Publications by authors named "Annala M"

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.

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  • * In a study involving 264 plasma samples from 63 EOC patients, ctDNA was found in 93% of samples at diagnosis and 100% at disease progression, indicating its effectiveness for monitoring.
  • * Positive ctDNA results after treatment correlated with faster disease progression and lower survival rates, and in some cases, ctDNA detected recurrence earlier than traditional methods by an average of 5.9 months.
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  • - Current strategies to predict outcomes in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) are lacking, but circulating tumor DNA fraction (ctDNA%) may hold promise for assessing patient risk.
  • - An analysis of 738 plasma samples from mCRPC patients shows that ctDNA% correlates with disease severity and is a strong predictor of overall and progression-free survival, outperforming traditional clinical factors.
  • - To address challenges with low ctDNA%, researchers developed a machine-learning tool that indicates when ctDNA% is sufficient for detailed genetic testing, enhancing patient risk assessment and biomarker testing.
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De 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.

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Assessing 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.

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  • The study focuses on the progression of low-grade diffuse astrocytomas into grade 4 tumors and its impact on patient outcomes, highlighting the need for better understanding to enhance patient care.
  • Researchers analyzed genetic data from a cohort of patients with IDH-mutant astrocytomas, revealing significant alterations like increased chromosomal rearrangements and inactivation of key genes related to cell cycle regulation after treatment.
  • Results indicate that combined postoperative radiation and chemotherapy, especially temozolomide, may lead to improved survival outcomes, particularly in patients with grade 3 tumors, suggesting a need for more effective treatment strategies.
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  • The CALGB 90203 trial investigated the effectiveness of neoadjuvant chemohormonal therapy for high-risk localized prostate cancer prior to radical prostatectomy, examining tumor molecular features for insights on therapy response and resistance.
  • The study involved 471 tumor samples, comparing those from patients who received therapy (docetaxel plus androgen deprivation) against those who underwent surgery alone, utilizing DNA sequencing and RNA analysis to assess changes and outcomes.
  • Results indicated that post-therapy tumors had lower tumor fractions, but higher fractions correlated with aggressive features and poor prognosis; alterations like enriched TP53 were linked to shorter survival, while high expression of certain genes suggested remaining active cancer cells.
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Summary: 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.

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Background: 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.

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Individuals 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.

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The 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.

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After 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.

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  • Androgen receptor pathway inhibitors (ARPI) are key treatments for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), but patients often develop resistance quickly, underscoring the need for early detection strategies.
  • A study involving 81 mCRPC patients examined changes in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) during the first four weeks of ARPI treatment to see if these changes correlated with clinical outcomes like progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS).
  • Results showed that a significant number of patients with persistent ctDNA after four weeks had worse outcomes, indicating that monitoring ctDNA could effectively predict treatment responses and guide therapy adjustments.
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Unlabelled: 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.

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Oligodendrogliomas 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.

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  • * Although ctDNA and tissue biopsies show some similarities in cancer-driving mutations, most of the ctDNA is contributed by only a small number of individual metastases.
  • * The research highlights how ctDNA analysis can track changes in genomic drivers of treatment resistance, particularly the role of androgen receptor augmentation, and suggests the potential for liquid biopsies to aid in comprehensive cancer research and monitoring.
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Purpose: 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.

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Background: 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.

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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).

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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).

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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.

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Purpose: 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.

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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.

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