Meningiomas are the most frequent primary intracranial tumors. Patient outcome varies widely from benign to highly aggressive, ultimately fatal courses. Reliable identification of risk of progression ...for individual patients is of pivotal importance. However, only biomarkers for highly aggressive tumors are established (
and
), whereas no molecularly based stratification exists for the broad spectrum of patients with low- and intermediate-risk meningioma.
DNA methylation data and copy-number information were generated for 3,031 meningiomas (2,868 patients), and mutation data for 858 samples. DNA methylation subgroups, copy-number variations (CNVs), mutations, and WHO grading were analyzed. Prediction power for outcome was assessed in a retrospective cohort of 514 patients, validated on a retrospective cohort of 184, and on a prospective cohort of 287 multicenter cases.
Both CNV- and methylation family-based subgrouping independently resulted in increased prediction accuracy of risk of recurrence compared with the WHO classification (c-indexes WHO 2016, CNV, and methylation family 0.699, 0.706, and 0.721, respectively). Merging all risk stratification approaches into an integrated molecular-morphologic score resulted in further substantial increase in accuracy (c-index 0.744). This integrated score consistently provided superior accuracy in all three cohorts, significantly outperforming WHO grading (c-index difference
= .005). Besides the overall stratification advantage, the integrated score separates more precisely for risk of progression at the diagnostically challenging interface of WHO grade 1 and grade 2 tumors (hazard ratio 4.34 2.48-7.57 and 3.34 1.28-8.72 retrospective and prospective validation cohorts, respectively).
Merging these layers of histologic and molecular data into an integrated, three-tiered score significantly improves the precision in meningioma stratification. Implementation into diagnostic routine informs clinical decision making for patients with meningioma on the basis of robust outcome prediction.
Assessment of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in histopathologic specimens can provide important prognostic information in diverse solid tumor types, and may also be of value in predicting ...response to treatments. However, implementation as a routine clinical biomarker has not yet been achieved. As successful use of immune checkpoint inhibitors and other forms of immunotherapy become a clinical reality, the need for widely applicable, accessible, and reliable immunooncology biomarkers is clear. In part 1 of this review we briefly discuss the host immune response to tumors and different approaches to TIL assessment. We propose a standardized methodology to assess TILs in solid tumors on hematoxylin and eosin sections, in both primary and metastatic settings, based on the International Immuno-Oncology Biomarker Working Group guidelines for TIL assessment in invasive breast carcinoma. A review of the literature regarding the value of TIL assessment in different solid tumor types follows in part 2. The method we propose is reproducible, affordable, easily applied, and has demonstrated prognostic and predictive significance in invasive breast carcinoma. This standardized methodology may be used as a reference against which other methods are compared, and should be evaluated for clinical validity and utility. Standardization of TIL assessment will help to improve consistency and reproducibility in this field, enrich both the quality and quantity of comparable evidence, and help to thoroughly evaluate the utility of TILs assessment in this era of immunotherapy.
Brain metastases (BM) are frequent in small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Novel insights into their pathobiology are needed for development of better therapies. We investigated tumor-infiltrating ...lymphocyte (TIL) subsets (CD3+, CD8+, CD45RO+, FOXP3+ and PD-1+) and expression of PD-L1 in a series of 32 SCLC BM specimens and four matched primary tumor specimens using immunohistochemistry. 30/32 (93.8 %) BM specimens showed TIL infiltration. CD3+ TILs were observed in 30/32 (93.8 %) BM specimens, CD8+ TILs in 25/32 (78.1 %), CD45RO+ TILs in 15/32 (46.9 %), FOXP3+ TILs in 15/32 (46.9 %) and PD-1+ TILs in 1/32 (3.1 %) BM specimens. Patients with infiltration of CD45RO+ TILS had a significantly longer median survival time (11 months; 95 % CI 0.000–26.148) as compared to patients without the presence of CD45RO+ TILs (5 months; 95 % CI 0.966–9.034; p = 0.007; log rank test). Membranous PD-L1 on tumor cells was observed in 24/32 (75.0 %) BM specimens, with 11/32 (34.4 %) cases showing PD-L1 expression in over 5 % of viable BM tumor cells. PD-L1 expression on TILs was seen in 8/32 (25.0 %) and on tumor infiltrating macrophages in 9/32 (28.1 %) cases. Patients with PD-L1 expression on TILs presented with improved survival prognosis (6 versus 29 months; p = 0.002; log rank test). Among matched primary tumors, all (4/4; 100 %) specimens showed TIL infiltration, while PD-L1 expression found in only 1/4 (25.0 %) specimen. TIL infiltration and PD-L1 expression are commonly found in SCLC BM and presence of CD45RO+ memory T-cells and PD-L1+ TILs in SCLC BM seem to associate with favorable survival times. Our data suggest an active immune microenvironment in SCLC BM that may be targetable by immune-modulating drugs.
Abstract
Background
Variability in standard-of-care classifications precludes accurate predictions of early tumor recurrence for individual patients with meningioma, limiting the appropriate ...selection of patients who would benefit from adjuvant radiotherapy to delay recurrence. We aimed to develop an individualized prediction model of early recurrence risk combining clinical and molecular factors in meningioma.
Methods
DNA methylation profiles of clinically annotated tumor samples across multiple institutions were used to develop a methylome model of 5-year recurrence-free survival (RFS). Subsequently, a 5-year meningioma recurrence score was generated using a nomogram that integrated the methylome model with established prognostic clinical factors. Performance of both models was evaluated and compared with standard-of-care models using multiple independent cohorts.
Results
The methylome-based predictor of 5-year RFS performed favorably compared with a grade-based predictor when tested using the 3 validation cohorts (ΔAUC = 0.10, 95% CI: 0.03–0.018) and was independently associated with RFS after adjusting for histopathologic grade, extent of resection, and burden of copy number alterations (hazard ratio 3.6, 95% CI: 1.8–7.2, P < 0.001). A nomogram combining the methylome predictor with clinical factors demonstrated greater discrimination than a nomogram using clinical factors alone in 2 independent validation cohorts (ΔAUC = 0.25, 95% CI: 0.22–0.27) and resulted in 2 groups with distinct recurrence patterns (hazard ratio 7.7, 95% CI: 5.3–11.1, P < 0.001) with clinical implications.
Conclusions
The models developed and validated in this study provide important prognostic information not captured by previously established clinical and molecular factors which could be used to individualize decisions regarding postoperative therapeutic interventions, in particular whether to treat patients with adjuvant radiotherapy versus observation alone.
Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a severe and progressive disease characterized by a pulmonary vascular remodeling process with expansion of collateral endothelial cells and total vessel occlusion. ...Endothelial cells are believed to be at the forefront of the disease process. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its tyrosine kinase receptor, VEGF receptor-2 (VEGFR-2), play a central role in angiogenesis, endothelial cell protection, but also in the destabilization of endothelial barrier function. Therefore, we investigated the consequences of altered VEGF signaling in an experimental model, and looked for translational correlates of this observation in patients. We performed an endothelial cell-specific conditional deletion of the
kinase insert domain protein receptor
(
kdr
) gene, coding for VEGFR-2, in C57/BL6 mice (
Kdr
∆end
)
and held them in an environmental chamber with 10% FiO
2
or under normoxia for 6 weeks.
Kdr
knockout led to a mild PH phenotype under normoxia that worsened under hypoxia.
Kdr
∆end
mice exhibited a significant increase in pulmonary arterial wall thickness, muscularization, and VEGFR-3
+
endothelial cells obliterating the pulmonary artery vessel lumen. We observed the same proliferative vasculopathy in our rodent model as seen in patients receiving anti-angiogenic therapy. Serum VEGF-a levels were elevated both in the experimental model and in humans receiving bevacizumab. Interrupted VEGF signaling leads to a pulmonary proliferative arteriopathy in rodents after direct ablative gene manipulation of
Kdr.
Histologically, similar vascular lesions can be observed in patients receiving anti-VEGF treatment. Our findings illustrate the importance of VEGF signaling for maintenance of pulmonary vascular patency.
Purpose
PET/MRI has recently been introduced into clinical practice. We prospectively investigated the clinical impact of PET/MRI compared with PET/CT, in a mixed population of cancer patients, and ...performed an economic evaluation of PET/MRI.
Methods
Cancer patients referred for routine staging or follow-up by PET/CT underwent consecutive PET/CT and PET/MRI, using single applications of
18
FFDG,
68
GaGa-DOTANOC, or
18
FFDOPA, depending on tumor histology. PET/MRI and PET/CT were rated separately, and lesions were assessed per anatomic region; based on regions,
per-examination
and
per-patient
accuracies were determined. A simulated, multidisciplinary team meeting served as reference standard and determined whether differences between PET/CT and PET/MRI affected patient management. The McNemar tests were used to compare accuracies, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) for PET/MRI were calculated.
Results
Two hundred sixty-three patients (330 same-day PET/CT and PET/MRI examinations) were included. PET/MRI was accurate in 319/330 examinations and PET/CT in 277/330 examinations; the respective accuracies of 97.3% and 83.9% differed significantly (
P
< 0.001). The additional findings on PET/MRI—mainly liver and brain metastases—had implications for patient management in 21/263 patients (8.0%). The per-examination cost was 596.97 EUR for PET/MRI and 405.95 EUR for PET/CT. ICERs for PET/MRI were 14.26 EUR per percent of diagnostic accuracy and 23.88 EUR per percent of correctly managed patients.
Conclusions
PET/MRI enables more appropriate management than PET/CT in a nonnegligible fraction of cancer patients. Since the per-examination cost is about 50% higher for PET/MRI than for PET/CT, a histology-based triage of patients to either PET/MRI or PET/CT may be meaningful.
The V600E mutation of the B-type Raf kinase (BRAF) gene is a common event in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and seems to play a key role in the development and progression of this disease. We ...evaluated the expression of the mutated BRAF V600E protein in 144 cases of PTC using a novel mutation-specific antibody. Seventy-six PTCs (52.8%) showed unequivocal diffuse cytoplasmic expression of the mutated BRAF protein, and the T1799A point mutation was confirmed by sequencing analysis in selected cases. No statistical difference in V600E BRAF protein expression was seen between microcarcinomas and macrocarcinomas. Further, no significant correlation of V600E expression with clinicopathologic parameters of aggressiveness such as lymph node metastasis, peritumoral infiltration, or perithyroidal infiltration was found. BRAF V600E protein expression was significantly more common in tumors with tall cell or oncocytic features but was less common in tumors with follicular growth pattern. Diffuse sclerosing, solid and follicular variants did not show the mutated BRAF protein. Immunohistochemical detection of the mutated V600E BRAF protein in PTC may facilitate mutational analysis in the clinical setting. Our data show that the expression of the mutated BRAF V600 protein and thus the corresponding BRAF mutation seems not to be per se a marker of aggressiveness but is already seen in clinically indolent microcarcinomas. Nevertheless, the investigation of BRAF V600E protein expression might be of clinical interest especially in therapy-resistant disease, as new therapeutics inhibiting the mutated protein are clinically available.
Aims
Expression profiles and clinical impact of programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD‐L1) and programmed cell death 1 (PD‐1) expressing tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in head and neck squamous ...cell carcinoma (HNSCC) are not elucidated fully. This study evaluates expression patterns in primary HNSCC and related lymph node metastasis and the impact on patients’ clinical outcome.
Methods and results
Immunohistochemical staining patterns of PD‐L1 and PD‐1 were evaluated in 129 specimens of primary HNSCC and 77 lymph node metastases. Results were correlated with patients’ clinical data. PD‐L1 expression was observed in 36% of primary carcinoma and 33% of lymph node metastasis, and correlates significantly with decreased overall survival (OS) (P = 0.01) and disease‐free survival (DFS) (P = 0.001) in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma patients. PD‐L1 expression was associated with presence of lymph node metastasis (P = 0.0223). Infiltration of PD‐1‐expressing lymphocytes correlates significantly with favourable OS (P = 0.001) and DFS (P = 0.001) in oropharyngeal cancer and hypopharyngeal cancer patients OS (P = 0.007) and DFS (P = 0.001). Presence of PD‐1 TILs also correlates significantly with better OS (P = 0.005) and DFS (P = 0) in the human papilloma virus (HPV)‐negative cohort. Cox regression multivariate analysis revealed PD‐1 TIL expression as an independent prognostic marker for OS (P = 0.004) and DFS (P = 0.001) and T stage was validated as negative prognostic marker for OS (P = 0.011). PD‐1‐expressing lymphocytes (P = 0.0412) and PD‐L1 expression (P = 0.0022) patterns correlate significantly in primary cancers and matched lymph node metastases.
Conclusions
Our results characterise the expression profiles of PD‐1 axis proteins in HNSCC which might serve as possible clinical prognostic markers.
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