Cell phenotype underlies prostate cancer presentation and treatment resistance and can be regulated by epigenomic features. However, the osteotropic tendency of prostate cancer limits access to metastatic tissue, meaning most prior insights into prostate cancer chromatin biology are from preclinical models that do not fully represent disease complexity. Noninvasive chromatin immunoprecipitation of histones in plasma cell-free in humans may enable capture of disparate prostate cancer phenotypes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDe novo metastatic prostate cancer is highly aggressive, but the paucity of routinely collected tissue has hindered genomic stratification and precision oncology. Here, we leveraged a rare study of surgical intervention in 43 de novo metastatic prostate cancers to assess somatic genotypes across 607 synchronous primary and metastatic tissue regions plus circulating tumor DNA. Intra-prostate heterogeneity was pervasive and impacted clinically relevant genes, resulting in discordant genotypes between select primary restricted regions and synchronous metastases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAssessing chemical safety is essential to evaluate the potential risks of chemical exposure to human health and the environment. Traditional methods relying on animal testing are being replaced by 3R (reduction, refinement, and replacement) principle-based alternatives, mainly depending on test methods and the Adverse Outcome Pathway framework. However, these approaches often focus on the properties of the compound, missing the broader chemical-biological interaction perspective.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSummary: Biological data repositories are an invaluable source of publicly available research evidence. Unfortunately, the lack of convergence of the scientific community on a common metadata annotation strategy has resulted in large amounts of data with low FAIRness (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable). The possibility of generating high-quality insights from their integration relies on data curation, which is typically an error-prone process while also being expensive in terms of time and human labour.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The isolation of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from the bloodstream can be used to detect and analyze somatic alterations in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), and multiple cfDNA-targeted sequencing panels are now commercially available for Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved biomarker indications to guide treatment. More recently, cfDNA fragmentation patterns have emerged as a tool to infer epigenomic and transcriptomic information. However, most of these analyses used whole-genome sequencing, which is insufficient to identify FDA-approved biomarker indications in a cost-effective manner.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIndividuals with grandiose narcissism exhibit enhanced antagonism and a defensive pattern of discordance between their emotional and physiological reactions to self-threatening evaluations. Although theoretical perspectives link narcissistic defensiveness to negative emotions, empirical evidence linking grandiose narcissism to emotional reactivity remains mixed. The current study used self-reported affect, electrocardiography, and facial electromyography (fEMG) to examine whether people scoring high in grandiose narcissism show amplified physiological and self-reported emotional reactivity to negative social evaluation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe varied transcriptomic response to nanoparticles has hampered the understanding of the mechanism of action. Here, by performing a meta-analysis of a large collection of transcriptomics data from various engineered nanoparticle exposure studies, we identify common patterns of gene regulation that impact the transcriptomic response. Analysis identifies deregulation of immune functions as a prominent response across different exposure studies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAfter drainage for forestry and agriculture, peat extraction is one of the most important causes of peatland degradation. When peat extraction is ceased, multiple after-use options exist, including abandonment, restoration, and replacement (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Analysis of DNA methylation is a valuable tool to understand disease progression and is increasingly being used to create diagnostic and prognostic clinical biomarkers. While conversion of cytosine to 5-methylcytosine (5mC) commonly results in transcriptional repression, further conversion to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) is associated with transcriptional activation. Here we perform the first study integrating whole-genome 5hmC with DNA, 5mC, and transcriptome sequencing in clinical samples of benign, localized, and advanced prostate cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOligodendrogliomas are typically associated with the most favorable prognosis among diffuse gliomas. However, many of the tumors progress, eventually leading to patient death. To characterize the changes associated with oligodendroglioma recurrence and progression, we analyzed two recurrent oligodendroglioma tumors upon diagnosis and after tumor relapse based on whole-genome and RNA sequencing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Pulmonary involvement is rare in metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC) that recurs after treatment for localized disease. Guidelines recommend intensive systemic therapy, similar to patients with liver metastases, but some lung-recurrent mHSPC may have good outcomes. Genomic features of lung metastases may clarify disease aggression, but are poorly understood since lung biopsy is rarely performed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: High-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) is treated with bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), but relapse is common. Improvement of patient outcomes requires better understanding of links between BCG resistance and genomic driver alterations.
Objective: To validate the prognostic impact of common genomic alterations in NMIBC pretreatment and define somatic changes present in post-BCG relapses.
Purpose: Cross-resistance renders multiple lines of androgen receptor (AR) signaling inhibitors increasingly futile in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). We sought to determine acquired genomic contributors to cross-resistance.
Experimental Design: We collected 458 serial plasma cell-free DNA samples at baseline and progression timepoints from 202 patients with mCRPC receiving sequential AR signaling inhibitors (abiraterone and enzalutamide) in a randomized phase II clinical trial (NCT02125357).
Background: Treatment of poor prognosis metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) includes taxane chemotherapy and androgen receptor pathway inhibitors (ARPI). We sought to determine optimal treatment in this setting.
Patients And Methods: This multicentre, randomised, open-label, phase II trial recruited patients with ARPI-naive mCRPC and poor prognosis features (presence of liver metastases, progression to mCRPC after <12 months of androgen deprivation therapy, or ≥4 of 6 clinical criteria).
Molecular stratification can improve the management of advanced cancers, but requires relevant tumor samples. Metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) is poised to benefit given a recent expansion of treatment options and its high genomic heterogeneity. We profile minimally-invasive plasma circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) samples from 104 mUC patients, and compare to same-patient tumor tissue obtained during invasive surgery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: DNA damage repair (DDR) defects are common across cancer types and can indicate therapeutic vulnerability. Optimal exploitation of DDR defects in prostate cancer requires new diagnostic strategies and a better understanding of associated clinical genomic features.
Experimental Design: We performed targeted sequencing of 1,615 plasma cell-free DNA samples from 879 patients with metastatic prostate cancer.
Purpose: Increases in androgen receptor () copy number (CN) can be detected in plasma DNA when patients develop metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. We aim to evaluate the association between CN as a continuous variable and clinical outcome.
Patients And Methods: PCR2023 was an international, multi-institution, open-label, phase II study of abiraterone acetate plus prednisolone (AAP) or abiraterone acetate plus dexamethasone that included plasma assessment as a predefined exploratory secondary end point.
An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.
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