Changes in EGFR profiles of non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients correlates to clinical outcome. Extracting quality tumor tissue remains a challenge for molecular profiling. Our study aims to ascertain the clinical relevance of urinary cell free DNA as an alternative tumor material source.
Methods
150 patients with activating EGFR mutation and received EGFR-TKIs were recruited to participate in the serial monitoring study. Matched primary tumor samples were taken together with blood and urine specimens before the initiation of TKIs. The EGFR mutation testing was performed and quantified using ddPCR. For serial time point measurements, urine and blood samples were extracted at 1-month intervals for duration of 9 months.
Results
Urinary ctDNA yielded a close agreement of 88 % on EGFR mutation status when compared to primary tissue at baseline. Almost all samples detected via urine specimens were uncovered in plasma samples. Analysis of urinary cell free DNA at different time points showed a strong correlation to treatment efficacy. Interestingly, a secondary EGFR mutation T790M was detected for 53 % of the patients during monitoring. The results were corroborated with the plasma ctDNA analysis. The T790M+ group had a reduced median survival when compared to the wildtype group.
Conclusion
Urinary cell free DNA may be a potential alternative to conventional primary tissue based EGFR mutation testing. Our findings showed that the assay sensitivity was comparable to results from blood plasma. Urinary samples being noninvasive and readily available have clinical utility for monitoring of EGFR TKI treatment.
The process of selecting patients on the basis of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations would likely result in a patient population with greater sensitivity to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs). However, EGFR mutation status is not routinely examined in patients with squamous cell lung cancer (Sq) because of the low incidence of EGFR mutations and the poor clinical response to EGFR-TKIs.
Methods
We retrospectively reviewed the clinical features of patients at our hospital with Sq who carried EGFR-TKI-sensitive EGFR mutations and assessed their responses to EGFR-TKIs.
Results
EGFR mutation status was tested in 23 of 441 patients with Sq (5.2%) admitted to our hospital during the study period. An EGFR mutation (exon 19 deletion 3, L858R 2) was identified in five of the 23 patients (21.7%), all of whom were female never-smokers. Of these five patients, four (4/9; 44.4%) were in the normal lung group, one (1/12; 8.3%) was in the emphysematous lung group, and none (0/2; 0%) in the fibrotic lung group. Two of these five patients with the EGFR mutation received gefitinib and two received afatinib. Although the two patients who were treated with gefitinib did not respond well to treatment (stable disease, 1 patient; progressive disease, 1 patient), the two patients who were treated with afatinib showed a good response (partial response, 2 patients).
Conclusion
The administration of afatinib to Sq patients after selecting patients using the EGFR mutation test based on their underlying pulmonary disease and smoking status would likely result in a population with a greater sensitivity to afatinib.
Evaluation of the prognosis in patients with spinal metastases is important in decision making regarding surgical treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate overall survival in patients with spinal metastases from lung cancer by histological subtype, and to investigate prognostic factors in patients treated with and without epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs).
Methods
The data from 135 patients diagnosed with spinal metastases from lung cancer were retrospectively evaluated. The 88 patients with adenocarcinoma were divided into two groups according to whether the lung cancer was treated with or without EGFR-TKIs—the EGFR-TKI group (n = 43) and the non-EGFR-TKI group (n = 45).
Results
The overall median survival time was 11.3 months for those with adenocarcinoma, 5.3 months for squamous cell carcinoma, and 3.9 months for small cell carcinoma. Overall survival in the EGFR-TKI group (median 21.4 months) was significantly longer than in the non-EGFR-TKI group (median 6.1 months). In univariate analysis, poor performance status was a poor prognostic factor in the non-EGFR-TKI group. However, performance status and other variables were not significant prognostic factors in the EGFR-TKI group.
Conclusions
Median overall survival was longer in patients with spinal metastases from lung cancer treated with EGFR-TKIs compared with those treated without EGFR-TKIs. Poor performance status or other prognostic factors were not associated with poor overall survival in the group treated with EGFR-TKIs.
To determine the efficacy of first-generation epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) in molecularly selected patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), we performed this pooled analysis.
Method
Randomized trials of EGFR-TKIs as treatment for advanced NSCLC were included for this meta-analysis. We used published hazard ratios (HRs), if available, or derived treatment estimates from other survival data. Pooled estimates of treatment efficacy of EGFR-TKIs in the selected patients by EGFR-mutation status were calculated.
Results
Out of 2134 retrieved articles, 30 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) enrolling more than 4053 patients with wild-type EGFR tumors and 1592 patients with mutant EGFR tumors were identified. For EGFR mutant patients, EGFR-TKIs treatment improved progression-free survival (PFS) compared with chemotherapy: the summary HRs were 0.41 (p?<?0.00001) for the first-line setting and 0.46 (p?=?0.02) for second/third-line setting, respectively. Also, the same superior trend was found with TKIs maintenance over placebo (HR?=?0.14, p?<?0.00001) and with TKIs combined with chemotherapy over chemotherapy (HR?=?0.49, p?=?.002) in both the first-line and maintenance therapy settings. For EGFR wild-type patients, EGFR-TKIs have fared worse than chemotherapy in the first-line setting (HR?=?1.65, p?=?.03) and in the second/third-line setting (HR?=?1.27, p?=?.005). However, EGFR-TKIs maintenance still produced a reduction of 19 % in the risk of progression over placebo (HR?=?0.81, p?=?.02). Furthermore, EGFR-TKIs added to chemotherapy as first-line treatment resulted in an improvement of PFS over chemotherapy alone in such wild-type EGFR patients (HR?=?0.82, p?=?.03). In overall survival (OS) analysis, only EGFR-TKIs single agent was inferior to chemotherapy in EGFR wild-type patients (HR?=?1.13, p?=?.02). No statistically significant difference in terms of OS was observed in any other subgroup analysis.
Conclusions
For EGFR mutant patients, EGFR-TKIs therapy produced a prominent PFS benefit in all settings. Among EGFR wild-type patients, EGFR-TKIs were inferior to chemotherapy both for first-line treatment and for second/third-line treatment. However, EGFR-TKIs maintenance and addition of EGFR-TKIs to chemotherapy could provide additive benefit over chemotherapy alone in such EGFR wild-type patients.
The strategy of dual inhibiting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathways has been extensively investigated in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but the benefit-to-risk ratio of dual-targeted regimen versus EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) alone is still unclear. We thus perform this meta-analysis to assess the efficacy and safety of this regimen versus EGFR-TKIs alone in those patients.
Methods
Databases from PubMed, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library up to March 31, 2015 were searched to identify relevant studies. Eligible studies included prospective randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating dual inhibiting EGFR and VEGF pathways versus EGFR-TKIs alone in advanced NSCLC. The endpoints were overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR) and grade 3 or 4 adverse events. Statistical analyses were conducted by using either random effects or fixed effect models according to the heterogeneity of included studies.
Results
A total of 1918 patients with advanced NSCLC from 4 RCTs were identified for the analysis. The pooled results demonstrated that dual inhibiting EGFR and VEGF pathways significantly improved the PFS (HR 0.71, 95 % CI 0.58–0.86, p < 0.001) and ORR (OR 1.54, 95 % CI 1.14–2.08, p = 0.005) in unselected NSCLC when compared to EGFR-TKIs alone, but it did not translate into OS benefit (HR 0.94, 95 % CI 0.84–1.05, p = 0.24). No evidence of publication bias was observed.
Conclusions
Our study suggests that dual inhibition of EGFR and VEGF pathways significantly improves PFS and ORR, but it does not translate into survival benefit in unselected NSCLC patients. Prospective clinical trials investigating the role of this regimen in EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC are still warranted.
Lung cancer harboring epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations and treated with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) all eventually develop acquired resistance to the treatment, with half of the patients developing EGFR T790M resistance mutations.
Objective
The purpose of this study was to assess histological and clinical characteristics and survival outcomes in Hispanic EGFR mutated lung cancer patients after disease progression.
Patients and Methods
EGFR mutation-positive lung cancer patients (n = 34) with acquired resistance to the EGFR-TKI erlotinib were identified from 2011 to 2015. Post-progression tumor specimens were collected for molecular analysis. Post-progression interventions, response to treatment, and survival were assessed and compared among all patients and those with and without T790M mutations.
Results
Mean age was 59.4 ± 13.9 years, 65% were never-smokers, and 53% had a performance status 0–1. All patients received erlotinib as first-line treatment. Identified mutations included: 60% DelE19 (Del746–750) and 40% L858R. First-line erlotinib overall response rate (ORR) was 61.8% and progression free survival (PFS) was 16.8 months (95% CI: 13.7–19.9). Acquired resistance mutations identified were T790M mutation (47.1%); PI3K mutations (14.7%); EGFR amplification (14.7%); KRAS mutation (5.9%); MET amplification (8.8%); HER2 alterations (5.9%, deletions/insertions in e20); and SCLC transformation (2.9%). Of patients, 79.4% received treatment after progression. ORR for post-erlotinib treatment was 47.1% (CR 2/PR 14) and median PFS was 8.3 months (95% CI: 2.2–36.6). Median overall survival (OS) from treatment initiation was 32.9 months (95% CI: 30.4–35.3), and only the use of post-progression therapy affected OS in a multivariate analysis (p = 0.05).
Conclusions
Hispanic patients with acquired resistance to erlotinib continued to be sensitive to other treatments after progression. The proportion of T790M+ patients appears to be similar to that previously reported in Caucasians.
Recently, in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), standard chemotherapy was flanked by biological agents directed against genomic abnormalities, including EGFR and ALK alterations, that significantly improved patient outcome. Despite these achievements, tumour progression almost always occurs and a reassessment of the tumour genetic profile may contribute to modulating the therapeutic regimen. Resampling may provide tissue for additional tests to detect acquired resistance and/or new genetic alterations, but the currently available information is limited.
Patients and Methods
Histological and genetic reassessments of biopsy or surgical tissue samples from 50 non-squamous NSCLC patients before and after at least one systemic treatment were performed. EGFR, KRAS, BRAF, PIK3CA and HER2 mutations were sequenced, p.T790M was identified with real-time PCR, and ALK and MET genomic alterations by fluorescence in situ hybridization.
Results
Overall in baseline biopsies, 37/50 (74 %) tumours had genetic alterations, either single (52 %) or multiple (22 %). Among them, 16 were EGFR mutations and 6 ALK rearrangements. In the second tissue sampling, 54 % of cases had additional genomic changes, including newly acquired alterations (81 %) or losses (18 %). The commonest changes were MET amplification and p.T790M mutation. One case had a histological shift from adenocarcinoma to small cell carcinoma.
Conclusions
The remarkable number of molecular changes following systemic therapy and the genetic complexity of some cases underline the value of histological and molecular re-evaluation of lung cancer to tailor the most appropriate therapy during disease progression.
Non-invasive methods of molecular profiling for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are useful for monitoring disease progression. The aim of the current study was to ascertain if transrenal DNA is sensitive for clinical correlation and EGFR detection in NSCLC patients.
Methods
160 patients at various stages of the disease participated and samples were collected prospectively at 2-month intervals. A baseline sample was taken before treatment commencement. To ascertain the sensitivity of transrenal DNA, we compared its results with plasma DNA. ddPCR was used to profile the urine and blood samples for key EGFR mutations.
Results
Using tumor tissues as references, our study showed good concordance in EGFR mutations with transrenal DNA before treatment. Results were highly matching in late-stage NSCLC patients, with stage III/IV patients yielding an agreement of more than 90%. The assay was also sensitive to detect early-stage patients after surgical procedures. Profiles were highly concordant with results derived from plasma DNA, demonstrating the specificity of transrenal DNA assays. Serial monitoring of these patients showed stable molecular signatures and correlated to different treatments. Survival analysis showed good prognostic utility for late-stage patients with high transrenal DNA variations and patients that acquired T790M mutation.
Conclusion
The study demonstrated the feasibility of using transrenal DNA in mutation profiling for different stages of NSCLC patients. It highlights the importance of continual monitoring and has potential clinical utility in the clinical management of NSCLC.
Transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) has been widely used in treating non-curative hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, it is noticed that TAE may cause invasion of some cancer cells into circulation, resulting in distal metastasis and poor therapeutic outcome. Here, we aimed to reduce the side effects of TAE using the inhibitors for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR).
Methods
Transient hepatic artery ligation (HAL) was used as a mouse model for TAE. EGFR inhibitors were applied. Tumor size, presence of tumor cells in circulation, distal tumor formation, and activation of genes associated with tumor cell invasion and metastasis were analyzed.
Results
Inhibitors for EGFR significantly reduced the size of primary tumor, presence of tumor cells in circulation, and distal tumor formation after HAL. Further studies showed that EGFR inhibition suppressed several genes associated with tumor cell invasion and metastasis, such as vascular endothelial growth factor-A, stromal cell-derived factor 1, and Slug.
Conclusion
EGFR inhibitor application may reduce circulating cancer cells during TAE and thus improve the therapy for advanced HCC.
The long non-coding RNA CRNDE has emerged as an important regulator in carcinogenesis and cancer progression. While CRNDE has previously been found to be the most highly upregulated lncRNA in glioma, detailed information on its roles in regulating cancer cell growth remains limited.
Objective
In the present study, we aimed at exploring the functional roles and underlying mechanisms of CRNDE in glioma.
Methods
We applied microarray data analysis to determine the prognostic significance of CRNDE in glioma patients and its correlation with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) activation. EGFR inhibition was used to confirm the role of EGFR in regulating CRNDE expression. Functional studies were performed upon CRNDE silencing to explore its role in gliomagenesis.
Results
We confirm that CRNDE acts as an oncogene that is highly up-regulated in glioma, and high CRNDE expression correlates with poor prognosis in glioma patients. We further demonstrate that the expression of CRNDE correlates with EGFR activation. EGF and EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) enhance and block the up-regulation of CRNDE expression, respectively, suggesting that EGFR signaling may positively regulate CRNDE expression. Functional assays show that CRNDE depletion inhibits glioma cell growth both in vitro and in vivo, and is associated with induced cellular apoptosis with decreased Bcl2/Bax ratio.
Conclusions
Our findings suggest that the aberrant expression of CRNDE may be mediated by activated EGFR signaling and play significant roles in gliomagenesis.
Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is often overexpressed in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). However, clinical studies have shown that therapies against EGFR are not effective in patients with TNBC. Recently, it has been reported that arginine 198/200 in EGFR extracellular domain is methylated by PRMT1 and that the methylation confers resistance to EGFR monoclonal antibody cetuximab in colorectal cancer cells. To explore a potential mechanism underlying intrinsic resistance to anti-EGFR therapy in TNBC, we investigated the role of PRMT1 in EGFR methylation and signaling in MDA-MB-468 (468) TNBC cells.
Methods
We knocked down PRMT1 in 468 cells by shRNA, and subjected the cell lysates to Western blot analysis to examine EGFR activation and its downstream molecules. We also evaluated cell proliferation and sphere formation of PRMT1-knockdown cells. Finally, we examined the effects of pan-PRMT inhibitor, AMI-1, on cetuximab by colony formation and soft agar assays.
Results
EGFR methylation and activity was significantly reduced in PRMT1-knockdown cells compared to the parental cells. Knockdown of PRMT1 also reduced cell proliferation and sphere formation. Moreover, AMI-1 sensitized 468 cells to cetuximab.
Conclusion
The results indicate that PRMT1 is critical for EGFR activity in 468 cells. Our data also suggest that inhibition of PRMT1 sensitizes TNBC cells to cetuximab. Thus, inhibition of PRMT1 may be an effective therapeutic strategy to overcome intrinsic resistance to cetuximab in TNBC.
Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is characterized by a high frequency of KRAS mutations and frequent deregulation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and other EGFR family members such as HER2/ErbB2. The EGFR inhibitor erlotinib is approved for treatment of pancreatic cancer, but has shown modest activity in most patients.
Objective
Here we investigated the activity of afatinib, a second-generation irreversible pan-EGFR family kinase inhibitor, alone or in combination with ionizing radiation, toward pancreatic cancer cells.
Methods
The influence of afatinib on cell proliferation, cell cycle distribution, clonogenic survival, nuclear fragmentation, ploidy, and centrosome amplification following irradiation was determined. Expression and phosphorylation of HER receptors, Akt, DNA-PKcs, and ERK1/2 was characterized by Western blot analysis.
Results
Afatinib was growth-inhibitory for all three cell lines but cytotoxic only toward BxPC3 (KRASwt) and Capan-2 (KRASmut) cells, both of which express high levels of EGFR, HER2, and HER3 receptors. Afatinib increased the radiosensitivity of BxPC3 and Capan-2 cells, prevented the radio-induced phosphorylation of Akt, and induced mitotic catastrophe following irradiation. In comparison, Panc-1 cells (KRASmut) expressing low levels of EGFR family receptors were resistant to afatinib-induced radiosensitization.
Limitations
These results must be confirmed in vivo.
Conclusions
Afatinib showed cytotoxic and radiosensitizing effects toward a subset of pancreatic cancer cells which was closely correlated with expression of EGFR, HER2, and HER3 receptors, but not with KRAS status.
Epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) is the optimal treatment for EGFR-mutant advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, most patients developed systemic or local progression due to acquired EGFR-TKI resistance. This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of continued EGFR-TKI with concurrent radiotherapy (CTCRT) in patients with local progression after front-line EGFR-TKI treatment.
Methods
Advanced NSCLC patients with active EGFR mutation who received EGFR-TKI were treated with CTCRT after local progression. Medical data were analyzed for time to progression (TTP), progression-free survival (PFS), tumor response rate, overall survival (OS) and adverse events.
Results
A total of 50 irradiated lesions from 44 patients were included. Median TTP and PFS of measurable lesions (n = 31) were both significantly prolonged after local radiotherapy (TTP1 + TTP2 vs. TTP1: 21.7 vs. 16.0 months, P = 0.010; PFS1 + PFS2 vs. PFS1: 21.3 vs. 16.0 months, P = 0.027). For all lesions (n = 50), objective response rate (ORR) and local tumor control rate (LCR) were 54.0 and 84.0%, respectively. Median OS was 26.6 months. There were no serious adverse events before or after radiotherapy.
Conclusions
The treatment modality of CTCRT is considerable and effective for EGFR-mutant NSCLC patients even with local failure from front-line EGFR-TKI treatment.
C-met and its ligand, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) have been associated with the resistance mechanism of EGFR-TKIs. HGF was evaluated as a clinical-marker of response in NSCLC patients treated with afatinib.
Methods
Sixty-six patients with stage IIIB/IV lung adenocarcinoma and progression to any-line chemotherapy received afatinib 40 mg/day. Mutational EGFR and HER2 status were assessed by RT-PCR. HER2 amplification was evaluated by FISH. Serum HGF content was measured by ELISA before and 2 months after the start of treatment. HGF levels were assessed with the objective response rate (ORR), progression-free-survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). This trial was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01542437.
Results
Fifty patients (75 %) were EGFR mutation positive. Response was achieved in 59 % of all patients and 78 % of EGFR mutated patients. Median PFS was 10 [95 % CI 6.8-13.1] and 14.5 months [10.9-18.9] for all and EGFR mutated patients, respectively. Median OS was 22.8 [17.5-28.1] and 32.4 months [18.3-46.6] for all and EGFR mutated patients, respectively. Patients with reduced serum HGF levels had improved ORR (75 % vs 44 %; p?=?0.011), PFS (15.1 [2.9-27.3] vs 6.5 months [3.9-9.1]; p?=?0.005) and OS (NR vs 14.5 months [7.8 - 21.3] p?=?0.007). A reduction in serum HGF levels was an independent factor associated with longer PFS (HR 0.40; p?=?0.021) and OS (HR 0.31; p?=?0.006) in all and EGFR mutated patients.
Conclusions
A reduction in serum HGF levels was associated with improved outcomes in patients treated with afatinib. These results suggest HGF might have a role as a mechanism of resistance to EGFR-TKIs. HGF could represent a potential therapeutic target to prevent or reverse resistance particularly in EGFR mutated patients.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Shorter survival has been repeatedly reported for patients of African ancestry. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that this gap could be a consequence of socio-economic disparities instead of genetic specificities. However, those results were obtained in a pre-targeted therapies era and the effect of tyrosine kinase inhibitors targeting EGFR are not known in this population.
Objective
In this French West Indies study, we report overall survival (OS) in a frequently mutated population treated for lung adenocarcinoma within an equal-access healthcare system.
Patients and Methods
Clinical, demographic, survival, and treatment data have been retrospectively assessed for all patients diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma in the islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe between 2013 and 2015.
Results
Two hundred and forty-one patients (82% African-Caribbean) were included. EGFR mutations were detected in 37% of all tumor specimens and were associated with non-smoker status in multivariate analysis. Median OS was 16.2 months. For patients with advanced disease, median OS was 11.5 months, depending on EGFR mutation (23 vs. 8.3 months for non-mutated patients, p = 0.0012). There was no difference in survival according to ethnicity or island. In multivariate analysis, performance status (PS) and EGFR mutation were the only independent prognostic factors.
Conclusions
Despite a higher frequency of EGFR mutations in African-Caribbean patients, ethnicity was not an independent factor of OS in lung adenocarcinoma. Lower initial PS in this mainly non-smoking African-Caribbean population may explain the absence of a difference in OS.
Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for ca. 75% of malignant epithelial neoplasms of the lungs. In recent years profound insight has been gained regarding the molecular mechanisms of lung carcinogenesis and subsequently new targeted therapies as well as immunotherapies have been developed. These advances have had a significant impact on routine diagnostics in pathology.
Objective
The article aims to give an overview of the most common histological subtypes of NSCLC as well as the morphological, immunohistochemical and molecular characteristics.
Material and methods
Selective search of the PubMed database.
Results and discussion
Adenocarcinomas, squamous cell carcinomas and large cell carcinomas are the most common histological subtypes. With the ancillary methods available in routine pathology even poorly differentiated tumors can be assigned to these entities. The NSCLC show numerous genetic changes of which alterations of EGFR, MET, ALK1 and ROS1 are target structures for personalized therapy.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to be involved in the initiation and progression of glioma. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms are still unclear.
Methods
We performed microarray analysis to evaluate miRNA expression levels in 158 glioma tissue samples, and examined miR-1231 levels in glioma samples and healthy brain tissues using qRT-PCR. In vitro analyses were performed using miR-1231 mimics, inhibitors, and siRNA targeting EGFR. We used flow cytometry, CCK-8 assays, and colony formation assays to examine glioma proliferation and cell cycle analysis. A dual luciferase reporter assay was performed to examine miR-1231 regulation of EGFR, and the effect of upregulated miR-1231 was investigated in a subcutaneous GBM model.
Results
We found that miR-1231 expression was decreased in human glioma tissues and negatively correlated with EGFR levels. Moreover, the downregulation of miR-1231 negatively correlated with the clinical stage of human glioma patients. miR-1231 overexpression dramatically downregulated glioma cell proliferation, and suppressed tumor growth in a nude mouse model. Bioinformatics prediction and a luciferase assay confirmed EGFR as a direct target of miR-1231. EGFR overexpression abrogated the suppressive effect of miR-1231 on the PI3K/AKT pathway and G1 arrest.
Conclusions
Taken together, these results demonstrated that EGFR is a direct target of miR-1231. Our findings suggest that the miR-1231/EGFR axis may be a helpful future diagnostic target for malignant glioma.
The WORLD07 project is a female specific database to assess the characteristics of women with lung cancer.
Methods
WORLD07 database sets up in 2007, and prospectively stores clinical characteristics, treatment, outcome, and follow-up of lung cancer women. All women with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were selected for this analysis.
Results
From October 2007 to December 2012, a total of 1775 NSCLC women were recruited. EGFR mutation was identified in 34.4% of patients. Upfront EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) reported a response rate of 60%, a median progression-free survival of 11.7 months, and median overall survival of 23.0 months. EGFR TKI, EGFR-mutation type, and smoking status did not impact in the outcome of treated women.
Conclusion
Prevalence of EGFR mutation in women with NSCLC is higher than overall population with NSCLC. Efficacy of EGFR TKI in this real-world setting is similar to that previously reported.
Recently, leucine-rich repeats and immunoglobulin-like domains 1 (LRIG1), a negative regulator of EGFR, was discovered is a novel agent for suppressing bladder cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of LRIG1 on the biological features of aggressive bladder cancer cells and the possible mechanisms of enhanced apoptosis induced by upregulation of LRIG1.
Methods
In this study, we examined the mRNA and protein expression of LRIG1 and EGFR in bladder cancers and normal bladder. Meanwhile, we overexpressed LRIG1 with adenovirus vector in T24/5637 bladder cancer cell lines, and we used real time-PCR, western blot, and co-immunoprecipitation analysis in order to examine the effects of LRIG1 gene on EGFR. Furthermore, we evaluate the impact of LRIG1 gene on the function of human bladder cancer cells and EGFR signaling.
Results
The expression of LRIG1 was decreased, while the expression of EGFR was increased in the majority of bladder cancer, and the ratio of EGFR/LRIG1 was increased in tumors versus normal tissue. We found that upregulation of LRIG1 induced cell apoptosis and cell growth inhibition, and further reversed invasion in bladder cancer cell lines in vitro by inhibiting phosphorylation of downstream MAPK and AKT signaling pathway.
Conclusion
Taken together, our findings provide us with an insight into LRIG1 function, and we conclude that LRIG1 evolved in bladder cancer as a rare feedback negative attenuator of EGFR, thus could offer a novel therapeutic target to treat patients with bladder cancer.
