Amphiregulin can predict treatment resistance to palliative first-line cetuximab plus FOLFIRI chemotherapy in patients with RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer.

Amphiregulin (AREG) is an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) ligand. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of baseline plasma AREG levels in KRAS, NRAS, and BRAF wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) on treatment outcome with palliative first-line cetuximab + FOLFIRI chemotherapy. Chemotherapy outcomes were analyzed based on baseline plasma AREG levels.

Cetuximab resistance induced by hepatocyte growth factor is overcome by MET inhibition in KRAS, NRAS, and BRAF wild-type colorectal cancers.

Purpose: Recent evidence has highlighted the role of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) as a putative biomarker to predict EGFR inhibitor resistance. This study investigated the impact of plasma HGF levels on EGFR inhibition and the counter effect of MET inhibition in KRAS, NRAS, and BRAF (RAS/RAF) wild-type colorectal cancers (CRCs).

Methods: Plasma HGF levels were analyzed with clinical outcomes of patients with metastatic CRC (mCRC) receiving palliative first-line chemotherapy.

Pan-RAF inhibitor LY3009120 is highly synergistic with low-dose cytarabine, but not azacitidine, in acute myeloid leukemia with mutations.

Alterations in oncogenes have been implicated in various types of cancer, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Considering that currently, there are no targeted therapies for patients with -mutated AML despite the poor outcomes, RAF may be a potential target for AML. In this study, we first analyzed the efficacy of different MAPK inhibitors in AML cell lines.

Enhanced biodegradation of hydrocarbons by Pseudomonas aeruginosa-encapsulated alginate/gellan gum microbeads.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa-encapsulated alginate/gellan gum microbeads (PAGMs) were prepared at the condition of 10 g/L alginate, 1 g/L gellan gum, and 2.57 mM calcium ions, and investigated for the biodegradation of a diesel-contaminated groundwater. The degradation of diesel with PAGMs reached 71.

Decreased vitamin C uptake mediated by SLC2A3 promotes leukaemia progression and impedes TET2 restoration.

Background: Vitamin C suppresses leukaemogenesis by modulating Tet methylcytosine dioxygenase (TET) activity. However, its beneficial effect in the treatment of patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) remains controversial. In this study, we aimed to identify a potential predictive biomarker for vitamin C treatment in AML.

Comparison of Different Conditioning Regimens in Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem-Cell Transplantation Shows Superiority of Total Body Irradiation-Based Regimen for Younger Patients With Acute Leukemia: A Nationwide Study.

Background: The optimal the conditioning regimens for allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation, especially for East Asian patients, remains unknown.

Patients And Methods: We collected and analyzed clinical and survival data of 4255 patients from the Korean National Health Insurance Claims Database.

Results: Between 1562 myeloablative conditioning and 2693 nonmyeloablative conditioning groups, the overall survival was not statistically different.

Truncation of MYH8 tail in AML: a novel prognostic marker with increase cell migration and epithelial-mesenchymal transition utilizing RAF/MAPK pathway.

MYH8 is an actin-based motor protin involved in integrin-mediated cell adhesion and migration. Heretofore, the association of MYH8 mutation and cancer is unclear. In this study, we investigated the biologic significance of novel MYH8 tail truncation mutation, R1292X, in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) which was discovered by whole-exome sequencing and targeted re-sequencing of 209 AML patients.

The upregulation of Pim kinases is essential in coordinating the survival, proliferation, and migration of KIT D816V-mutated neoplastic mast cells.

About ˜80% of mast cell neoplasm patients harbor the c-Kit activating mutation D816 V, which is associated with c-Kit inhibitor resistance and poor prognosis. However, the molecular basis for these effects is not fully known. To address this issue, in this study we screened molecules whose expression is altered by KIT D816 V mutation and found that Pim kinases were overexpressed in D816V-mutant neoplastic mast cells.

ERK-dependent IL-6 positive feedback loop mediates resistance against a combined treatment using danusertib and BKM120 in Burkitt lymphoma cell lines.

This study was conducted to define the synergistic effect of the PI3K inhibitor BKM120 with the pan-Aurora kinase inhibitor danusertib and the potential mechanism of resistance to the combined inhibitor treatment in Burkitt lymphoma cell lines. The combination of danusertib and BKM120 showed a synergistic effect on Namalwa cells but not on BJAB cells. The combined treatment led to ERK hyperactivation and induced IL-6 secretion in BJAB cells but not in Namalwa cells.

Highly Expressed Integrin-α8 Induces Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition-Like Features in Multiple Myeloma with Early Relapse.

Despite recent groundbreaking advances in multiple myeloma (MM) treatment, most MM patients ultimately experience relapse, and the relapse biology is not entirely understood. To define altered gene expression in MM relapse, gene expression profiles were examined and compared among 16 MM patients grouped by 12 months progression-free survival (PFS) after autologous stem cell transplantation. To maximize the difference between prognostic groups, patients at each end of the PFS spectrum (the four with the shortest PFS and four with the longest PFS) were chosen for additional analyses.