Publications by authors named "Lisa Werr"
Article Synopsis
- The study aims to understand how specific molecular changes, particularly the expression of a certain gene, influence the clinical outcomes of patients with pulmonary carcinoids, which can range from slow-growing to deadly tumors.
- Researchers analyzed RNA sequencing data from two cohorts of pulmonary carcinoid patients (totaling 193) to determine the prognostic value of this gene expression and its relationship with telomerase activity, which is linked to tumor aggressiveness.
- Results showed that high expression of the gene correlates with worse survival rates and is an independent predictor of poor clinical outcomes, suggesting that it could be a key factor in assessing the severity of pulmonary carcinoids.
The evolutionary processes that underlie the marked sensitivity of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) to chemotherapy and rapid relapse are unknown. Here we determined tumour phylogenies at diagnosis and throughout chemotherapy and immunotherapy by multiregion sequencing of 160 tumours from 65 patients. Treatment-naive SCLC exhibited clonal homogeneity at distinct tumour sites, whereas first-line platinum-based chemotherapy led to a burst in genomic intratumour heterogeneity and spatial clonal diversity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Telomere maintenance mechanisms (TMM) are a hallmark of high-risk neuroblastoma, and are conferred by activation of telomerase or alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT). However, detection of TMM is not yet part of the clinical routine, and consensus on TMM detection, especially on ALT assessment, remains to be achieved.
Methods: Whole genome sequencing (WGS) data of 68 primary neuroblastoma samples were analyzed.
Article Synopsis
- Neuroblastomas, particularly those with high risk, often express telomerase activity, and compounds like 6-thio-2'-deoxyguanosine (6-thio-dG) can hinder the growth of these cancer cells.
- The study tested combinations of 6-thio-dG with traditional cancer drugs (etoposide, doxorubicin, ceritinib) on various neuroblastoma cell lines and mouse xenograft models, finding strong anti-tumor effects from 6-thio-dG combined with etoposide or doxorubicin, but not with ceritinib.
- The findings suggest that targeting telomerase can enhance the effectiveness of existing chemotherapy drugs, indicating a potential
Article Synopsis
- There are patients with non-small cell lung cancer who have specific mutations in the EGFR and Her2 genes that limit treatment options, even with existing EGFR inhibitors.
- Researchers developed two new covalent inhibitors, LDC8201 and LDC0496, which effectively target these particular mutations while sparing normal (wild type) EGFR.
- In animal studies, treatment with LDC8201 showed promising results, reducing tumor size in mice with tumors derived from patients with the harmful EGFR mutation, indicating the potential of these new drugs.
NRG1 fusions are recurrent somatic genome alterations occurring across several tumor types, including invasive mucinous lung adenocarcinomas and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas and are potentially actionable genetic alterations in these cancers. We initially discovered CD74-NRG1 as the first NRG1 fusion in lung adenocarcinomas, and many additional fusion partners have since been identified. Here, we present the first CD74-NRG1 transgenic mouse model and provide evidence that ubiquitous expression of the CD74-NRG1 fusion protein in vivo leads to tumor development at high frequency.
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