clinicopathological variables and survival data were correlated with biomarker expression. The frequency of expression of cytokeratin 5/6, EGFR, vimentin, p63 and 34βE12 was 33%, 65%, 50%, 19% and 85%, respectively. Each of 34βE12, p63, EGFR and T stage significantly correlated with both disease-free survival and overall survival. T stage and 34βE12 were independent predictors of overall survival in a multivariate analysis. Expression of 34βE12 predicts disease-free and overall survival in patients with triple-negative tumours. Additional studies are planned to confirm these initial findings.


Author(s):  
Zhen Yang ◽  
Hengjun Gao ◽  
Jun Lu ◽  
Zheyu Niu ◽  
Huaqiang Zhu ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective There are limited data from retrospective studies on whether therapeutic outcomes after regular pancreatectomy are superior to those after enucleation in patients with small, peripheral and well-differentiated non-functional pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. This study aimed to compare the short- and long-term outcomes of regular pancreatectomy and enucleation in patients with non-functional pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. Methods Between January 2007 and July 2020, 227 patients with non-functional pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors who underwent either enucleation (n = 89) or regular pancreatectomy (n = 138) were included. Perioperative complications, disease-free survival, and overall survival probabilities were compared. Propensity score matching was performed to balance the baseline differences between the two groups. Results The median follow-up period was 60.76 months in the enucleation group and 43.29 months in the regular pancreatectomy group. In total, 34 paired patients were identified after propensity score matching. The average operative duration in the enucleation group was significantly shorter than that in the regular pancreatectomy group (147.94 ± 42.39 min versus 217.94 ± 74.60 min, P &lt; 0.001), and the estimated blood loss was also significantly lesser (P &lt; 0.001). The matched patients who underwent enucleation displayed a similar overall incidence of postoperative complications (P = 0.765), and a comparable length of hospital stay (11.12 ± 3.90 days versus 9.94 ± 2.62 days, P = 0.084) compared with those who underwent regular pancreatectomy. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in disease-free survival and overall survival after propensity score matching. Conclusion Enucleation in patients with non-functional pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors was associated with shorter operative time, lesser intraoperative bleeding, similar overall morbidity of postoperative complications, and comparable 5-year disease-free survival and overall survival when compared with regular pancreatectomy.


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