Association of genetic variants of xenobiotic and estrogen metabolism pathway (CYP1A1 and CYP1B1) with gallbladder cancer susceptibility

Titanium Tackles the Endoplasmic Reticulum: A First Genomic Study on a Titanium Anticancer Metallodrug

PhenolaTi is an advanced non-toxic anticancer chemotherapy; this inert bis(phenolato)bis(alkoxo) Ti(IV) complex demonstrates the intriguing combination of high and wide efficacy with no detected toxicity in animals. Here we unravel the cellular pathways involved in its mechanism of action by a first genome study on Ti(IV)-treated cells, using an attuned RNA sequencing-based available technology. First, phenolaTi induced apoptosis and cell-cycle arrest at the G2/M phase in MCF7 cells. Second, the transcriptome of the treated cells was analyzed, identifying alterations in pathways relating to protein translation, DNA damage, and mitochondrial eruption. Unlike for common metallodrugs, electrophoresis assay showed no inhibition of DNA polymerase activity. Reduced in vitro cytotoxicity with added endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress inhibitor supported the ER as a putative cellular target. Altogether, this paper reveals a distinct ER-related mechanism by the Ti(IV) anticancer coordination complex, paving the way for wider applicability of related techniques in mechanistic analyses of metallodrugs.

[Gender-specific differences of the early postoperative and oncosurgical long-term outcome in rectal cancer-data obtained in a prospective multicenter observational study]

BACKGROUND

Gender-specific aspects have been increasingly considered in clinical medicine, also in oncological surgery.

AIM

To analyze gender-specific differences of early postoperative and oncological outcomes after rectal cancer resection based on data obtained in a prospective multicenter observational study.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

As part of the multicenter prospective observational study "Quality assurance in primary rectal cancer", data on tumor site, exogenic and endogenic risk factors, neoadjuvant treatment, surgical procedures, tumor stage, intraoperative and postoperative complications of patients with the histological diagnosis of rectal cancer were registered. Data from the years 2005-2006 and 2010-2011 were investigated with respect to gender-specific differences of postoperative morbidity, hospital mortality, local recurrency rate, disease-free and overall survival by univariable and multivariable analyses.

RESULTS

Overall, data from 10,657 patients were evaluated: 60.9% of the patients were male, who were significantly younger (p < 0.001). Men had a significantly higher rate of alcohol (p < 0.001) and nicotine abuse (p < 0.001) as well as a trend to a higher body mass index (BMI) compared with women. Although, there was no significant difference in the distribution of various tumor stages comparing men and women, neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy was used significantly more often in male patients (p < 0.001). In addition, male patients underwent an abdominoperineal rectum exstirpation more often, whereas creation of an enterostoma and Hartmann's procedure were more frequently used in women (p < 0.001 each). Multivariate analysis revealed that male patients developed a higher overall morbidity (odds ratio, OR: 1.5; p < 0.001) during both study periods and from 2010-2011 a higher hospital mortality (OR: 1.8; p < 0.001). After a median follow-up period of 36 months, gender did not have a significant impact on overall survival, disease-free survival or on the local tumor recurrency. The 5‑year overall survival was 60.5%, disease-free survival 63.8% and local recurrency rate was 5%.

CONCLUSION

Independent of other variables, gender differences were found with respect to early postoperative outcome but not to oncological long-term results after surgery of rectal cancer.

Genetic landscape of gallbladder cancer: Global overview

Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is a rare malignancy of biliary tract cancer (BTC), characterized by late presentation and poor prognosis. It exhibits wide geographical as well as ethnical variations. So, diverse epidemiology along with etiological factors have been discussed in the current article. Present review unravels the germ line polymorphisms contributing to GBC susceptibility through candidate gene approach and GWAS. GBC is enriched with multiple mutations consisting of both passenger and driver mutations. The identification of the hotspot driver mutations which are involved in the etiopathogenesis of this cancer is necessary, before targeted therapies could be implemented clinically. Thus, this review sheds lights on both traditional low throughput methods along with high throughput NGS used to determine somatic mutations in cancer. With the advent of GWAS and high throughput sequencing methods, it is possible to comprehend the mutational landscape of this enigmatic disease. This article is the first one to provide insights into the genetic heterogeneity of GBC along with somatic mutational data from Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer (COSMIC) database. In addition, management of tumor heterogeneity as a therapeutic challenge has been discussed. Future goals involve liquid biopsy based research for better clinical management of the disease. Therefore, research efforts involving discovery of non- invasive markers for early stage cancer detection along with novel therapies should be directed.

Gallbladder cancer epidemiology, pathogenesis and molecular genetics: Recent update

Gallbladder cancer is a malignancy of biliary tract which is infrequent in developed countries but common in some specific geographical regions of developing countries. Late diagnosis and deprived prognosis are major problems for treatment of gallbladder carcinoma. The dramatic associations of this orphan cancer with various genetic and environmental factors are responsible for its poorly defined pathogenesis. An understanding to the relationship between epidemiology, molecular genetics and pathogenesis of gallbladder cancer can add new insights to its undetermined pathophysiology. Present review article provides a recent update regarding epidemiology, pathogenesis, and molecular genetics of gallbladder cancer. We systematically reviewed published literature on gallbladder cancer from online search engine PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed). Various keywords used for retrieval of articles were Gallbladder, cancer Epidemiology, molecular genetics and bullion operators like AND, OR, NOT. Cross references were manually searched from various online search engines (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed,https://scholar.google.co.in/, http://www.medline.com/home.jsp). Most of the articles published from 1982 to 2015 in peer reviewed journals have been included in this review.

Cytochrome P450 in Cancer Susceptibility and Treatment

Cytochrome 450 (CYP450) designates a group of enzymes abundant in smooth endoplasmic reticulum of hepatocytes and epithelial cells of small intestines. The main function of CYP450 is oxidative catalysis of various endogenous and exogenous substances. CYP450 are implicated in phase I metabolism of 80% of drugs currently in use, including anticancer drugs. They are also involved in synthesis of various hormones and influence hormone-related cancers. CYP450 genes are highly polymorphic and their variants play an important role in cancer risk and treatment. Association studies and meta-analyses have been performed to decipher the role of CYP450 polymorphisms in cancer susceptibility. Cancer treatment involves multimodal therapies and evaluation of CYP450 polymorphisms is necessary for pharmacogenetic assessment of anticancer therapy outcomes. In addition, CYP450 inhibitors are being evaluated for improved pharmacokinetics and oral formulation of several anticancer drugs.