Publications by authors named "Vocke C"

Purpose: Surgery, an established short-term immunosuppressive event, may spur dissemination of circulating tumor cells and promote the growth of micrometastases. Whether surgical treatment for prostate cancer (i.e.

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von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) is an autosomal-dominant hereditary tumour susceptibility disease associated with pathogenic germline variants in the tumour suppressor gene. VHL patients are at increased risk of developing multiple benign and malignant tumours. Current CLIA-based genetic tests demonstrate a very high detection rate of germline variants in patients with clinical manifestations of VHL.

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  • A rare case of metastatic renal oncocytoma was thoroughly analyzed using advanced molecular characterization techniques to understand its specific genetic and molecular profile.
  • The study highlighted the challenges in treating this uncommon cancer, as traditional therapies may not be effective.
  • Effective targeted therapy strategies were explored, showing promising results for managing the disease and improving patient outcomes.
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  • * Researchers conducted studies on patients with HLRCC symptoms but without known FH mutations, finding significant reductions in FH enzyme activity and protein levels, despite normal gene expression.
  • * Analysis revealed a specific intronic variant in the FH gene that leads to altered mRNA splicing and a shortened protein, underscoring the importance of comprehensive genetic testing to identify non-coding pathogenic variants.
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  • The study aimed to identify the clinical features and genetic basis of a familial cancer syndrome linked to lipomas, fibrofolliculomas, and kidney cancer in affected patients.
  • Genomic analysis revealed a pathogenic variant in the PRDM10 gene, which is associated with a severe form of bilateral, multifocal papillary renal cell carcinoma and affects the expression of other related genes.
  • The findings suggest those with specific skin manifestations and subcutaneous lipomas should be tested for PRDM10 variants, and kidney tumors in these individuals should be treated with surgical removal rather than merely monitored.
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  • MiT-Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC) is an aggressive cancer subtype affecting mainly young people, characterized by TFE3, TFEB, or MITF gene translocations, which complicates diagnosis and lacks standard treatment options.
  • Research involved characterizing TFE3-RCC cell lines through immunohistochemistry (IHC) and gene expression, followed by a drug screen identifying several promising therapeutic agents, particularly targeting the PI3K/mTOR pathway and using Mithramycin A.
  • Preclinical studies showed that drugs like NVP-BGT226, Mithramycin A, and the antibody-drug conjugate CDX-011 could be effective therapies for advanced MiT-RCC, either alone or
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Birt-Hogg-Dubé (BHD) syndrome is an inherited familial cancer syndrome characterized by the development of cutaneous lesions, pulmonary cysts, renal tumors and cysts and caused by loss-of-function pathogenic variants in the gene encoding the tumor-suppressor protein folliculin (FLCN). FLCN acts as a negative regulator of TFEB and TFE3 transcription factors, master controllers of lysosomal biogenesis and autophagy, by enabling their phosphorylation by the mechanistic Target Of Rapamycin Complex 1 (mTORC1). We have previously shown that deletion of Tfeb rescued the renal cystic phenotype of kidney-specific Flcn KO mice.

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Drug resistance is a long-standing impediment to effective systemic cancer therapy and acquired drug resistance is a growing problem for molecularly-targeted therapeutics that otherwise have shown unprecedented successes in disease control. The hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)/Met receptor pathway signaling is frequently involved in cancer and has been a subject of targeted drug development for nearly 30 years. To anticipate and study specific resistance mechanisms associated with targeting this pathway, we engineered resistance to the HGF-neutralizing antibody rilotumumab in glioblastoma cells harboring autocrine HGF/Met signaling, a frequent abnormality of this brain cancer in humans.

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  • * Among the three cases with confirmed kidney tumors, it marks the first known link between these two syndromes in adults, while the fourth case had skin lesions known as fibrofolliculomas.
  • * Our findings indicate that individuals with Smith-Magenis syndrome should begin kidney cancer screening at age 20, similar to guidelines for Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome.
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Germline mutations within the Krebs cycle enzyme genes fumarate hydratase (FH) or succinate dehydrogenase (SDHB, SDHC, SDHD) are associated with an increased risk of aggressive and early metastasizing variants of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). These RCCs express significantly increased levels of intracellular fumarate or succinate that inhibit 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases, such as the TET enzymes that regulate DNA methylation. This study evaluated the genome-wide methylation profiles of 34 RCCs from patients with RCC susceptibility syndromes and 11 associated normal samples using the Illumina HumanMethylation450 BeadChip.

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Background: There is no universally accepted treatment for patients with advanced papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC). The presence of activating mutations in MET, as well as gain of chromosome 7, where the MET gene is located, are the most common genetic alterations associated with PRCC, leading to the clinical evaluation of MET tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in this cancer. However, TKIs targeting MET selectively, as well as multitargeted TKIs with activity against MET demonstrate modest efficacy in PRCC and primary and secondary treatment failure is common; other approaches are urgently needed to improve outcomes in these patients.

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Objective: To evaluate whether bilateral, multifocal clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) patients can be differentiated by VHL mutation analysis into cases that represent either multiple independently arising primary tumors, or a single primary tumor which has spread ipsilaterally as well as to the contralateral kidney. The nature of kidney cancer multifocality outside of known hereditary syndromes is as yet poorly understood.

Materials And Methods: DNA from multiple tumors per patient were evaluated for somatic VHL gene mutation and hypermethylation.

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Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) is a hereditary multisystem disorder caused by germline alterations in the VHL gene. VHL patients are at risk for benign as well as malignant lesions in multiple organs including kidney, adrenal, pancreas, the central nervous system, retina, endolymphatic sac of the ear, epididymis, and broad ligament. An estimated 30%-35% of all families with VHL inherit a germline deletion of one, two, or all three exons.

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  • * This study focuses on seven newly characterized cell lines from type 1 pRCC, including one from a hereditary papillary renal carcinoma (HPRC), highlighting genetic changes such as chromosome gains and MET mutations that are relevant to tumor behavior.
  • * The established cell lines are significant for in vivo research, as they can help understand the disease's biology and serve as models for testing new therapies targeted at type 1 pRCC.
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  • Understanding the Warburg shift to aerobic glycolysis is crucial for grasping the metabolic aspects of cancer, particularly in HLRCC, an aggressive cancer tied to inactivation of the fumarate hydratase gene.
  • HLRCC tumors display mitochondrial respiratory chain dysfunction, linked to reduced mitochondrial DNA content and increased mutations, which impacts essential subunits needed for energy production.
  • The accumulation of fumarate in these tumors disrupts mtDNA replication and proofreading, fostering the transition to aerobic glycolysis and accelerating cancer progression.
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Objectives: To characterize the clinical presentation, genomic alterations, pathologic phenotype and clinical management of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) familial renal cell carcinoma (RCC), caused by a member of the TFE3, TFEB, and MITF family of transcription factor genes.

Methods: The clinical presentation, family history, tumor histopathology, and surgical management were evaluated and reported herein. DNA sequencing was performed on blood DNA, tumor DNA and DNA extracted from adjacent normal kidney tissue.

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Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a heterogenous disease composed of several different cancer types characterized by distinct histologies and genetic alterations, including mutation of the Krebs cycle enzyme genes for fumarate hydratase and succinate dehydrogenase (SDH). This report describes a patient with multifocal renal tumors that presented with a novel, biphasic histologic morphology with one component consisting of small cells growing in a diffuse pattern occasionally forming glandular and cystic structures, reminiscent of type 1 papillary RCC, and the other component having larger cells with abundant eosinophilic and clear cytoplasm and appearing in a solid pattern of growth. Genetic analysis of multiple tumors showed that all had a somatic mutation of the IDH2 gene that created the known pathogenic, gain-of-function p.

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Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease is an autosomal dominant hereditary tumour susceptibility disease caused by germline pathogenic variation of the tumour suppressor gene. Affected individuals are at risk of developing multiple malignant and benign tumours in a number of organs.In this report, a male patient in his 20s who presented to the Urologic Oncology Branch at the National Cancer Institute with a clinical diagnosis of VHL was found to have multiple cerebellar haemangioblastomas, bilateral epididymal cysts, multiple pancreatic cysts, and multiple, bilateral renal tumours and cysts.

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Renal medullary carcinoma (RMC) is a rare, aggressive disease that predominantly afflicts individuals of African or Mediterranean descent with sickle cell trait. RMC comprises 1% of all renal cell carcinoma diagnoses with a median overall survival of 13 months. Patients are typically young (median age-22) and male (male:female ratio of 2:1) and tumors are characterized by complete loss of expression of the SMARCB1 tumor suppressor protein.

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Purpose: Published series of growth rates of renal tumors on active surveillance largely consist of tumors without pathologic or genetic data. Growth kinetics of genetically defined renal tumors are not well known. Here, we evaluate the growth of genetically defined renal tumors and their association with patient clinical and genetic characteristics.

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Objective: To describe a family in which 3 members presented with mixed epithelial tumor of the kidney (MEST) and were found to possess a germline mutation in CDC73, a gene which is associated with hyperparathyroidism-jaw tumor syndrome (HPT-JT).

Materials And Methods: Blood and tumor DNA from three family members who presented with a primary diagnosis of MEST was subjected to targeted gene sequencing to identify potential genetic components.

Results: A germline start codon mutation (p.

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Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is not a single disease, but several histologically defined cancers with different genetic drivers, clinical courses, and therapeutic responses. The current study evaluated 843 RCC from the three major histologic subtypes, including 488 clear cell RCC, 274 papillary RCC, and 81 chromophobe RCC. Comprehensive genomic and phenotypic analysis of the RCC subtypes reveals distinctive features of each subtype that provide the foundation for the development of subtype-specific therapeutic and management strategies for patients affected with these cancers.

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Papillary renal cell carcinomas (PRCC) are a histologically and genetically heterogeneous group of tumors that represent 15-20% of all kidney neoplasms and may require diverse therapeutic approaches. Alteration of the tumor suppressor gene, encoding a key regulator of the Hippo signaling pathway, is observed in 22.5% of PRCC.

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