Undifferentiated carcinoma with osteoclast-like giant cells (UCOGC) of the pancreas represents a rare subtype of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Despite a distinct morphology and specific clinical behavior, UCOGCs exhibit unexpected similarities in regard to DNA mutational profiles with conventional PDAC. Treating pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is particularly challenging, with limited prospects for cure. As with many other malignant neoplasms, the exploration of microRNAs (miRNAs, miRs) in regulating the biological characteristics of pancreatic cancer is undergoing extensive investigation to enhance tumor diagnostics and unveil the therapeutic possibilities. Herein, we evaluated the expression of miR-21, -96, -148a, -155, -196a, -210, and -217 in UCOGCs and poorly differentiated (grade 3, G3) PDACs. The expression of miR-21, miR-155, and miR-210 in both UCOGCs and G3 PDACs was significantly upregulated compared to the levels in normal tissue, while the levels of miR-148a and miR-217 were downregulated. We did not find any significant differences between cancerous and normal tissues for the expression of miR-96 and miR-196a in G3 PDACs, whereas miR-196a was slightly, but significantly, downregulated in UCOGCs. On the other hand, we have not observed significant differences in the expression of the majority of miRNAs between UCOGC and G3 PDAC, with the exception of miR-155. UCOGC samples demonstrated lower mean levels of miR-155 in comparison with those in G3 PDACs.
- Klíčová slova
- ductal adenocarcinoma, miRNA, pancreas, undifferentiated carcinoma with osteoclast-like giant cells,
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
Pancreatic cancer is a severe malignancy with increasing incidence and high mortality due to late diagnosis and low sensitivity to treatments. Search for the most appropriate drugs and therapeutic regimens is the most promising way to improve the treatment outcomes of the patients. This study aimed to compare (1) in vitro efficacy and (2) in vivo antitumor effects of conventional paclitaxel and the newly synthesized second (SB-T-1216) and third (SB-T-121605 and SB-T-121606) generation taxanes in KRAS wild type BxPC-3 and more aggressive KRAS G12V mutated Paca-44 pancreatic cancer cell line models. In vitro, paclitaxel efficacy was 27.6 ± 1.7 nM, while SB-Ts showed 1.7-7.4 times higher efficacy. Incorporation of SB-T-121605 and SB-T-121606 into in vivo therapeutic regimens containing paclitaxel was effective in suppressing tumor growth in Paca-44 tumor-bearing mice at small doses (≤3 mg/kg). SB-T-121605 and SB-T-121606 in combination with paclitaxel are promising candidates for the next phase of preclinical testing.
- Klíčová slova
- Cancer, Cell biology, Pharmacology,
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic significance of membranous β-catenin and cytoplasmic β-catenin expression in pancreatic cancer patients (pts). One hundred pts with histologically verified exocrine pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma were retrospectively studied. The membranous β-catenin, cytoplasmic β-catenin, and cell nucleus β-catenin expression were immunohistochemically evaluated. The expression of membranous β-catenin was <5% in none of the pts, 5-25% in one patient, 26-50% in 2 pts, 51-75% in 14 pts, and >75% in 81 pts. The expression of cytoplasmic β-catenin was <5% in 34 pts, 5-25% in 42 pts, 26-50% in 18 pts, 51-75% in 3 pts, and >75% in one patient. The expression of β-catenin in the cell nucleus was negative in all pts. At the time of the last follow-up, 21 pts were alive and 79 pts had died. Median OS was 1.3 (0.4-2.3) years in pts with membranous β-catenin expression ≤75% and 1.7 (1.3-2.1) years in pts with membranous β-catenin expression >75% (p=0.045). Median OS was (1.3-2.0) 1.6 years in pts with cytoplasmic β-catenin expression ≤25% and 0.9 (0.5-1.2) years in pts with cytoplasmic β-catenin expression >25% (p=0.040). In the univariate Cox proportional hazard models HR (95% CI) was 0.556 (0.311-0.995) in pts with membranous β-catenin expression >75% (p=0.048) and 2.200 (1.216-3.980) in pts with cytoplasmic β-catenin expression >25% (p=0.009). The present results indicate a favorable prognostic significance of membranous β-catenin expression in pancreatic cancer.
- MeSH
- beta-katenin * genetika metabolismus MeSH
- duktální karcinom slinivky břišní * diagnóza genetika MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- nádory slinivky břišní * diagnóza genetika MeSH
- prognóza MeSH
- retrospektivní studie MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- Názvy látek
- beta-katenin * MeSH
BACKGROUND/AIM: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) still represents one of the most aggressive cancers. Understanding of the epithelial-mesenchymal crosstalk as a crucial part of the tumor microenvironment should pave the way for therapies to improve patient survival rates. Well-established cell lines present a useful and reproducible model to study PDAC biology. However, the tumor-stromal interactions between cancer cells and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are still poorly understood. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied interactions between four PDAC cell lines (Panc-1, CAPAN-2, MIAPaCa-2, and PaTu-8902) and conditioned media derived from primary cultures of normal fibroblasts/PDAC-derived CAFs (PANFs). RESULTS: When the tested PDAC cell lines were stimulated by PANF-derived conditioned media, the most aggressive behavior was acquired by the Panc-1 cell line (increased number and size of colonies, remaining expression of vimentin and keratin 8 as well as increase of epithelial-to-mesenchymal polarization markers), whereas PaTu-8902 cells were rather inhibited. Of note, administration of the conditioned media to MIAPaCa-2 cells resulted in an inverse effect on the size and number of colonies, whereas CAPAN-2 cells were rather stimulated. To explain the heterogeneous pattern of the observed PDAC crosstalk at the in vitro level, we further compared the phenotype of primary cultures of cells derived from ascitic fluid with that of the tested PDAC cell lines, analyzed tumor samples of PDAC patients, and performed gene expression profiling of PANFs. Immuno-cyto/histo-chemical analysis found specific phenotype differences within the group of examined patients and tested PDAC cell lines, whereas the genomic approach in PANFs found the key molecules (IL6, IL8, MFGE8 and periostin) that may contribute to the cancer aggressive behavior. CONCLUSION: The desmoplastic patient-specific regulation of cancer cells by CAFs (also demonstrated by the heterogeneous response of PDAC cell lines to fibroblasts) precludes simple targeting and development of an effective treatment strategy and rather requires establishment of an individualized tumor-specific treatment protocol.
- Klíčová slova
- Epithelial–mesenchymal interaction, cancer stem cell, pancreas, tumor micro - environment, tumor stroma,
- MeSH
- duktální karcinom slinivky břišní metabolismus patologie MeSH
- epitelo-mezenchymální tranzice MeSH
- fibroblasty asociované s nádorem metabolismus patologie MeSH
- fibroblasty metabolismus patologie MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- nádorové buněčné linie MeSH
- nádorové mikroprostředí MeSH
- nádory slinivky břišní metabolismus patologie MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma represents a disease with increasing incidence. Its prognosis is the worst among all malignancies despite the aggressive combined multimodal treatment across all stages. In metastatic disease, median survival is approximatelly one year. The mainstay of treatment is chemotherapy (neo/adjuvant, palliative) and in selected subgroups of patients even radiotherapy. Nevertheless, nowadays there are very few prognostic and/or predictive biomarkers available that can be used to identify and better stratify patients based on risk to tailored treatment. Potentially, promising areas of research are circulating tumor cells and circulating tumor DNA, which can be easily obtained from peripheral blood - so called liquid biopsy. They may serve as a tool to assess response to applied treatment, and to detect the emergence of treatment-resistant clones or early disease relapse. Moreover, their study may allow identification of potentially tumor-specific alterations, which may serve as target structures for targeted (tailored) therapy. Alternatively, different prognostic indexes/scores calculated by analysis of selected parameters of blood and/or biochemistry can be used to better stratify patients based on risk and better predict prognosis. The aim of this mini-review is to provide a basic overview of the current state of the art in this area and its potential significance for clinical practice.
- Klíčová slova
- Pancreatic carcinoma, biomarkers, circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), circulating tumor cells (CTC), liquid biopsy, prognostic index/score, review,
- MeSH
- cirkulující nádorová DNA * genetika MeSH
- duktální karcinom slinivky břišní * diagnóza genetika terapie MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- lokální recidiva nádoru MeSH
- nádorové biomarkery genetika MeSH
- nádorové cirkulující buňky * MeSH
- nádory slinivky břišní * diagnóza genetika terapie MeSH
- prognóza MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- přehledy MeSH
- Názvy látek
- cirkulující nádorová DNA * MeSH
- nádorové biomarkery MeSH
Germ cell tumors and particularly seminomas reflect the epigenomic features of their parental primordial germ cells (PGCs), including genomic DNA hypomethylation and expression of pluripotent cell markers. Because the DNA hypomethylation might be a result of TET dioxygenase activity, we examined expression of TET1-3 enzymes and the level of their product, 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), in a panel of histologically characterized seminomas and non-seminomatous germ cell tumors. Expression of TET dioxygenase mRNAs was quantified by real-time PCR. TET1 expression and the level of 5hmC were examined immunohistochemically. Quantitative assessment of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) and 5hmC levels was done by the liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy technique. We found highly increased expression of TET1 dioxygenase in most seminomas and strong TET1 staining in seminoma cells. Isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and 2 mutations were not detected, suggesting the enzymatic activity of TET1. The levels of 5mC and 5hmC in seminomas were found decreased in comparison to non-seminomatous germ cell tumors and healthy testicular tissue. We propose that TET1 expression should be studied as a potential marker of seminomas and mixed germ cell tumors and we suggest that elevated expression of TET dioxygenase enzymes is associated with the maintenance of low DNA methylation levels in seminomas. This "anti-methylator" phenotype of seminomas is in contrast to the CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP) observed in a fraction of tumors of various types.
- Klíčová slova
- 5-hydroxymethylcytosine, 5-methylcytosine, TET1, germ cell tumor, seminoma,
- MeSH
- 5-methylcytosin analogy a deriváty analýza MeSH
- dioxygenasy analýza genetika MeSH
- DNA vazebné proteiny analýza genetika MeSH
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- metylace DNA * MeSH
- oxygenasy se smíšenou funkcí analýza genetika MeSH
- protoonkogenní proteiny analýza genetika MeSH
- regulace genové exprese u nádorů MeSH
- seminom genetika patologie MeSH
- testikulární nádory genetika patologie MeSH
- testis metabolismus patologie MeSH
- upregulace MeSH
- Check Tag
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- Názvy látek
- 5-hydroxymethylcytosine MeSH Prohlížeč
- 5-methylcytosin MeSH
- dioxygenasy MeSH
- DNA vazebné proteiny MeSH
- oxygenasy se smíšenou funkcí MeSH
- protoonkogenní proteiny MeSH
- TET1 protein, human MeSH Prohlížeč
- TET2 protein, human MeSH Prohlížeč
- TET3 protein, human MeSH Prohlížeč
Merkel cell carcinoma is a rare cutaneous tumor with an aggressive clinical course. In most cases it is associated with Merkel cell polyomavirus infection. Exceptionally, the tumor can present as a lymph node metastasis without a discernible cutaneous primary. In this report we present the case of a 42 year-old man with inguinal lymphadenopathy, histologically consistent with Merkel cell carcinoma. Tumor cells expressed immunohistochemically chromogranin-A, synaptophysin and displayed dot-like positivity for cytokeratin 20. The genome of MCPyV in neoplastic cells was detected using real-time PCR. A cutaneous primary has not been identified neither during the dermatologic examination, nor with PET CT scan.
- Klíčová slova
- Merkel cell carcinoma - lymph node metastasis - tumor of unknown primary origin.,
- MeSH
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- lymfatické metastázy diagnostické zobrazování MeSH
- lymfatické uzliny MeSH
- Merkelův nádor * diagnostické zobrazování sekundární MeSH
- Merkelův polyomavirus * MeSH
- nádory kůže * diagnostické zobrazování MeSH
- Check Tag
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- kazuistiky MeSH
BACKGROUND: RT-qPCR quantification of miRNAs expression may play an essential role in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) diagnostics. RT-qPCR-based experiments require endogenous controls for the result normalization and reliability. However, expression instability of reference genes in tumors may introduce bias when determining miRNA levels. METHODS: We investigated expression of 6 miRNAs, isolated from FFPE samples of pancreatic adenocarcinomas. Four internal controls were utilized for RT-qPCR result normalization: artificial miR-39 from C. elegans, U6 snRNA, miR-16 and snoRNA U91. RESULTS: We found miR-21, miR-155 or miR-217 expression values in tumors may differ up to several times, depending on selected internal controls. Moreover, different internal controls can produce controversial results for miR-96, miR-148a or miR-196a quantification. Also, expression of our endogenous controls varied significantly in tumors. U6 demonstrated variation from -1.03 to 8.12-fold, miR-16 from -2.94 up to 7.38-fold and the U91 from -3.05 to 4.36-fold respectively. On the other hand, the most stable gene, determined by NormFinder algorithm, was U91. Each miRNA normalized relatively to the spike or U91, demonstrated similar expression values. Thus, statistically significant and insignificant differences between tumors and normal tissues for miRNAs were equal for the spike and the U91. Also, the differences between the spike and U91 were statistically insignificant for all of miRs except miR-217. Among three endogenous controls, U91 had the lowest average expression values and standard deviation in cancer tissues. CONCLUSIONS: We recommend U91 as a new normalizer for miRNA quantification in PDACs.
- MeSH
- adenokarcinom genetika MeSH
- analýza rozptylu MeSH
- dospělí MeSH
- kvantitativní polymerázová řetězová reakce metody MeSH
- lidé středního věku MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- malá jadérková RNA metabolismus MeSH
- mikro RNA analýza metabolismus MeSH
- nádorové biomarkery genetika MeSH
- nádory slinivky břišní genetika MeSH
- regulace genové exprese u nádorů MeSH
- senioři nad 80 let MeSH
- senioři MeSH
- stanovení celkové genové exprese MeSH
- studie případů a kontrol MeSH
- Check Tag
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé středního věku MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- senioři nad 80 let MeSH
- senioři MeSH
- ženské pohlaví MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- Názvy látek
- malá jadérková RNA MeSH
- mikro RNA MeSH
- MIRN155 microRNA, human MeSH Prohlížeč
- MIRN21 microRNA, human MeSH Prohlížeč
- MIRN217 microRNA, human MeSH Prohlížeč
- nádorové biomarkery MeSH
