Serum levels of hepatocyte growth factor and epiregulin are associated with the prognosis on anti-EGFR antibody treatment in KRAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer

Background:

Ligands of transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinases have important roles in cell proliferation, survival, migration and differentiation in solid tumours. We conducted this study to evaluate the relationship between concentration of serum ligands and prognosis of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) treated with anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibodies.

Methods:

Between August 2008 and August 2011, serum samples were obtained from KRAS wild-type patients who met the inclusion criteria and received an anti-EGFR antibody treatment. Serum concentration of ligands was measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and somatic mutations of KRAS, BRAF, PIK3CA and BRAF were analysed by direct sequencing.

Results:

A total of 103 patients were enrolled in the present study. At the pretreatment serum levels, patients with high levels of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) had shorter progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) compared with those with low levels of HGF (median PFS: 6.4 months vs 4.4 months; P<0.001, median OS: 15.3 months vs 8.0 months; P<0.001, respectively). Patients with high levels of epiregulin (EREG) also had shorter PFS and OS compared with those with low levels of EREG (median PFS: 6.6 months vs 4.9 months; P=0.016, median OS: 13.8 months vs 7.4 months; P=0.048, respectively). In addition, patients whose serum levels of ligands were elevated at progressive disease had shorter PFS and OS compared with other patients.

Conclusions:

Our study indicated that high levels of HGF and EREG were associated with resistance to treatment with anti-EGFR antibodies in KRAS wild-type patients with mCRC. Our findings will contribute to the newly combination therapy on the treatment of anti-EGFR antibodies.

Impact of excision repair cross-complementing gene 1 (ERCC1) on the outcomes of patients with advanced gastric cancer: correlative study in Japan Clinical Oncology Group Trial JCOG9912

BACKGROUND

Since the best chemotherapy regimen for each patient with advanced gastric cancer is uncertain, we aimed to identify molecular prognostic or predictive biomarkers from biopsy specimens in JCOG9912, a randomized phase III trial for advanced gastric cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Endoscopic biopsy specimens from primary lesions were collected in 445 of 704 randomized patients in JCOG9912. We measured the mRNA expression of excision repair cross-complementing group 1 (ERCC1), thymidylate synthase, dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase, and five other genes, then, categorized them into low and high groups relative to the median, and examined whether gene expression was associated with efficacy end point.

RESULTS

Multivariate analyses showed that high ERCC1 expression [HR 1.37; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08-1.75; P = 0.010], performance status ≥ 1 (HR 1.45; 95% CI 1.13-1.86; P = 0.004), and number of metastatic sites ≥ 2 (HR 1.66; 95% CI 1.28-1.86; P < 0.001) were associated with a poor prognosis, and recurrent disease (versus unresectable; HR 0.75; 95% CI 0.56-1.00; P = 0.049) was associated with a favorable prognosis. None of these molecular factors were a predictive marker for choosing irinotecan plus cisplatin or 5-fluorouracil rather than S-1.

CONCLUSION

These correlative analyses suggest that ERCC1 is an independent prognostic factor for overall survival in the first-line treatment of gastric cancer.

CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER

C000000062, www.umin.ac.jp.

Anomalous enhancement in the infrared phonon intensity of a one-dimensional uneven peanut-shaped C60 polymer

A one-dimensional (1D) uneven peanut-shaped C(60) polymer formed from electron-beam (EB)-induced polymerization of C(60) molecules showed an anomalous increase in two characteristic infrared (IR) peak intensities, which are respectively due to the radial and tangential motion of the 1D polymer, when compared to the IR peaks of pristine C(60) films. This anomaly was analyzed on the basis of the vibrational van Hove singularity (VHS), using an extended thin-shell elastic model fully considering the effects of periodic radius modulation inherent to the 1D uneven peanut-shaped C(60) polymer. We succeeded in explaining the enhancement in the tangential peak intensity by VHS, whereas the origin to cause that in the radial peak intensity is still unclear.

Tau aggregation is a therapeutic target for Alzheimer's disease

Based on the amyloid hypothesis, studies for AD therapy have been mostly focused on removing β-amyloid. Recent results of amyloid immunotherapy raised the question whether β-amyloid is sufficient target for AD therapy. Neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), which contain hyperphosphorylated tau, are another pathological hallmark of AD. NFTs are observed in entorhinal cortex, limbic, and neocortex over the course of clinical progression. NFTs are associated with synapse and neuron loss, suggesting that the process of NFT formation is involved in brain dysfunction. During NFT formation, tau forms a variety of different aggregation species, including tau oligomers, granules, and fibrils. Analysis of different human tau-expressing mouse lines reveals that soluble hyperphosphorylated tau, which includes tau oligomer, is involved in synapse loss, whereas granular tau formation is involved in neuronal loss. Therefore, inhibition of tau aggregation and tau phosphorylation is expected to prevent synapse loss and neuron loss, and may slow or halt the progressive dementia in AD.

Structural evolution in the neutron-rich nuclei ¹⁰⁶Zr and ¹⁰⁸Zr

The low-lying states in ¹⁰⁶Zr and ¹⁰⁸Zr have been investigated by means of β-γ and isomer spectroscopy at the radioactive isotope beam factory (RIBF), respectively. A new isomer with a half-life of 620 ± 150 ns has been identified in ¹⁰⁸Zr. For the sequence of even-even Zr isotopes, the excitation energies of the first 2⁺ states reach a minimum at N = 64 and gradually increase as the neutron number increases up to N = 68, suggesting a deformed subshell closure at N = 64. The deformed ground state of ¹⁰⁸Zr indicates that a spherical subshell gap predicted at N = 70 is not large enough to change the ground state of ¹⁰⁸Zr to the spherical shape. The possibility of a tetrahedral shape isomer in ¹⁰⁸Zr is also discussed.

β-decay half-lives of very neutron-rich Kr to Tc isotopes on the boundary of the r-process path: an indication of fast r-matter flow

The β-decay half-lives of 38 neutron-rich isotopes from (36)Kr to (43)Tc have been measured; the half-lives of (100)Kr, (103-105)Sr, (106-108)Y, (108-110)Zr, (111,112)Nb, (112-115)Mo, and (116,117)Tc are reported here. The results when compared with previous standard models indicate an overestimation in the predicted half-lives by a factor of 2 or more in the A≈110 region. A revised model based on the second generation gross theory of β decay better predicts the measured half-lives and suggests a more rapid flow of the rapid neutron-capture process (r-matter flow) through this region than previously predicted.