CALCA

Gene Summary

Gene:CALCA; calcitonin related polypeptide alpha
Aliases: CT, KC, PCT, CGRP, CALC1, CGRP1, CGRP-I
Location:11p15.2
Summary:This gene encodes the peptide hormones calcitonin, calcitonin gene-related peptide and katacalcin by tissue-specific alternative RNA splicing of the gene transcripts and cleavage of inactive precursor proteins. Calcitonin is involved in calcium regulation and acts to regulate phosphorus metabolism. Calcitonin gene-related peptide functions as a vasodilator and as an antimicrobial peptide while katacalcin is a calcium-lowering peptide. Multiple transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene.[provided by RefSeq, Aug 2014]
Databases:OMIM, HGNC, Ensembl, GeneCard, Gene
Protein:calcitonin; calcitonin gene-related peptide 1
Source:NCBIAccessed: 31 August, 2019

Ontology:

What does this gene/protein do?
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Cancer Overview

Research Indicators

Publications Per Year (1994-2019)
Graph generated 31 August 2019 using data from PubMed using criteria.

Literature Analysis

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Tag cloud generated 31 August, 2019 using data from PubMed, MeSH and CancerIndex

Specific Cancers (8)

Latest Publications: CALCA (cancer-related)

Sun S, Hu Z, Huang S, et al.
REG4 is an indicator for KRAS mutant lung adenocarcinoma with TTF-1 low expression.
J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 2019; 145(9):2273-2283 [PubMed] Related Publications
OBJECTIVES: Recent research has classified lung adenocarcinoma patients with KRAS mutation into three subtypes by co-occurring genetic events in TP53 (KP subgroup), STK11/LKB1 (KL subgroup) and CDKN2A/B inactivation plus TTF-1 low expression (KC subgroup). The aim of this study was to identify valuable biomarkers by searching the candidate molecules that contribute to lung adenocarcinoma pathogenesis, especially KC subtype.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed the publicly available database and identified the candidate REG4 using the E-GEOD-31210 dataset, and then confirmed by TCGA dataset. In addition, an independent cohort of 55 clinical samples was analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR analysis. Functional studies and RNA sequencing were performed after silencing the REG4 expression.
RESULTS: REG4, an important regulator of gastro-intestinal carcinogenesis, was highly expressed in KRAS mutant lung adenocarcinoma with low expression of TTF-1 (KC subtype). The results were validated both by gene expression analysis and immunohistochemistry study in an independent 55 clinical samples from Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center. Further in vitro and in vivo functional assays revealed silencing REG4 expression significantly reduces cancer cell proliferation and tumorigenesis. Moreover, RNA sequencing and GSEA analysis displayed that REG4 knockdown might induce cell cycle arrest by regulating G2/M checkpoint and E2F targets.
CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that REG4 plays an important role in KRAS-driven lung cancer pathogenesis and is a novel biomarker of lung adenocarcinoma subtype. Future studies are required to clarify the underlying mechanisms of REG4 in the division and proliferation of KC tumors and its potential therapeutic value.

Dix D
Human Carcinogenesis: The Role of Age and Gender.
Anticancer Res. 2019; 39(8):4385-4391 [PubMed] Related Publications
BACKGROUND/AIM: To identify the reason for age and gender differences in cancer risk.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: Age-standardized incidence rates for 17 cancer types were compared between genders in 50 populations. For each cancer type, the female/male rate ratio was listed in fixed order of population. Correlation coefficients were calculated between these lists in all pairwise combinations. For each population, the female/male rate ratio was listed in fixed order of cancer. Correlation coefficients were calculated between lists in all pairwise combinations.
RESULTS: Only four pairwise combinations for cancer type gave a correlation coefficient greater than 0.700. For each population, the lowest correlation coefficient was 0.950.
CONCLUSION: The reason for the differences in risk of cancer varies with each type of cancer, but remains fixed in all populations. It is suspected that species-specific genes control stem cell telomere dynamics in a fixed strategy at rates that vary among tissues and between genders.

Kage H, Kohsaka S, Shinozaki-Ushiku A, et al.
Small lung tumor biopsy samples are feasible for high quality targeted next generation sequencing.
Cancer Sci. 2019; 110(8):2652-2657 [PubMed] Free Access to Full Article Related Publications
Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has been implemented in clinical oncology to analyze multiple genes and to guide therapy. In patients with advanced lung cancer, small biopsies such as computed tomography-guided needle biopsy (CTNB), endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) and transbronchial biopsy (TBB) are less invasive and are preferable to resection to make a pathological diagnosis. However, the quality of DNA/RNA and NGS from small lung tumor biopsy samples is unknown. Between April 2017 and March 2018, 107 consecutive samples were obtained from thoracic tumors or metastatic sites for targeted NGS analysis. Fifteen samples were obtained through CTNB, 11 through EBUS-TBNA, 11 through TBB and 70 through surgical resection. All samples were formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded. DNA and RNA quality was measured using the ddCq method and the percentage of RNA fragments above 200 nucleotides (DV200), respectively. Our custommade probes were designed to capture exon sequences of 464 cancer-related genes and transcripts of 463 genes. DNA and RNA yield from the 3 biopsy methods were similar, and less than the yield obtained from resected samples. The quality of DNA and RNA was similar across all methods. Overall, 12 of 15 CTNB samples (80%), all 11 EBUS-TBNA samples, and 9 of 11 TBB samples (82%) underwent successful NGS assays from DNA. NGS analysis from RNA was successful in all 12 CTNB samples, 9 of 11 EBUS-TBNA samples (82%), and 8 of 11 TBB samples (73%). CTNB, EBUS-TBNA and TBB mostly resulted in adequate DNA and RNA quality and enabled high-quality targeted NGS analysis.

Rendleman MC, Buatti JM, Braun TA, et al.
Machine learning with the TCGA-HNSC dataset: improving usability by addressing inconsistency, sparsity, and high-dimensionality.
BMC Bioinformatics. 2019; 20(1):339 [PubMed] Free Access to Full Article Related Publications
BACKGROUND: In the era of precision oncology and publicly available datasets, the amount of information available for each patient case has dramatically increased. From clinical variables and PET-CT radiomics measures to DNA-variant and RNA expression profiles, such a wide variety of data presents a multitude of challenges. Large clinical datasets are subject to sparsely and/or inconsistently populated fields. Corresponding sequencing profiles can suffer from the problem of high-dimensionality, where making useful inferences can be difficult without correspondingly large numbers of instances. In this paper we report a novel deployment of machine learning techniques to handle data sparsity and high dimensionality, while evaluating potential biomarkers in the form of unsupervised transformations of RNA data. We apply preprocessing, MICE imputation, and sparse principal component analysis (SPCA) to improve the usability of more than 500 patient cases from the TCGA-HNSC dataset for enhancing future oncological decision support for Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC).
RESULTS: Imputation was shown to improve prognostic ability of sparse clinical treatment variables. SPCA transformation of RNA expression variables reduced runtime for RNA-based models, though changes to classifier performance were not significant. Gene ontology enrichment analysis of gene sets associated with individual sparse principal components (SPCs) are also reported, showing that both high- and low-importance SPCs were associated with cell death pathways, though the high-importance gene sets were found to be associated with a wider variety of cancer-related biological processes.
CONCLUSIONS: MICE imputation allowed us to impute missing values for clinically informative features, improving their overall importance for predicting two-year recurrence-free survival by incorporating variance from other clinical variables. Dimensionality reduction of RNA expression profiles via SPCA reduced both computation cost and model training/evaluation time without affecting classifier performance, allowing researchers to obtain experimental results much more quickly. SPCA simultaneously provided a convenient avenue for consideration of biological context via gene ontology enrichment analysis.

Zhong R, Chen Q, Zhang X, et al.
Association between methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) polymorphisms and lung cancer risk in Chinese people: An updated meta-analysis.
Medicine (Baltimore). 2019; 98(24):e16037 [PubMed] Free Access to Full Article Related Publications
BACKGROUND: The association between Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (MTHFR) polymorphisms and lung cancer risk in Chinese people has been widely explored; however, the results remain controversial. Thus, we conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the association between MTHFR gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to lung cancer in Chinese people.
OBJECTIVE: We performed an updated meta-analysis to investigate the association between MTHFR gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to lung cancer in Chinese people.
METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, WANFANG database, and CNKI were searched to collect eligible articles. The associations of MTHFR gene polymorphism with lung cancer risk were evaluated by calculating the pooled odds ratios (ORs) and the 95% confidence interval (CI). The dominant, recessive, heterozygous, homozygous, and allelic genetic models were used to calculate the combined ORs.
RESULTS: A total of 16 eligible studies were identified in the present meta-analysis. Evidence from the pooled results indicated a significant association between the MTHFR C677T polymorphism and lung cancer susceptibility in Chinese people under the dominant, recessive, homozygous and allelic genetic models (T vs C: OR = 1.252, 95% CI, 1.090-1.437; TT vs CC: OR = 1.741, 95% CI, 1.252-2.420. (TT + CT) vs CC: OR = 1.227, 95% CI, 1.030-1.426. TT vs (CT + CC): OR = 1.606, 95% CI, 1.207-2.137).
CONCLUSION: The present updated meta-analysis demonstrated that the MTHFR C677T polymorphism was significantly associated with susceptibility to lung cancer in Chinese people. Additional case-control studies with large sample sizes are needed to validate our findings.

Sharma Y, Miladi M, Dukare S, et al.
A pan-cancer analysis of synonymous mutations.
Nat Commun. 2019; 10(1):2569 [PubMed] Free Access to Full Article Related Publications
Synonymous mutations have been viewed as silent mutations, since they only affect the DNA and mRNA, but not the amino acid sequence of the resulting protein. Nonetheless, recent studies suggest their significant impact on splicing, RNA stability, RNA folding, translation or co-translational protein folding. Hence, we compile 659194 synonymous mutations found in human cancer and characterize their properties. We provide the user-friendly, comprehensive resource for synonymous mutations in cancer, SynMICdb ( http://SynMICdb.dkfz.de ), which also contains orthogonal information about gene annotation, recurrence, mutation loads, cancer association, conservation, alternative events, impact on mRNA structure and a SynMICdb score. Notably, synonymous and missense mutations are depleted at the 5'-end of the coding sequence as well as at the ends of internal exons independent of mutational signatures. For patient-derived synonymous mutations in the oncogene KRAS, we indicate that single point mutations can have a relevant impact on expression as well as on mRNA secondary structure.

Shen TX, Liu L, Li WH, et al.
CT imaging-based histogram features for prediction of EGFR mutation status of bone metastases in patients with primary lung adenocarcinoma.
Cancer Imaging. 2019; 19(1):34 [PubMed] Free Access to Full Article Related Publications
OBJECTIVE: To identify imaging markers that reflect the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation status by comparing computed tomography (CT) imaging-based histogram features between bone metastases with and without EGFR mutation in patients with primary lung adenocarcinoma.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study included 57 patients, with pathologically confirmed bone metastasis of primary lung adenocarcinoma. EGFR mutation status of bone metastases was confirmed by gene detection. The CT imaging of the metastatic bone lesions which were obtained between June 2014 and December 2017 were collected and analyzed. A total of 42 CT imaging-based histogram features were automatically extracted. Feature selection was conducted using Student's t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, single-factor logistic regression analysis and Spearman correlation analysis. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to compare the effectiveness of features in distinguishing between EGFR(+) and EGFR(-) groups. DeLong's test was used to analyze the differences between the area under the curve (AUC) values.
RESULTS: Three histogram features, namely range, skewness, and quantile 0.975 were significantly associated with EGFR mutation status. After combining these three features and combining range and skewness, we obtained the same AUC values, sensitivity and specificity. Meanwhile, the highest AUC value was achieved (AUC 0.783), which also had a higher sensitivity (0.708) and specificity (0.788). The differences between AUC values of the three features and their various combinations were statistically insignificant.
CONCLUSION: CT imaging-based histogram features of bone metastases with and without EGFR mutation in patients with primary lung adenocarcinoma were identified, and they may contribute to diagnosis and prediction of EGFR mutation status.

Hu Q, Ye Y, Chan LC, et al.
Oncogenic lncRNA downregulates cancer cell antigen presentation and intrinsic tumor suppression.
Nat Immunol. 2019; 20(7):835-851 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 03/12/2019 Related Publications
How tumor cells genetically lose antigenicity and evade immune checkpoints remains largely elusive. We report that tissue-specific expression of the human long noncoding RNA LINK-A in mouse mammary glands initiates metastatic mammary gland tumors, which phenotypically resemble human triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). LINK-A expression facilitated crosstalk between phosphatidylinositol-(3,4,5)-trisphosphate and inhibitory G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) pathways, attenuating protein kinase A-mediated phosphorylation of the E3 ubiquitin ligase TRIM71. Consequently, LINK-A expression enhanced K48-polyubiquitination-mediated degradation of the antigen peptide-loading complex (PLC) and intrinsic tumor suppressors Rb and p53. Treatment with LINK-A locked nucleic acids or GPCR antagonists stabilized the PLC components, Rb and p53, and sensitized mammary gland tumors to immune checkpoint blockers. Patients with programmed ccll death protein-1(PD-1) blockade-resistant TNBC exhibited elevated LINK-A levels and downregulated PLC components. Hence we demonstrate lncRNA-dependent downregulation of antigenicity and intrinsic tumor suppression, which provides the basis for developing combinational immunotherapy treatment regimens and early TNBC prevention.

Alderman MH, Xiao AZ
N(6)-Methyladenine in eukaryotes.
Cell Mol Life Sci. 2019; 76(15):2957-2966 [PubMed] Related Publications
DNA modifications are a major form of epigenetic regulation that eukaryotic cells utilize in concert with histone modifications. While much work has been done elucidating the role of 5-methylcytosine over the past several decades, only recently has it been recognized that N(6)-methyladenine (N

De Falco V, Natalicchio MI, Napolitano S, et al.
A case report of a severe fluoropyrimidine-related toxicity due to an uncommon DPYD variant.
Medicine (Baltimore). 2019; 98(21):e15759 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 03/12/2019 Related Publications
INTRODUCTION: Fluoropyrimidines such as 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and its orally active prodrug, capecitabine, are widely used in the treatment of gastrointestinal cancer, including colorectal cancer. Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) plays an important role in the 5-FU metabolism. Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase gene (DPYD) is a highly polymorphic gene with several hundreds of reported genetic variants and DPD activity levels vary considerably among individuals, with different 5-FU-related efficacy and toxicity. About 5% of the population is deficient in DPD enzyme activity. The most well studied DPYD variant is the IVS14+1G>A, also known as DPYD *2A. In this report, we present a case of a patient with a double heterozygote DPYD variant (DPYD activity score: 0,5 according to Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium) who experienced a severe fluoropyrimidine-related toxicity resolved without any consequence.
PATIENT CONCERNS: A 46-years-old Caucasian man with diagnosis of left colon adenocarcinoma underwent left hemicolectomy on July 2017: pT3 G3 N1c M0. According to the disease stage, he started an adjuvant therapy with XELOX using capecitabine at 50% of total dose, because of his DPYD IVS14+1G>A variant, detected before the treatment.
DIAGNOSIS: After few days, despite of this dose reduction, he experienced life-threatening adverse events such as mucositis G3, diarrhea G3, neutropenia G4, thrombocytopenia G4, and hyperbilirubinemia G3 according to Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v 5.0.
INTERVENTIONS: As first, we set up an intensive rehydration therapy, antibiotic and antifungal prophylaxis, Granulocyte-Colony Stimulating Factors, and supportive blood transfusions. Additional genetic tests revealed a double heterozygote variant of DPYD gene (DPYD IVS14+1G>A and 2846A>T) which is a very rare situation and only 3 cases are described in literature, all of them concluded with patient's death.
OUTCOMES: After 3 weeks of intensive therapy, the patient was fully recovered. Furthermore, all the whole-body CT scans performed since discharge from the hospital until now, have confirmed no evidence of disease.
CONCLUSIONS: Recent studies demonstrated that screening strategy for the most common DPYD variants allowed for avoiding toxicities and saving money. This report underlines the importance of genotyping DPYD before treatment and emphasizes the role of genotype-guided dose individualization.

Vázquez-Ibarra KC, Bustos-Carpinteyro AR, García-Ruvalcaba A, et al.
The ERBB2 gene polymorphisms rs2643194, rs2934971, and rs1058808 are associated with increased risk of gastric cancer.
Braz J Med Biol Res. 2019; 52(5):e8379 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 03/12/2019 Related Publications
Gastric cancer (GC) is the third most lethal type of cancer worldwide. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in regulatory sites or coding regions can modify the expression of genes involved in gastric carcinogenesis, as ERBB2, which encodes for the tyrosine-kinase receptor HER-2. The aim of this work was to analyze the association of the polymorphisms: rs2643194, rs2517951, rs2643195, rs2934971, and rs1058808 with GC, as they have not yet been analyzed in GC patients, as well as to report their frequency in the general Mexican population (GMP). We studied genomic DNA from subjects with GC (n=74), gastric inflammatory diseases (GID, n=76 control subjects), and GMP (n=102). Genotypes were obtained by means of real-time PCR and DNA-sequencing. The risks for GC were estimated through odds ratio (OR) using the Cochran-Armitage trend test and multinomial logistic regression. Increased risk for GC was observed under the dominant inheritance model for the rs2643194 TT or CT genotypes with an OR of 2.75 (95%CI 1.12-6.75, P=0.023); the rs2934971 TT or GT genotypes with an OR of 2.41 (95%CI 1.01-5.76, P=0.043), and the rs1058808 GG or CG genotypes with an OR of 2.21 (95%CI 1.00-4.87, P=0.046). The SNPs rs2643194, rs2934971, and rs1058808 of the ERBB2 gene were associated with increased risk for GC.

Yuan C, Renfro L, Ambadwar PB, et al.
Influence of genetic variation in the vitamin D pathway on plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D
Cancer Causes Control. 2019; 30(7):757-765 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/07/2020 Related Publications
PURPOSE: The relationships of genetic variation in the vitamin D pathway with circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D
METHODS: Among 535 patients participating in a randomized trial of chemotherapy for mCRC, we prospectively measured baseline plasma 25(OH)D and examined 124 tagging single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within seven genes in the vitamin D pathway, including five SNPs associated with circulating 25(OH)D levels in previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS). We evaluated whether these SNPs were associated with plasma 25(OH)D levels and patient outcome (overall survival, time to progression, and tumor response), using linear, logistic, and Cox proportional hazards regression.
RESULTS: We observed a significant association between 25(OH)D levels and an additive genetic risk score determined by the five GWAS-identified SNPs (p = 0.0009). We did not observe any direct association between 25(OH)D-associated SNPs, individually or as a genetic risk score, and patient outcome. However, we found a significant interaction between 25(OH)D levels and rs12785878 genotype in DHCR7 on overall survival (p
CONCLUSION: Germline genetic variation in the vitamin D pathway informs baseline 25(OH)D levels among patients with mCRC. The association between 25(OH)D levels and overall survival may vary by DHCR7 genotype. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00003594 ( https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00003594 ).

Jones MR, Williamson LM, Topham JT, et al.
Clin Cancer Res. 2019; 25(15):4674-4681 [PubMed] Related Publications
PURPOSE: Gene fusions involving neuregulin 1 (
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Forty-seven patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma received comprehensive whole-genome and transcriptome sequencing and analysis. Two patients with gene fusions involving
RESULTS: Three of 47 (6%) patients with advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma were identified as
CONCLUSIONS: This work adds to a growing body of evidence that

Lu L, Huang H, Zhou J, et al.
BRCA1 mRNA expression modifies the effect of T cell activation score on patient survival in breast cancer.
BMC Cancer. 2019; 19(1):387 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/07/2020 Related Publications
BACKGROUND: Effector CD8
METHODS: The interactions between T cell activation status and either BRCA1 or CCND1 expression were evaluated using Kaplan-Meier survival curves and multivariate Cox regression models in a public dataset with 1088 breast cancer patients.
RESULTS: Among the patients with low BRCA1 or CCND1 expression, the Activation group showed better overall survival than the Exhaustion group. Adjusted hazards ratios were 0.43 (95% CI: 0.20-0.93) in patients with a low BRCA1 level, and 0.39 (95% CI: 0.19-0.81) in patients with a low CCND1 level, respectively. There was a significant trend in both subgroups (p-trend = 0.011 in the low BRCA1 group, and p-trend = 0.009 in the low CCND1 group). In contrast, there is no significant association in patients with either high BRCA1 or high CCND1 levels. There is a significant interaction between T cell activation status and BRCA1 level (p = 0.009), but not between T cell activation status and CCND1 level (p = 0.135).
CONCLUSIONS: BRCA1 expression modified the effect of T cell activation status on patient survival in breast cancer, suggesting that the existence of neoantigens and the enhancement of neoantigen presentation in combination with immune checkpoint blockade may have synergistic effects on patient outcome.

Tripathy S, Tripathi M, Dattagupta S, et al.
In Vivo PSMA Expression in Head and Neck Paragangliomas on 68Ga PSMA 11 PET/CT.
Clin Nucl Med. 2019; 44(6):e398-e400 [PubMed] Related Publications
Head and neck paragangliomas are rare and often asymptomatic tumors and mostly present as painless masses. We describe Ga PSMA 11 PET/CT and Ga DOTANOC PET/CT findings of a 40 year old man with triple head and neck paragangliomas with emphasis on exploring the possible theranostic options.

Barwick BG, Neri P, Bahlis NJ, et al.
Multiple myeloma immunoglobulin lambda translocations portend poor prognosis.
Nat Commun. 2019; 10(1):1911 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/07/2020 Related Publications
Multiple myeloma is a malignancy of antibody-secreting plasma cells. Most patients benefit from current therapies, however, 20% of patients relapse or die within two years and are deemed high risk. Here we analyze structural variants from 795 newly-diagnosed patients as part of the CoMMpass study. We report translocations involving the immunoglobulin lambda (IgL) locus are present in 10% of patients, and indicative of poor prognosis. This is particularly true for IgL-MYC translocations, which coincide with focal amplifications of enhancers at both loci. Importantly, 78% of IgL-MYC translocations co-occur with hyperdiploid disease, a marker of standard risk, suggesting that IgL-MYC-translocated myeloma is being misclassified. Patients with IgL-translocations fail to benefit from IMiDs, which target IKZF1, a transcription factor that binds the IgL enhancer at some of the highest levels in the myeloma epigenome. These data implicate IgL translocation as a driver of poor prognosis which may be due to IMiD resistance.

Mimitou EP, Cheng A, Montalbano A, et al.
Multiplexed detection of proteins, transcriptomes, clonotypes and CRISPR perturbations in single cells.
Nat Methods. 2019; 16(5):409-412 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/07/2020 Related Publications
Multimodal single-cell assays provide high-resolution snapshots of complex cell populations, but are mostly limited to transcriptome plus an additional modality. Here, we describe expanded CRISPR-compatible cellular indexing of transcriptomes and epitopes by sequencing (ECCITE-seq) for the high-throughput characterization of at least five modalities of information from each single cell. We demonstrate application of ECCITE-seq to multimodal CRISPR screens with robust direct single-guide RNA capture and to clonotype-aware multimodal phenotyping of cancer samples.

Deng S, Ren ZJ, Jin T, et al.
Contribution of prostate stem cell antigen variation rs2294008 to the risk of bladder cancer.
Medicine (Baltimore). 2019; 98(16):e15179 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/07/2020 Related Publications
OBJECTIVE: Number of studies have been performed to evaluate the relationship between prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA) variation rs2294008 and bladder cancer risk, but the sample size was small and the results were conflicting. This meta-analysis was conducted to comprehensively evaluate the overall association.
METHODS: Pubmed, Web of science, Embase, China biology medical literature database (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wan Fang and Weipu databases were searched before June 30, 2018. The strength of associations was assessed using odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). All of the statistical analyses were conducted using Review Manager 5.3 and Stata 14.0.
RESULTS: Ten studies involved 14,021 cases and 26,871 controls. Overall, significant association was observed between the PSCA gene variant rs2294008 polymorphism and bladder cancer (T vs C: OR = 1.16, 95%CI = 1.12-1.20; TT vs CC: OR = 1.32, 95%CI = 1.24-1.41; TT vs CT+CC: OR = 1.15, 95%CI = 1.09-1.22; TT+CT vs CC: OR = 1.27, 95%CI = 1.21-1.34). In subgroup analysis by ethnic group, a statistically significant association was observed in Asians (T vs C: OR = 1.23, 95%CI = 1.15-1.31) and Caucasians (T vs C: OR = 1.14, 95%CI = 1.10-1.18). The sensitivity analysis confirmed the reliability and stability of the meta-analysis.
CONCLUSION: Our meta-analysis supports that the PSCA gene variant rs2294008 polymorphism might contribute to individual susceptibility to bladder cancer.

Kel A, Boyarskikh U, Stegmaier P, et al.
Walking pathways with positive feedback loops reveal DNA methylation biomarkers of colorectal cancer.
BMC Bioinformatics. 2019; 20(Suppl 4):119 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/07/2020 Related Publications
BACKGROUND: The search for molecular biomarkers of early-onset colorectal cancer (CRC) is an important but still quite challenging and unsolved task. Detection of CpG methylation in human DNA obtained from blood or stool has been proposed as a promising approach to a noninvasive early diagnosis of CRC. Thousands of abnormally methylated CpG positions in CRC genomes are often located in non-coding parts of genes. Novel bioinformatic methods are thus urgently needed for multi-omics data analysis to reveal causative biomarkers with a potential driver role in early stages of cancer.
METHODS: We have developed a method for finding potential causal relationships between epigenetic changes (DNA methylations) in gene regulatory regions that affect transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) and gene expression changes. This method also considers the topology of the involved signal transduction pathways and searches for positive feedback loops that may cause the carcinogenic aberrations in gene expression. We call this method "Walking pathways", since it searches for potential rewiring mechanisms in cancer pathways due to dynamic changes in the DNA methylation status of important gene regulatory regions ("epigenomic walking").
RESULTS: In this paper, we analysed an extensive collection of full genome gene-expression data (RNA-seq) and DNA methylation data of genomic CpG islands (using Illumina methylation arrays) generated from a sample of tumor and normal gut epithelial tissues of 300 patients with colorectal cancer (at different stages of the disease) (data generated in the EU-supported SysCol project). Identification of potential epigenetic biomarkers of DNA methylation was performed using the fully automatic multi-omics analysis web service "My Genome Enhancer" (MGE) (my-genome-enhancer.com). MGE uses the database on gene regulation TRANSFAC®, the signal transduction pathways database TRANSPATH®, and software that employs AI (artificial intelligence) methods for the analysis of cancer-specific enhancers.
CONCLUSIONS: The identified biomarkers underwent experimental testing on an independent set of blood samples from patients with colorectal cancer. As a result, using advanced methods of statistics and machine learning, a minimum set of 6 biomarkers was selected, which together achieve the best cancer detection potential. The markers include hypermethylated positions in regulatory regions of the following genes: CALCA, ENO1, MYC, PDX1, TCF7, ZNF43.

Münch NS, Fang HY, Ingermann J, et al.
High-Fat Diet Accelerates Carcinogenesis in a Mouse Model of Barrett's Esophagus via Interleukin 8 and Alterations to the Gut Microbiome.
Gastroenterology. 2019; 157(2):492-506.e2 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/08/2020 Related Publications
BACKGROUND & AIMS: Barrett's esophagus (BE) is a precursor to esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). Progression from BE to cancer is associated with obesity, possibly due to increased abdominal pressure and gastroesophageal reflux disease, although this pathogenic mechanism has not been proven. We investigated whether environmental or dietary factors associated with obesity contribute to the progression of BE to EAC in mice.
METHODS: Tg(ED-L2-IL1RN/IL1B)#Tcw mice (a model of BE, called L2-IL1B mice) were fed a chow (control) or high-fat diet (HFD) or were crossbred with mice that express human interleukin (IL) 8 (L2-IL1B/IL8 mice). Esophageal tissues were collected and analyzed for gene expression profiles and by quantitative polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry, and flow cytometry. Organoids were established from BE tissue of mice and cultured with serum from lean or obese individuals or with neutrophils from L2-IL1B mice. Feces from mice were analyzed by 16s ribosomal RNA sequencing and compared to 16s sequencing data from patients with dysplasia or BE. L2-IL1B were mice raised in germ-free conditions.
RESULTS: L2-IL1B mice fed an HFD developed esophageal dysplasia and tumors more rapidly than mice fed the control diet; the speed of tumor development was independent of body weight. The acceleration of dysplasia by the HFD in the L2-IL1B mice was associated with a shift in the gut microbiota and an increased ratio of neutrophils to natural killer cells in esophageal tissues compared with mice fed a control diet. We observed similar differences in the microbiomes from patients with BE that progressed to EAC vs patients with BE that did not develop into cancer. Tissues from dysplasias of L2-IL1B mice fed the HFD contained increased levels of cytokines that are produced in response to CXCL1 (the functional mouse homolog of IL8, also called KC). Serum from obese patients caused organoids from L2-IL1B/IL8 mice to produce IL8. BE tissues from L2-IL1B mice fed the HFD and from L2-IL1B/IL8 mice contained increased numbers of myeloid cells and cells expressing Cxcr2 and Lgr5 messenger RNAs (epithelial progenitors) compared with mice fed control diets. BE tissues from L2-IL1B mice raised in germ-free housing had fewer progenitor cells and developed less dysplasia than in L2-IL1 mice raised under standard conditions; exposure of fecal microbiota from L2-IL1B mice fed the HFD to L2-IL1B mice fed the control diet accelerated tumor development.
CONCLUSIONS: In a mouse model of BE, we found that an HFD promoted dysplasia by altering the esophageal microenvironment and gut microbiome, thereby inducing inflammation and stem cell expansion, independent of obesity.

Ferreira MA, Gamazon ER, Al-Ejeh F, et al.
Genome-wide association and transcriptome studies identify target genes and risk loci for breast cancer.
Nat Commun. 2019; 10(1):1741 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/08/2020 Related Publications
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 170 breast cancer susceptibility loci. Here we hypothesize that some risk-associated variants might act in non-breast tissues, specifically adipose tissue and immune cells from blood and spleen. Using expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) reported in these tissues, we identify 26 previously unreported, likely target genes of overall breast cancer risk variants, and 17 for estrogen receptor (ER)-negative breast cancer, several with a known immune function. We determine the directional effect of gene expression on disease risk measured based on single and multiple eQTL. In addition, using a gene-based test of association that considers eQTL from multiple tissues, we identify seven (and four) regions with variants associated with overall (and ER-negative) breast cancer risk, which were not reported in previous GWAS. Further investigation of the function of the implicated genes in breast and immune cells may provide insights into the etiology of breast cancer.

Liu S, Han Z, Trivett AL, et al.
Cryptotanshinone has curative dual anti-proliferative and immunotherapeutic effects on mouse Lewis lung carcinoma.
Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2019; 68(7):1059-1071 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/08/2020 Related Publications
Lung cancer is currently the leading cause of cancer-related mortality with very limited effective therapy. Screening of a variety of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) for their capacity to inhibit the proliferation of human lung cancer A549 cells and to induce the in vitro maturation of human DCs led to the identification of cryptotanshinone (CT), a compound purified from the TCM Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge. Here, CT was shown to inhibit the proliferation of mouse Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) cells by upregulating p53, downregulating cyclin B1 and Cdc2, and, consequently, inducing G2/M cell-cycle arrest of LLC cells. In addition, CT promoted maturation of mouse and human DCs with upregulation of costimulatory and MHC molecules and stimulated DCs to produce TNFα, IL-1β, and IL-12p70, but not IL-10 in vitro. CT-induced maturation of DCs depended on MyD88 and also involved the activation of NF-κB, p38, and JNK. CT was effective in the treatment of LLC tumors and, when used in combination with low doses of anti-PD-L1, cured LLC-bearing mice with the induction of subsequent anti-LLC long-term specific immunity. CT treatment promoted T-cell infiltration and elevated the expression of genes typical of Th1 polarization in LLC tumor tissue. The therapeutic effect of CT and low doses of anti-PD-L1 was reduced by depletion of CD4 and CD8 T cells. This paper provides the first report that CT induces immunological antitumor activities and may provide a new promising antitumor immunotherapeutic.

Hu C, Cheng X, MingYu Q, et al.
The effects of microRNA-1224-5p on hepatocellular carcinoma tumor endothelial cells.
J Cancer Res Ther. 2019; 15(2):329-335 [PubMed] Related Publications
Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of microRNA-1224-5p (miR-1224-5p) on tumor endothelial cells (TECs) of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Subjects and Methods: Oligonucleotides were chemically synthesized and transfected into TECs using Lipofectamine 2000. TECs were divided into three groups, namely a control (CON) group without transfection, a negative control (NC) group transfected with negative control oligonucleotides and green fluorescent protein (GFP), and a micro-up (MU) group transfected with miR-1224-5p mimic and GFP. The expression of miR-1224-5p was quantified via quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The proliferation of TECs was detected using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, and the optical density value at 490 nm was measured after every 24 h. Apoptosis was detected via flow cytometry using a 7-aminoactinomycin/APC Annexin V kit. The migration and invasion of TECs were detected using transwell assay. The tube formation ability was evaluated using the tube formation assay.
Results: Oligonucleotides were successfully transduced into TECs, and the expression of miR-1224-5p was specifically upregulated. The results of qRT-PCR analysis showed that the expression of miR-1224-5p was significantly upregulated in the MU group (2
Conclusions: miR-1224-5p may serve as a potential tumor suppressor in HCC. Upregulation in miR-1224-5p expression may decrease proliferation, induce apoptosis, inhibit migration and invasion, and suppress tube formation in TECs of human HCC.

Yang WH, Xie J, Lai ZY, et al.
Radiofrequency deep hyperthermia combined with chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
Chin Med J (Engl). 2019; 132(8):922-927 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/08/2020 Related Publications
BACKGROUND: In the era of precision medicine, chemotherapy is still considered the cornerstone of treatment for lung cancer patients without gene mutations. How to reduce the toxicity and increase the efficiency of chemotherapy is worth exploring. This study aimed to investigate the curative effects and safety of hyperthermia combined with chemotherapy (HCT) for advanced patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), especially those with malignant pleural effusion.
METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated medical records of 93 patients with advanced NSCLC (stage IIIB-IV) from March 2011 to January 2014. The patients were divided into HCT and chemotherapy (CT) groups. The HCT group was treated with gemcitabine and cisplatin (GP) regimen combined with regional radiofrequency deep hyperthermia, while the CT group was treated with GP regimen only. Those with malignant pleural effusion extra underwent thoracentesis and intrapleural injection chemotherapy combined with hyperthermic or not. Clinical treatment results and adverse reactions were compared and analyzed after treatment. SPSS 19.0 software (SPSS Inc., USA) was used for statistical data processing. P values less than 0.05 were accepted to be statistically significant.
RESULTS: Among the 93 patients, HCT group included 48 patients (16 patients with malignant pleural effusion), CT group included 45 patients (10 patients with malignant pleural effusion). There was no significant difference between the two groups in patient characteristics. The overall response rate (ORR) of pleural effusions was much better in HCT group than that in CT group (81.2% vs. 40.0%, P = 0.046). The patients in HCT group had lower incidence rate of weakness (12.5% vs. 46.7%, χ = 13.16, P < 0.001) and gastrointestinal (25.0% vs. 77.8%, χ = 25.88, P < 0.001) adverse reactions than that in CT group. The objective tumor response and survival showed no significant differences.
CONCLUSIONS: Hyperthermia combined with chemotherapy might lead to the development of better therapeutic strategy for advanced NSCLC with malignant pleural effusion patients. Also, it could greatly reduce the chemotherapy toxic effects in the incidence of weakness and gastrointestinal adverse reactions in advanced NSCLC patients.

Wang H, Guo H, Wang Z, et al.
The Diagnostic Value of Quantitative CT Analysis of Ground-Glass Volume Percentage in Differentiating Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Mutation and Subtypes in Lung Adenocarcinoma.
Biomed Res Int. 2019; 2019:9643836 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/08/2020 Related Publications
Objective: To retrospectively investigate computed tomographic (CT) quantitative analysis of ground-glass opacity (GGO) volume percentage and morphologic features of resected lung adenocarcinomas according to epidermal growth factor receptor (
Methods: Amplification refractory mutation system was used to detect mutations in the EGFR gene. Distribution of demographics and GGO volume percentage were performed according to EGFR mutation status and subtypes.
Results: EGFR mutations were significantly more frequent in women (55.2% vs. 37.0%,
Conclusion: GGO volume percentage in adenocarcinomas with EGFR mutation was significantly higher than that in tumors without EGFR mutation, and adenocarcinomas with exon 21 mutation showed significantly higher GGO volume percentage than in tumors with exon 19 mutation and those without EGFR mutation. Our results indicate that GGO volume percentage cut-off values of more than 37.7% and 34.3% were predictors of positive exon 21 mutation and EGFR mutation, respectively.

Jahan R, Ganguly K, Smith LM, et al.
Trefoil factor(s) and CA19.9: A promising panel for early detection of pancreatic cancer.
EBioMedicine. 2019; 42:375-385 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/08/2020 Related Publications
BACKGROUND: Trefoil factors (TFF1, TFF2, and TFF3) are small secretory molecules that recently have gained significant attention in multiple studies as an integral component of pancreatic cancer (PC) subtype-specific gene signature. Here, we comprehensively investigated the diagnostic potential of all the member of trefoil family, i.e., TFF1, TFF2, and TFF3 in combination with CA19.9 for detection of PC.
METHODS: Trefoil factors (TFFs) gene expression was analyzed in publicly available cancer genome datasets, followed by assessment of their expression in genetically engineered spontaneous mouse model (GEM) of PC (KrasG12D; Pdx1-Cre (KC)) and in human tissue microarray consisting of normal pancreas adjacent to tumor (NAT), precursor lesions (PanIN), and various pathological grades of PC by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Serum TFFs and CA19.9 levels were evaluated via ELISA in comprehensive sample set (n = 362) comprised of independent training and validation sets each containing benign controls (BC), chronic pancreatitis (CP), and various stages of PC. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) were used to examine their diagnostic potential both alone and in combination with CA19.9.
FINDINGS: The publicly available datasets and expression analysis revealed significant increased expression of TFF1, TFF2, and TFF3 in human PanINs and PC tissues. Assessment of KC mouse model also suggested upregulated expression of TFFs in PanIN lesions and early stage of PC. In serum analyses studies, TFF1 and TFF2 were significantly elevated in early stages of PC in comparison to benign and CP control group while significant elevation in TFF3 levels were observed in CP group with no further elevation in its level in early stage PC group. In receiver operating curve (ROC) analyses, combination of TFFs with CA19.9 emerged as promising panel for discriminating early stage of PC (EPC) from BC (AUC
INTERPRETATION: In silico, tissue and serum analyses validated significantly increased level of all TFFs in precursor lesions and early stages of PC. The combination of TFFs enhanced sensitivity and specificity of CA19.9 to discriminate early stage of PC from benign control and chronic pancreatitis groups.

de Mesquita GHA, Carvalho BJ, de Almeida Medeiros KA, et al.
Intussusception reveals MUTYH-associated polyposis syndrome and colorectal cancer: a case report.
BMC Cancer. 2019; 19(1):324 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/08/2020 Related Publications
BACKGROUND: We are reporting a rare case of MUTYH-associated polyposis, a colorectal cancer hereditary syndrome, diagnosticated after an intussusception. Colorectal cancer is an important cause of cancer related mortality that can be manifested by an intussusception, a rare occurrence in adults and almost always related to tumors. Approximately 5% of colorectal cancers can be attributed to syndromes known to cause hereditary colorectal cancer, such as MUTYH-associated polyposis, autosomal genetic syndrome associated with this disease.
CASE PRESENTATION: We present the case of a 44 years old male, that sought medical consultation with a complaint of abdominal discomfort, that after five days changed its characteristics. The patient was sent to the emergency department were a CT-scan revealed intestinal sub-occlusion by ileocolic invagination. Right colectomy was carried out. The anatomic-pathological examination revealed a moderately differentiated mucinous adenocarcinoma and multiples sessile polyps, which led to the suspicion of a genetic syndrome. In the genetics analysis two mutations were observed in the MUTYH gene, and MUTYH-associated polyposis was diagnosticated.
CONCLUSION: This case demonstrates the importance of meticulous analysis of the patient examinations results to identify possible discrete alterations that can lead to improved understanding of disease.

Kim SS, Eun JW, Cho HJ, et al.
Effect of Fibroblast Growth Factor-2 and its Receptor Gene Polymorphisms on the Survival of Patients With Hepatitis B Virus-associated Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
Anticancer Res. 2019; 39(4):2217-2226 [PubMed] Related Publications
BACKGROUND/AIM: Fibroblast growth factor (FGF), vascular endothelial growth factor, and hepatocyte growth factor play a critical role in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We assessed nine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the FGF1, FGF2, FGF receptor (FGFR)-2, Flt-1, and c-MET genes in 245 HCC patients and 483 chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers without HCC.
RESULTS: Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patients with the FGF2 rs308447 TT genotype had shorter overall survival than patients with the CC or CT genotype (p=0.016) and that FGF2 rs308379 A allele carriers had shorter overall survival than patients with the TT genotype (p=0.020).
CONCLUSION: Multivariate Cox proportional analysis revealed that the FGF2 rs308379 A allele (hazard ratio(HR)=1.663, p=0.004) and advanced tumor stage (HR=3.430, p<0.001) were independent prognostic factors for overall survival in patients with HCC.

Wirbel J, Pyl PT, Kartal E, et al.
Meta-analysis of fecal metagenomes reveals global microbial signatures that are specific for colorectal cancer.
Nat Med. 2019; 25(4):679-689 [PubMed] Related Publications
Association studies have linked microbiome alterations with many human diseases. However, they have not always reported consistent results, thereby necessitating cross-study comparisons. Here, a meta-analysis of eight geographically and technically diverse fecal shotgun metagenomic studies of colorectal cancer (CRC, n = 768), which was controlled for several confounders, identified a core set of 29 species significantly enriched in CRC metagenomes (false discovery rate (FDR) < 1 × 10

Liang P, Zhang W, Wang W, et al.
Biomed Res Int. 2019; 2019:9765191 [PubMed] Article available free on PMC after 01/08/2020 Related Publications
The reported risk susceptibility between

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