Clinical Associations of Preoperative and Postoperative Serum CEA and Lung Cancer Outcome

Background: Serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), a classic tumour marker, is widely used in lung cancer in clinical practice. Nevertheless, few studies have elucidated the influence of dynamic changes in CEA in the perioperative phases, as a prognostic indicator, on lung cancer prognosis.Methods: This retrospective cohort analysis included consecutive patients with stage I-III lung cancer who underwent curative resection between December 2010 and December 2014. The patients were grouped into three cohorts: group A included patients with normal preoperative CEA, group B included patients with elevated preoperative CEA but normal postoperative CEA, and group C included patients with elevated preoperative and postoperative CEA. Five-year overall survival (OS) was estimated by Kaplan-Meier analysis (log-rank test). Multivariate analyses were performed with Cox proportional hazard regression.Results: A total of 1662 patients with stage I-III lung cancer were enrolled in our study. Patients with normal preoperative CEA had 15.9 and 20.1% better 3- and 5-year OS rates than the cohort with elevated preoperative CEA (p < 0.001). Furthermore, group C had 36.0 and 26.6% lower 5-year OS rates (n = 74, 32.4%) than group A (n = 1188, 68.4%) and group B (n = 139, 59.0%) (p < 0.001). Group B had poorer OS than group A (p = 0.016). For patients with different pathological TNM stages, subgroup analyses showed that group C had the shortest OS in stages I and II (p < 0.05), and patients with a post-preoperative CEA increment had poorer OS than those without an increment (p = 0.029). Multivariate analyses suggested that group C (HR = 2.0, 95% CI, 1.5–2.7, p < 0.001) rather than the group with normalized postoperative CEA (HR = 1.2, 95% CI, 0.9–1.5, p = 0.270) was an independent prognostic factor. In subgroup analysis of adenocarcinoma (ADC), survival analyses suggested that group C predicted a worse prognosis. Multivariate analysis of ADC indicated that group C was an independent adverse prognostic factor (HR = 1.9, 95% CI, 1.4–2.7, p < 0.001).Conclusions: Combined elevated preoperative and postoperative CEA is an independent adverse prognostic factor for stage I-III lung adenocarcinoma. Additionally, routine perioperative detection of serum CEA can yield valuable prognostic information for patients after lung cancer surgery.

JWA suppresses proliferation in trastuzumab-resistant breast cancer by downregulating CDK12

Breast cancer is the most common cancer worldwide. JWA is a microtubule-associated protein that has been identified as a tumor suppressor, and its downregulation in tumors is an independent adverse prognostic factor. The objective of this study was to explore the expression, regulation, and mechanism of JWA in trastuzumab-resistant breast cancers. In this study, we found that JWA expression was lower in trastuzumab-resistant breast cancers than that in trastuzumab-sensitive breast cancers. Furthermore, it was confirmed that overexpression of JWA inhibited proliferation and promoted apoptosis in trastuzumab-resistant breast cancers both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, the low expression of JWA in trastuzumab-resistant breast cancers is associated with a poor prognosis. Combining RNA-sequence datasets and next-generation sequencing, it was found that JWA negatively regulated CDK12, and was involved in the G1-to-S transition of the cell cycle. It has been reported that CDK12 drives breast cancer initiation and induces trastuzumab resistance. Taken together, high expression of JWA could inhibit the growth of trastuzumab-resistant breast cancer, and JWA is a potential predictive marker for trastuzumab resistance. In addition, targeted therapy with JWA may be a novel therapeutic strategy to improve the survival rate of trastuzumab-resistant breast cancer.

Loss of IL-34 Expression Indicates Poor Prognosis in Patients With Lung Adenocarcinoma

Interleukin 34 (IL-34), an additional ligand of the colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor (CSF-1R), promotes the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and stimulates NF-κB and JNK-related signaling pathways. However, the potential mechanism and prognostic value of IL-34 in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remain obscure. In this study, IL-34 was found to be downregulated in LUAD tissues compared with para-carcinoma tissues, and loss of IL-34 expression was correlated with shorter overall survival (OS), which was validated by bioinformatics\ analysis in TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) cohort and immunohistochemical analysis in the NTU (Nantong University) cohort, respectively. Subsequently, loss of IL-34 promotes negative regulation of the immune system and inhibits the infiltration of immune cells. Moreover, IL-34 deficiency was shown to be an independent adverse prognostic factor for patients with LUAD, and subgroup analysis indicated that IL-34 might contribute to the stratified management of patients with LUAD. IL-34-based nomogram model significantly improved the accuracy of prognostic predictions for OS of patients with LUAD, both in the TCGA cohort and the NTU cohort. Taken together, our data suggested that loss of IL-34 expression is associated with poor prognosis and negative regulation of the immune system of patients with LUAD, contributing to the stratified management of patients with LUAD.

Elevated mature monocytes in bone marrow accompanied with a higher IPSS-R score predicts a poor prognosis in myelodysplastic syndromes

Background Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) is a group of heterogeneous myeloid clonal diseases originating from hematopoietic stem cells. Clinically, elevated mature monocyte in bone marrow is often observed, but its clinical value still remains unclear. Methods We retrospectively analyzed a cohort of 216 MDS patients to explore the prognostic value of the percentage of mature monocyte in bone marrow (PMMBM). All patients were divided into elevated PMMBM group and the normal group by 6% PMMBM as the cut-off value. Results Our results showed that PMMBM> 6% was associated with inferior overall survival (OS) (P = 0.026) along with higher-risk IPSS-R (P = 0.025) and higher frequency of IDH2 mutation (P = 0.007). Multivariate analyses showed that besides older age (> 60 years) for OS, gender (male) for OS, lower neutrophil count (< 0.8 × 109/L) for OS, higher bone marrow blast percentage (> 5%) for OS and LFS, poorer karyotype for OS, elevated PMMBM was also an independent adverse prognostic factor for OS in MDS (P < 0.0001) but not for LFS (P = 0.736). Conclusions These findings indicate that increased PMMBM may assists Revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R) to predict a poor outcome and provide a novel evaluation factor for MDS patients especially when their karyotype analyses fail.

Elevated mature monocytes in bone marrow accompanied with a higher IPSS-R score predicts a poor prognosis in myelodysplastic syndromes

Background: Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) is a group of heterogeneousmyeloid clonal diseases originating from hematopoietic stem cells. Clinically, elevated mature monocyte is often observed, but its clinical value still remains unclear.Methods: We retrospectively analyzed a cohort of 235 MDS patients to explore the prognostic value of the percentage of mature monocyte in bone marrow (PMMBM). All patients were divided into elevated PMMBM group and the normal group by 6% PMMBM as the cut-off value. Results: Our results showed that PMMBM>6% was associated with inferior overall survival (OS) (P=0.007) and leukemia-free survival (LFS) (P=0.016) along with higher Revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R) score (P<0.0001) and higher frequency of IDH2 mutation (P=0.001). Multivariate analyses showed that besides older age (>60 years), lower hemoglobin level (<10 g/dl), higher bone marrow blast percentage (>5%), poorer karyotype, elevated PMMBM was also an independent adverse prognostic factor for OS in MDS (P=0.049). Conclusions: These findings indicate that increased PMMBM accompanied with a higher IPSS-R score may predict a poor outcome and provide a novel evaluation factor for MDS patients especially when their karyotype analyses fail.

Alternative Donor and Disease-Specific Conditioning Regimen Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for Inherited Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes

Background: The outcomes of alternative donor haematopoietic stem cell Transplantation(HSCT)for Inherited bone marrow failure syndromes(IBMFS) have not been well described,especially the conditioning regimens are major challenges ,each disease type has different characteristics, whether engraftment can be achieved with less toxicity. Method : With this background,we retrospectively analyzed alternative donor HSCT for 42 patients with IBMFS in our single center from November 2012 to August 2018. Results: 27 cases were Fanconia anemia(FA),7 cases were dyskeratosis congenital(DC), 8 cases were severe congenital neutropenias(SCN). The median age at diagnosis and transplantation were 4(1 to 25 ) years and 10(1.9 to 26)years respectively. Male to female was 28 :14. All patients were confirmed to have BMF and disease-specific pathogenesis-related gene mutations. 16 cases had disease specific congenital anomalies, 10 patients had family history. Chromosomal fragility test was positive in 8 cases of FA group. Indication of HSCT for FA and DC patients which were 30 patients had BMF or transfusion dependency at transplantation;4 cases had clonal disease (2 cases myelodysplasia, 2 cases acute myeloid leukaemia). Indication of HSCT for SCN patients were uncontrollable severe infection .FA received low dose Busulfan (Bu;total dose of 6.4 mg/kg, IV), Fludarabine (Flu; total dose of 120 mg/m2, IV) , Cyclophosphamide (Cy; total dose of 2.0 g/m2, IV) based-reduced intensity conditioning(RIC) ; DC patients received low dose TBI (total 300cGy, Special position, supine) , Flu(total dose of 120 mg/m2, IV) , Cy( total dose of 3.0 g/m2, IV) based-RIC, while SCN patients had Bu(total dose of 12.8 mg/kg, IV),Cy( total dose of 3.6 g/m2, IV) or Flu(total dose of 160 mg/m2, IV) based -myeloablative conditioning(MA); and all patients combinated either of 2 different rabbit ATG ,ATG-T , rabbit anti-human thymocyte immunoglobulin, total dose 5.0 -10 mg/kg in 26 cases or ATG-F ,rabbit anti-human lymphocyte immunoglobulin, total dose 20 mg/kg in 14 cases. Campath-1, Anti-CD52 mAb was accepted with total dose 1mg/kg in 2 cases. Donor types were matched unrelated donor(MUD) in 22 patients ,Haploidentical donor (HID) in 17 patients,unrelated cord blood (UCB) in three cases. Unmanipulated stem cells were used for all patients. The Haplo-HSCT cohort received granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)-primed BM combined with peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) , The MUD HSCT cohort only received G-CSF PBSCs. The UCB HSCT cohort received one unit CB . No primary graft failure was observed. The median myeloid engraftment time was 14 (range, 10 to 21) days.Survivor median follow-up time was 38 months (range, 9-63 months), the overall survival in all patients was 76.1% ,in FA,DC,SCN were 72.4% ,100%,53.0% respectively. Cumulative incidence of 100 days acute graft-versus-host disease(GVHD) was 48.1%,Cumulative incidence 1 year and 3 years of chronic GVHD were 35.0% and 69.3% respectively. The positive chromosomal fragility test was the only independent adverse prognostic factor in multivariate analysis for FA patients rather than age ,donor type and graft source. Main causes of death were GVHD (50%) and infection (20%).No secondary malignancies occurred after HSCT till the last follow up time. Conclusion: In our study, alternative donor and disease-specific conditioning regimen HSCT for IBMFS showed promising prognosis especially for DC patients. Chromosomal fragility test positive was the only independent adverse prognostic factor in HSCT for FA patients. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.