Acetoclastic methanogens in an anaerobic digester could be susceptible to trace metal supplementation

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of nutrient supplementation on anaerobic biomass. While many studies emphasized the importance of supplementing trace metals such as iron, cobalt, and nickel for maximum methanogenic activity, there is no evidence whether such supplements, even at relatively low concentration, could perturb anaerobic biomass. Effects of supplementing nutrients, including yeast extract, on anaerobic biomass from two full-scale mesophilic digesters, operating under different conditions, at the North East Water Pollution Control Plant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, were assessed using biochemical methane potential tests. The results show that acetoclastic methanogens from a recently cleaned digester was not stimulated by nutrient supplementation at relatively low concentrations and a slight perturbation was observed when supplementation was at a relatively high concentration. Furthermore, greater degree of susceptibility to the trace metal supplementation was observed for biomass from another digester that had not been cleaned for over 10 years, thus it had reduced active volume due to grit accumulation. For instance, supplementation of 200 mg/L of iron as FeCl(2)·4H(2)O to the biomass from the reduced-active-volume digester caused 17% reduction in CH(4) production, as compared to a control which did not receive any supplements, while the same concentration had no effect on the biomass from full-active-volume digester. Results strongly suggest that acetoclastic methanogens stressed due to reduced hydraulic/solids retention time may be susceptible to trace metal addition. Therefore, trace metal supplementation for anaerobic digesters should be considered on a case by case basis.

Synergy of TLR2 and H1R on Cox-2 Activation in Pulpal Cells

Although pulp fibroblasts are a major cell type in dental pulp, their roles in microbial recognition and pulpal inflammation are not well-understood. Considering the pivotal role of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) in the recognition of micro-organisms, we hypothesized that TLRs on pulp fibroblasts may induce inflammatory signals in dental pulp. In human pulp fibroblasts, TLR2, 3, 4, and 5 were constitutively expressed. Stimulation of TLR2 and 3 induced the expression of pro-inflammatory genes such as CXCL10, CCL5, and/or Cox-2 in pulp fibroblasts. Interestingly, histamine synergistically activated TLR2-mediated Cox-2 expression and PGE(2) production. The synergistic effect of histamine is mediated by histamine receptor-1 (H1R). Studies on the intra-cellular signaling pathways revealed that p38 activation is required for the synergistic activation of Cox-2 by TLR2 and histamine. Analysis of these data suggests that TLR2 on pulp fibroblasts, in concert with H1R, can induce an inflammatory response during microbial infection in dental pulp.

Prognostic Factors for Locoregional Recurrence in Operable Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Preoperative Systemic Chemotherapy

Background: We aimed to evaluate the clinicopathologic factors affecting locoregional recurrence (LRR) in potentially operable breast cancer patients receiving preoperative systemic chemotherapy (PST).Methods: We reviewed the records of 316 breast cancer patients treated with PST (doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide, 101; docetaxel /capecitabine, 103; paclitaxel/gemcitabine, 43; doxorubicin/docetaxel, 69) followed by surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy between 2002 and 2006. The majority of patients had clinical positive axillary lymph nodes. To define the prognostic factors for LRR, age, clinical stage, hormone receptor (HR) and HER2 status, clinical and pathologic response, type of operation, pathological characteristics including tumor size, tumor grade, nodal status, number of positive axillary nodes, size of metastatic lymph node and status of resection margin and tumor multiplicity before and after PST were analyzed.Results: Overall 52 patients (16.5%) in the primary tumor and 87 patients (27.5%) in the axillary nodes achieved a pathologic complete response (pCR), and 206 patients (65.2%) underwent breast conserving surgery (BCS). With a median follow-up of 52.4 month (range: 4.7 - 89.4), total 18 (5.7%) patients developed LRR; 2 of 110 (1.8%) patients with mastectomy vs. 16 of 206 (7.7%) patients with BCS (p=0.04). Other significant factors in the univariate analysis were clinical T stage, HR status, clinical response and tumor multiplicity. A pCR in the primary tumor or node was not a prognostic factor for LRR in this study. In multivariate analysis, clinical T stage (T3/4, HR 7.8; 95% CI, 2.33-26.24; P=0.001), hormone receptor status (negative, HR 6.2; 95% CI, 1.91-20.22; P=0.002) and type of surgery (BCS, HR 9.5; 95% CI, 1.97-46.37; P=0.005) were independent prognostic factors. Among patients with BCS, advanced clinical T stage (HR 12.4; 95% CI, 3.45-44.56; P<0.001), negative hormone receptor (HR 4.74; 95% CI, 1.33-16.96; P=0.02), non-responding disease (HR 6.54; 95% CI, 1.07-40.12; P=0.04) and multiple tumors (HR 4.36; 95% CI, 1.06-17.90; P=0.04) developed more frequent LRR.Conclusions: Significantly more patients with advanced clinical T stage, negative HR status and BCS developed LRR in operable breast cancer treated with PST. Moreover, in patients with BCS after PST, clinically non-responding disease and multiple tumors showed unfavorable prognosis besides the larger tumors and negative hormone receptor.Partly supported by NCC Grant No 0610240

Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(24 Suppl):Abstract nr 1095.

Prognosis of Metaplastic Breast Cancer: Poorer Than the Rest of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Background: The biologic behavior of metaplastic breast cancer (MBC) has not been well elucidated due to its rarity and heterogeneity. This study was designed to assess the clinical and tumor characteristics and outcomes of MBC patients as compared with invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) in general and the triple-negative (TN) subtype.Materials and methods: This study included 35 MBC and 2,839 IDC patients diagnosed at the National Cancer Center, Korea between 2000 and 2008. We, retrospectively, reviewed the clinicopathologic characteristics and clinical outcomes.Results: The mean age was 47.4 years for MBC group and 48.3 years for IDC group. The MBC group presented with larger tumors (≥ T2, 78.8% vs 41.0%; P<0.001), higher histologic grade (grade 3, 92.0% vs 44.6%; P<0.001), fewer ER and PgR positivity (ER+, 14.3% vs 69.0% ; P<0.001 and PgR+, 25.7% vs 66.1%; P<0.001), higher Ki-67 expression (35.5%±26.2% vs 20.6% ±19.8%; P=0.024) and more TN subtypes (48.6% vs 11.9%; P<0.001) than IDC group. Excluding de novo stage IV patients, 14 of 32 (43.7%) MBC patients and 260 of 2782 (9.4%) IDC patents developed disease recurrence with a median follow-up of 36.2 months (range, 4.9-117.8 months). MBC was a poor prognostic factor for disease recurrence in univariate and multivariate analysis (HR 5.19; 95% CI, 2.04-13.18; P=0.001). MBC patients demonstrated aggressive pathologic features and experienced more disease recurrence (HR 4.77; 95% CI, 1.99-11.44; P=0.001) even when compared with 330 patients with TN subtype.Conclusions:Patients with metaplastic breast carcinoma appeared to have inherent aggressive tumor biology with poorer clinical outcomes than those with IDC in general and TN subtype.Partly supported by NCC Grant No 0610240

Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(24 Suppl):Abstract nr 4057.

Identification and characterization of a novel mouse and human MOPT gene containing MORN-motif protein in testis

A novel testis-derived membrane occupation and recognition nexus (MORN)-motif protein was identified in mouse testis (MOPT) by subtraction screening methods and found to be localized on chromosome 17E3, spanning approximately 7kb. Sequence analysis showed that MOPT contains 669 base pair nucleotides of open reading frame and the corresponding 79 amino acids. The protein is predicted to have theoretical molecular mass of 9000 Da and an expected isoelectric point of 5.8 and seems to have unique sequences except for MORN-motif domain. The transcript of MOPT is highly and specifically expressed in adult testis as well as skeletal muscle. Moreover, MOPT transcript and protein are confined mainly to round and elongated spermatids, except for a few individual dispersed spermatocytes, and increase in abundance at subsequent stages. MOPT first appeared in the proacrosomic vesicles of the early Golgi phase spermatids and was translocated from the head cap of elongated spermatid to the nucleus of mature spermatozoa at the final stage of spermiogenesis. Our study suggests that MOPT may play an important role in dynamic regulation of acrosome biogenesis during late spermiogenesis.

Reporting 678 putative cSNPs from full-length enriched cDNA sequences of the Korean native pig

Sequences from the clones of full-length enriched cDNA libraries serve as valuable resources for functional genomic studies. We have analysed 1970 high-quality chromatograms (Phred value >or= 30) that were obtained from sequencing the 5' ends of brainstem, liver, neocortex and spleen clones derived from full-length enriched cDNA libraries from Korean native pigs. In addition, 50,000 pig expressed sequence tag (EST) sequence trace files were obtained from Genbank and combined with our sequencing information to facilitate SNP identification in silico. The process generated 8118 contigs, of which 239 included minimum one sequence from Korean native pig and contained 678 putative coding single nucleotide polymorphisms (cSNPs). Of these, 33 putative cSNPs were randomly selected for confirmatory analysis and validated using 20 pigs from four different breeds (Duroc, Landrace, Yorkshire, Korean native pig). Of the 33 putative cSNPs, 20 were confirmed (61%), which was similar to the frequency reported in other studies. We also identified 15 new cSNPs from the validation process, which were not detected by our in silico analysis. Our study shows that analysing genetically diverse pig breeds including the Korean native pig could serve as a useful strategy for generating a large number of cSNPs.

Study of anxiety and depression in cervical cancer survivors

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Background: Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer related deaths among women in Korea. However, few studies have been conducted to elucidate the psychological distress of this population. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of anxiety and depression among cervical cancer survivors, and to identify factors associated with such caseness. Methods: A total of 832 cervical cancer survivors recruited from six large hospitals in Korea completed a mailed survey, which included the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30, and QLQ-CX24. Anxiety and depression were defined by a score of ≥ 8 on the HADS subscales. With a framework that included socio-demographic, clinical, and symptom characteristics, multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with anxiety and depression. Results: Among cervical cancer survivors, 34.3% reported HADS-defined anxiety and 39.7% reported HADS-defined depression. Anxiety was associated with having a lower income (OR=1.95, p=.021), smoking (OR=2.42, p=.002), poor body image (OR=3.26, p<.001), peripheral neuropathy (OR=2.21, p=.002), menopausal symptoms (OR=2.02, p=.004), and sexual inactivity (OR=2.35, p=.001). Depression was associated with younger age (OR=1.75, p=.006), having a lower income (OR=2.14 p<.001), drinking (OR=1.56, p=.050), poor body image (OR=4.59, p<.001), peripheral neuropathy (OR=2.34, p<.001), and sexual inactivity (OR=2.68, p=.002). Both anxiety and depression were influenced by socio-demographic factors, health behaviors, and cervical cancer-specific symptom characteristics rather than cancer- or treatment-related factors. Conclusions: Anxiety and depression were highly prevalent among cervical cancer survivors in Korea. This examination of risk factors for anxiety and depression will be helpful for the development of clinical management strategies in cervical cancer survivors.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Polymorphism of nucleotide excision repair genes as predictors for clinical outcome in advanced gastric cancer patients treated with oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy

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Background: The individual variations in treatment response and the toxicity of combination regimen of oxaliplatin and 5-fluorouracil with leucovorin (FOLFOX) for advanced gastric cancer patients have been reported. The aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of polymorphism of nucleotide excision repair genes that are involved in the metabolism of cisplatin on the clinical outcomes of gastric cancer patients treated with modified FOLFOX-6 chemotherapy. Methods: From March 2006 to December 2007, eighty-two patients with advanced gastric cancer were treated with modified FOLFOX-6 as the primary chemotherapy in our institution. Of these patients, 55 patients who were available for peripheral blood sampling before starting chemotherapy were enrolled in this study. Genomic DNA was extracted from mononuclear cells of patients’ blood. Four polymorphisms were investigated in three genes, ERCC, GSTP and XRCC. Results: The overall response rate (RR) was 40.0%. Median time to progression (TTP) and overall survival (OS) was 6 months (C.I.: 5.0 - 7.0 months) and 15.0 months (C.I.: 9.7 - 20.3 months). Grade 3 or 4 hematologic toxicities were presented in 17 patients (30.9%), gastrointestinal toxicities in 5 patients (9.1%), peripheral neuropathy in 5 patients (9.1%) and hepato-toxicity in 4 patients (7.3%). Most common types of polymorphism were G/G (67.3%) in XRCC1 Arg399Gln, A/A (74.5%) in GSTP1 Ile105Val, C/C (60.0%) in ERCC1 Asn118Asn and C/A (49.1%) in ERCC1 C8092A. The RR was significantly lower in patients with C/C type in ERCC1 C8092A gene than those with other type (25.0% vs 51.6%, p=0.046). However, there were no differences of TTP and OS among the polymorphisms in three genes. The rate of grade 3 or 4 hematologic toxicity was higher in patients with C/T or T/T in ERCC1 codon 118 gene than those with C/C type (45.5% vs 21.2%, p=0.057). Conclusions: We demonstrated that modified FOLFOX-6 chemotherapy was effective and tolerable. The polymorphism of C/C type in ERCC1 C8092A gene was found to be a predictive marker of the poor response and C/C type in ERCC1 Asn118Asn gene was to be a predictive marker of the hematologic toxicity.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

MR quantification of abnormal stromal enhancement in the periphery of invasive breast tumors

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Background: In dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCEMRI), properties of tissue microvasculature and overall vascularity can be quantified using kinetics of contrast enhancement. It has been shown that areas with high signal enhancement ratio (SER) were significantly correlated with high tumor vascularity, and that mean SER in nearby non-cancerous breast stroma was significantly associated with disease free survival. No universally accepted methods exist to determine the optimal extent of histologically normal breast tissue to treat. Although a relationship between normal tissue SER and recurrence has been observed, the spatial relationship of enhancement within the non-cancerous stroma with respect to proximity of the tumor has not been shown. We hypothesized that abnormalities in vasculature exist within the histologically normal breast stroma that can be detected by measuring changes in enhancement intensity. Methods: We performed a secondary analysis of pre-treatment DCEMRI data from 27 invasive breast cancer patients. An automated, user-independent program was used to segment breast tissue from all other structures. A SER threshold was set to identify invasive tumor regions, and a tumor proximity map was generated giving the 3D distance of each normal breast tissue voxel to the nearest tumor voxel. A percent enhancement (PE) map was calculated for the normal stroma using the signal intensity change between the pre-contrast and post-contrast images. The proximity and PE maps were then combined to measure breast tissue enhancement at various distances from the tumor. Results: PE levels in normal breast tissue situated within 2 cm of the tumor region were significantly higher than at all more distant regions. Pairwise comparisons with Turkey's adjusted p-values indicated that the mean PE at 0 cm-1 cm is significantly higher than all other distant levels (p = < 0.0001) and the mean PE at 1 cm-2 cm is significantly higher than 5 cm-6 cm (p = 0.006). Conclusions: Here, we show that the normal-appearing breast stroma within 0 cm to 2 cm of a primary tumor exhibits higher enhancement levels than stroma located far from the tumor. These results suggest that tissue surrounding the tumor region may contain tumor-related angiogenesis. These findings could help personalize surgery and radiation techniques.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Phase II study of S-1 monotherapy in taxane, cisplatin refractory gastric cancer

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Background: S-1 is a fourth-generation oral fluoropyrimidine that was developed to mimic protracted continuous infusion of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). In previous study, S-1 demonstrated promising activity which is comparable to combination chemotherapy in advanced gastric cancer. This phase II study evaluated the efficacy and safety of S-1 salvage chemotherapy, in patients with taxane and cisplatin refractory gastric cancer. The primary end point was progression free survival and secondary end points were overall survival, safety and clinical benefit. Methods: Patients were eligible if they had histologically documented gastric adenocarcinoma previously treated with taxane (docetaxel or paclitaxel) and cisplatin; age≥18; Eastern Clinical Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 2 or less; adequate organ function; no evidence of gastrointestinal obstruction or passage disturbance. S-1 treatment was performed according to BSA as followed; < BSA 1.25, 80 mg/day, 1.25 ≤ BSA < 1.5, 100 mg/day; BSA ≥ 1.5, 120 mg/day. Every dosage was delivered divided two times and administered for 4 weeks followed by 2 weeks of resting period. Treatment continued until progression of disease or life-threatening adverse events were occurred. Results: Fifty-four patients were enrolled in this study and of the patients, forty-eight patients were evaluable. A total 194 chemotherapy cycles were administered and median number of cycles was three. Four (8.3%) patients had a partial response and 18 (37.5%) patients had stable disease. The median progression free survival and overall survival were 3.8 and 10.2 months, respectively. Grade III/IV hematologic toxicities included neutropenia in 6 patients (12.5%) and there was no febrile neutropenia. Most of nonhematologic toxicities were diarrhea, asthenia, and mucositis, and there was no grade 3 or grade 4 except two patients, who developed grade 3 anorexia and diarrhea, respectively. The clinical benefit response was observed in 16 patients (33.3%). Conclusions: This results showed that S-1 monotherapy was active and safe salvage chemotherapy in patients with advanced gastric cancer previously treated with taxane and cisplatin.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Predictive role of 18F-FDG-PET/CT 1 month before and after hypofractionated stereotactic body radiation therapy for stage I non-small cell lung cancer

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Background: To know the predictive role of 18F-FDG-PET/CT 1month before and after stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) to stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Between 2004 and 2007, 20 patients received SBRT with 48 Gy for 4 consecutive days and checked two times of FDG- PET/CT and chest CT with contrast-enhancement at 1 month before and after SBRT. Change of maximal SUV (SUVmax) on FDG-PET/CT and the longest tumor diameter on chest CT before and after SBRT was measured. Patients only with high FDG uptake, SUVmax 3.0 or above, on FDG-PET/CT before SBRT and tumor diameter below 5 cm were analyzed in this study. Change of tumor diameter was classified to PR (partial response), SD (stable disease), and DP (disease progression) as RECIST criteria and change of SUVmax was described as % change. Chest CT was checked at every 3 or 6 months during follow-up. Results: Mean time intervals from SBRT to FDG-PET/CT and chest CT were 32 and 30 days respectively. Mean longest tumor diameter was changed from 2.59 cm (1.36–3.93) to 2.17 cm (1.18–3.41), and its reduction rate was -16.2%. By RECIST criteria, 4 patients showed PR, 15 patients showed SD, and other 1 patient showed DP. Mean decrease rate of SUVmax on FDG-PET/CT was -52.1% and its mean value was changed from 7.1 (3.2–13.1) to 3.4 (0.3–9.8). Median follow-up time was 16 months. Local tumor progression developed in 2 (10%) patients and time to progression was 3.4, 6.1 months. Tumor responses on post-SBRT chest CT were PR in 1 and SD in the other 1 patient, and SUVmax changes were -31.9%, -25.5% in each. Most of patients showing no response, SD or DP, didn't recur after SBRT, and so chest CT at 1 month could not predict actuarial tumor response. On the contrary to chest CT, no patients showing SUVmax decreases over 40% experienced tumor progression after SBRT. High decrease rate of SUVmax over 40% decrease on FDG-PET/CT 1 month after SBRT could warrant good actuarial local tumor control earlier. Conclusions: Change of SUVmax on FDG-PET/CT 1 month before and after SBRT could predict actuarial local tumor control of stage I NSCLC earlier and 1 month after SBRT was adequate timing for the earlier evaluation of tumor response.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.