Despite initial high response rates to first-line EGFR TKI, all non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR-activating mutation will ultimately develop resistance to treatment. Identification of resistance mechanisms is critical to adapt treatment and improve patient outcomes. Here, we show that a transcript that encodes full-length catalytic subunit 2B of calcineurin accumulates in EGFR-mutant NSCLC cells with acquired resistance against different EGFR TKIs and in post-progression biopsies of NSCLC patients treated with EGFR TKIs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSubversion of immunity is a hallmark of cancer development. Dendritic cells (DCs) are strategic immune cells triggering anti-tumor immune responses, but tumor cells exploit their versatility to subvert their functions. Tumor cells harbor unusual glycosylation patterns, which can be sensed through glycan-binding receptors (lectins) expressed by immune cells that are crucial for DCs to shape and orientate antitumor immunity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSubversion of immunity by tumors is a crucial step for their development. Dendritic cells (DCs) are strategic immune cells that orchestrate anti-tumor immune responses but display altered functions in cancer. The bases for such DCs' hijacking are not fully understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDespite the initial efficacy of using tyrosine kinase inhibitors of epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR-TKIs) for treating patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), resistance inevitably develops. Recent studies highlight a link between alternative splicing and cancer drug response. Therefore, we aimed to identify deregulated splicing events that play a role in resistance to EGFR-TKI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) play a critical yet enigmatic role in antitumor immunity through their pleiotropic immunomodulatory functions. Despite proof of pDC diversity in several physiological or pathological contexts, pDCs have been studied as a whole population so far in cancer. The assessment of individual pDC subsets is needed to fully grasp their involvement in cancer immunity, especially in melanoma where pDC subsets are largely unknown and remain to be uncovered.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: pDCs and γδ T cells emerge as potent immune players participating in the pathophysiology of cancers, yet still remaining enigmatic while harbouring a promising potential for clinical translations. Despite strategic and closed missions, crosstalk between pDCs and γδ T cells has not been deciphered yet in cancers, especially in melanoma where the long-term control of the tumor still remains a challenge.
Methods: This prompted us to explore the interplay between pDCs and γδ T cells in the context of melanoma, investigating the reciprocal features of pDCs or γδ T cells, the underlying molecular mechanisms and its impact on clinical outcomes.
Pigment Cell Melanoma Res
July 2020
There is increasing evidence that T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire diversity can be a predictive biomarker of immune responses in cancer patients. However, the characteristics of the T-cell repertoire together with its prognostic significance in melanoma patients and impact on disease progression remain unknown. We investigated the combinatorial TCR repertoire diversity by semi-quantitative multi-N-plex PCR in peripheral blood samples from 44 melanoma patients together with seven matched metastatic lymph nodes and explored its potential predictive value on clinical prognosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLung Cancer
February 2020
Objectives: T790M mutations inEGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) account for nearly 50% of acquired resistance mechanisms to EGFR-TKIs. Earlier studies suggested that tumor T790M could also be detected in TKI-naïve EGFR-mutated NSCLC. The aim of the study is to assess the prevalence and clinical significance of quantification of tumor pre-treatment T790M subclones.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNon-small-cell lung cancers (NSCLC) represent 85% of all lung cancers, with adenocarcinoma as the most common subtype. Since the 2000's, the discovery of molecular alterations including epidermal growth factor receptor () mutations and anaplastic lymphoma kinase () rearrangements together with the development of specific tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) has facilitated the development of personalized medicine in the management of this disease. This review focuses on the biology of molecular alterations in NSCLC as well as the diagnostic tools and therapeutic alternatives available for each targetable alteration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The introduction of liquid biopsy using PCR-based assays into routine practice has had a strong impact on the treatment of EGFR-mutated lung adenocarcinoma and is now commonly used for routine testing of EGFR mutations in certain clinical settings. To assess whether the claimed benefits of PCR-based assays hold true in daily practice at a multicenter clinical institution, we assessed how treatment decisions are affected by PCR-based assays for the analysis of EGFR mutations from plasma samples in a centralized laboratory (LPCE, Nice, France).
Patients And Methods: A total of 345 samples were analyzed using the US Food and Drug Administration-approved Cobas EGFR Mutation Test v2 and 103 using the Therascreen EGFR Plasma RGQ PCR Kit over 3 years (395 samples from 324 patients).
γδT cells hold a pivotal role in tumor immunosurveillance through their prompt activation and cytokine secretion, their ability to kill tumor cells in an Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)-unrestricted manner, and their combination of features of both innate and adaptive immunity. These unique properties and functional plasticity render them very attractive both as targets and vectors for cancer immunotherapy. Yet, these potent and fascinating antitumor effectors have not been extensively explored in melanoma.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe performed a clinical audit of the management of patients with mutations, 1 year after the introduction of tyrosine kinase inhibitor (-TKI) in first-line treatment. Compliance was defined by tumor molecular profiling for stage IIIB and IV non-small-cell lung cancer and first-line treatment as recommended by the French guidelines. Among the 169 -mutated patients, compliance was 76.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLung cancer, including non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), is the most frequently diagnosed cancer. It is also the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide because of its late diagnosis and its resistance to therapies. Therefore, the identification of biomarkers for early diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of therapeutic response is urgently needed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiology flourished during the XXth century and was profoundly disrupted during the last decade because of the transition to the post-genomic era, the spread of high-throughput biology, and the advent of a relatively new discipline, namely bioinformatics. This latter, which encompasses the collection, organization and analysis of biological data using the computer tool, has quickly become inseparable from the studies related to the genome understanding. The consequences of the different mutations that may affect our genes are responsible for a change in the protein sequence and are likely to affect, for example, the stability of the protein, its intracellular targeting, its maturation, its assembly in a multimeric structure, the essential sites for its enzymatic activity or for the interaction with ligands.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin Lung Cancer
May 2019
Introduction: Evaluation of EGFR Mutation status for the administration of EGFR-TKIs in non-small cell lung Carcinoma (ERMETIC) was a prospective study designed to validate the prognostic value of EGFR/KRAS mutations in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), all receiving a first-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor, erlotinib. ERMETIC2 was an ancillary project evaluating the clinical value of common EGFR/KRAS-mutated subclones regarding prognosis using highly sensitive molecular detection methods.
Materials And Methods: Tumor samples from 228 patients with NSCLC (59% adenocarcinoma, 37% women, and 19% never/former smokers) were available for reanalysis using alternative highly sensitive molecular techniques.
Objectives: The aim of the present study was firstly to assess in a clinical setting the yields of an amplicon-based parallel RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) assay for ALK fusion transcript variants detection in comparison with immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH) in a selected population of ALK-positive and ALK-negative non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cases, and secondly to evaluate the impact of the ALK variant on crizotinib efficacy.
Materials And Methods: The cohort used for the assessment of the RNA-seq assay comprised 53 samples initially diagnosed as being ALK-positive based on the results obtained by IHC and/or FISH, and 23 ALK-negative samples. A distinction was made between 'truly' IHC/FISH positive or 'truly' IHC/FISH negative samples, and those for which the IHC and/or FISH were equivocal (IHC) or borderline-positive (FISH).
During Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latency, the EBV genome is largely silenced by methylation. This silencing is overturned during the switch to the lytic cycle. A key event is the production of the viral protein Zta which binds to three Zta-response elements (ZRE) from the Rta promoter (Rp), two of which (ZRE2 and ZRE3) include three CpG motifs methylated in the latent genome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStroke is the leading cause of disability in adults. Many current clinical trials use intravenous (IV) administration of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs). This autologous graft requires a delay for ex vivo expansion of cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMitochondrial activity is central to tissue homeostasis. Mitochondria dysfunction constitutes a hallmark of many genetic diseases and plays a key role in tumor progression. The essential role of mitochondria, added to their recently documented capacity to transfer from cell to cell, obviously contributes to their current interest.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-tyrosine kinase inhibitors have limited use as first-line treatment for mutated EGFR metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. The French National Cancer Institute has installed molecular genetics platforms implementing EGFR and KRAS testing. However, there is considerable uncertainty as to which detection methods should be applied for routine diagnosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: There is an increasing interest in BRAF V600 mutations in melanomas and their associated sensitivity to vemurafenib, a BRAF inhibitor. However, physicians cannot find information in the literature about vemurafenib response for rare and/or atypical BRAF mutations.
Observations: We describe the identification of a novel complex BRAF mutation associated with major clinical response to vemurafenib in a patient with metastatic melanoma.