Case report: Primary CDK4/6 inhibitor and endocrine therapy in locally advanced breast cancer and its effect on gut and intratumoral microbiota.

Locally advanced breast cancer poses significant challenges to the multidisciplinary team, in particular with hormone receptor (HR) positive, HER2-negative tumors that classically yield lower pathological complete responses with chemotherapy. The increasingly significant use of CDK 4/6 inhibitors (CDK4/6i) plus endocrine therapy (ET) in different breast cancer settings has led to clinical trials focusing on this strategy as a primary treatment, with promising results. The impact of the microbiota on cancer, and vice-versa, is an emerging topic in oncology.

Expression of correlates with breast cancer aggressiveness and protects breast cancer cells from chemotherapy.

The recently discovered human lncRNA is induced after DNA damage in a p53-dependent manner. It plays a critical role in the maintenance of genomic stability through interaction with Pumilio proteins, limiting the repression of their target mRNAs. Therefore, inactivation causes chromosomal instability and aneuploidy, which contributes to the accumulation of genetic abnormalities and tumorigenesis.

Evaluation of mutations in advanced ER+/HER2-breast cancer in Portugal - U-PIK Project.

Around 40% of ER+/HER2-breast carcinomas (BC) present mutations in the gene. Assessment of mutational status is required to identify patients eligible for treatment with PI3Kα inhibitors, with alpelisib currently the only approved tyrosine kinase inhibitor in this setting. U-PIK project aimed to conduct a ring trial to validate and implement the mutation testing in several Portuguese centers, decentralizing it and optimizing its quality at national level.

Sialyl Lewis and Cytokeratin Crosstalk in Triple Negative Breast Cancer.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) encompasses multiple entities and is generally highly aggressive and metastatic. We aimed to determine the clinical and biological relevance of Sialyl-Lewis X and A (sLe)-a fucosylated glycan involved in metastasis-in TNBC. Here, we studied tissues from 50 TNBC patients, transcripts from a TNBC dataset from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, and a primary breast cancer cell line.

Identification of biomarkers predictive of metastasis development in early-stage colorectal cancer using network-based regularization.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer and the second most deathly worldwide. It is a very heterogeneous disease that can develop via distinct pathways where metastasis is the primary cause of death. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying metastasis.

Correction: Association of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes With Survival in Stages II and III Colorectal Cancer.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.7759/cureus.31144.

Association of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes With Survival in Stages II and III Colorectal Cancer.

The tumor microenvironment is crucial in tumourigenesis, response to therapy, and elimination of tumor cells. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) promote the host immune response and are associated with a better prognosis in colorectal cancer (CRC). This multicentric retrospective study evaluated the relationship between the presence and intensity of TILs and survival outcomes.

Assessment of a Large-Scale Unbiased Malignant Pleural Effusion Proteomics Study of a Real-Life Cohort.

Background: Pleural effusion (PE) is common in advanced-stage lung cancer patients and is related to poor prognosis. Identification of cancer cells is the standard method for the diagnosis of a malignant PE (MPE). However, it only has moderate sensitivity.

Portuguese Consensus Recommendations for Next-Generation Sequencing of Lung Cancer, Rare Tumors, and Cancers of Unknown Primary Origin in Clinical Practice.

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has been implemented in clinical oncology for diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic guidance. Among the various NGS applications in molecular oncology, we focused on the following topics: laboratory standards for targeted gene panels (somatic mutations) and therapeutic guidance based on NGS of lung cancer and rare cancers, namely sarcomas and cancers of unknown primary. Multiple quality control checkpoints should be addressed in the pre-analytical phase for good quality and interpretation of the NGS results.

Phenotype-Genotype Correlation in Colorectal Cancer: A Real-Life Study.

Background And Aims: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a heterogeneous disease with distinctive genetic pathways, such as chromosomal instability, microsatellite instability and methylator pathway. Our aim was to correlate clinical and genetic characteristics of CRC patients in order to understand clinical implications of tumour genotype.

Methods: Single-institution retrospective cohort of patients who underwent curative surgery for CRC, from 2012 to 2014.

Predictive and Therapeutic Implications of a Novel PLCγ1/SHP2-Driven Mechanism of Cetuximab Resistance in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer.

Purpose: Cetuximab is an EGFR-targeted therapy approved for the treatment of RAS wild-type (WT) metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). However, about 60% of these patients show innate resistance to cetuximab. To increase cetuximab efficacy, it is crucial to successfully identify responder patients, as well as to develop new therapeutic approaches to overcome cetuximab resistance.

Next-Generation Sequencing in Breast Cancer Management: A Case Report of Genomic Tumour Evolution over Time.

The clinicopathological breast cancer subtypes are used in clinical practice to better anticipate biological behaviour and guide systemic treatment strategy. In the adjuvant setting, genomic assay recurrence scores became widely available for luminal-like disease. Recently, next-generation sequencing (NGS) platforms have been used, essentially, in more advanced disease setting, in situations refractory to conventional treatment, or even in rare cancers for which there are no established treatment guidelines.

Expression of HLA-DR in Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes: A Validated Predictive Biomarker and a Potential Therapeutic Strategy in Breast Cancer.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) is common in breast cancer (BC) treatment, though more than half of the patients lack an effective response. Therefore, new predictive biomarkers and alternative therapies are crucial. Previously, we proposed HLA-DR-expressing cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) as a potential biomarker of the response to NACT.

International consensus to standardise histopathological scoring for small bowel strictures in Crohn's disease.

Objective: Effective medical therapy and validated trial outcomes are lacking for small bowel Crohn's disease (CD) strictures. Histopathology of surgically resected specimens is the gold standard for correlation with imaging techniques. However, no validated histopathological scoring systems are currently available for small bowel stricturing disease.

HERVs establish a distinct molecular subtype in stage II/III colorectal cancer with poor outcome.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most lethal malignancies. The extreme heterogeneity in survival rate is driving the need for new prognostic biomarkers. Human endogenous retroviruses (hERVs) have been suggested to influence tumor progression, oncogenesis and elicit an immune response.

Histologic Features of Colon Biopsies (Geboes Score) Associated With Progression of Ulcerative Colitis for the First 36 Months After Biopsy.

Background & Aims: In addition to findings from endoscopy, histologic features of colon biopsies have been associated with outcomes of patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). We investigated associations between Geboes scores (a system to quantify structural changes and inflammatory activity in colon biopsies) and UC progression, and the time period over which this association is valid.

Methods: We analyzed data from 399 asymptomatic patients with UC enrolled in the ACERTIVE study, followed at 13 inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) centers in Portugal through 31 December 2019.

ECCO Position Paper: Harmonization of the Approach to Ulcerative Colitis Histopathology.

Currently, the main targets of drug therapy for ulcerative colitis [UC] are endoscopic and clinical remission. However, there is active discussion about the additional advantages of including histological remission as a target. Accumulating evidence indicates that microscopic activity persists in endoscopically quiescent UC, that histological changes may lag behind clinical remission after treatment, and that absence of histological activity predicts lower rates of relapse, hospitalization, surgery and subsequent neoplasia.

Comparison of the Nancy Index With Continuous Geboes Score: Histological Remission and Response in Ulcerative Colitis.

Background And Aims: Evidence has been supporting that histological activity of ulcerative colitis [UC] has relevance for the prediction of clinical outcomes in UC patients, such as clinical relapse. In this study, we aimed to compare two histological indexes-the continuous Geboes score [GS] and the Nancy index [NI] -regarding their definitions of histological remission and response, and to determine the ability of faecal calprotectin [FC] levels to discriminate between these histological statuses according to the NI.

Methods: A large cohort of UC patients [N = 422] who were previously enrolled in other studies was analysed.

Carcinoembryonic antigen is a sialyl Lewis x/a carrier and an E‑selectin ligand in non‑small cell lung cancer.

The formation of distant metastasis resulting from vascular dissemination is one of the leading causes of mortality in non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This metastatic dissemination initiates with the adhesion of circulating cancer cells to the endothelium. The minimal requirement for the binding of leukocytes to endothelial E‑selectins and subsequent transmigration is the epitope of the fucosylated glycan, sialyl Lewis x (sLex), attached to specific cell surface glycoproteins.

Comparing the Continuous Geboes Score With the Robarts Histopathology Index: Definitions of Histological Remission and Response and their Relation to Faecal Calprotectin Levels.

Background And Aims: The histological status of ulcerative colitis [UC] patients in clinical and endoscopic remission has gained space as an important prognostic marker and a key component of disease monitoring. Our main aims were to compare two histological indexes-the continuous Geboes score [GS] and the Robarts Histopathology index [RHI]-regarding their definitions of histological remission and response, and the ability of faecal calprotectin [FC] levels to discriminate between these statuses.

Methods: This was an analysis of three prospective cohorts including 422 patients previously enrolled in other studies.

Histopathology Scoring Systems of Stenosis Associated With Small Bowel Crohn's Disease: A Systematic Review.

Background & Aims: Stenosis is a common complication of Crohn's disease (CD) that has no effective medical therapy. Development of antifibrotic agents will require testing in randomized controlled trials. Computed tomography enterography- and magnetic resonance enterography-based technologies might be used to measure outcomes in these trials.

HLA-DR in Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes Predicts Breast Cancer Patients' Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy.

Prediction of breast cancer response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy (NACT) is an urgent need to promptly direct non-responder patients to alternative therapies. Infiltrating T lymphocytes, namely cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) have been appointed as predictors of response. However, cancer cells have the ability to dampen CTLs' activity and thus, the prognostic value of the CTLs, , is debatable.