Inherited Inflammatory Response Genes Are Associated with B-Cell Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Risk and Survival

TNFRSF1B Gene Variants in Clinicopathological Aspects and Prognosis of Patients with Cutaneous Melanoma

Regulatory T lymphocytes play a critical role in immune regulation and are involved in the aberrant cell elimination by facilitating tumor necrosis factor connection to the TNFR2 receptor, encoded by the TNFRSF1B polymorphic gene. We aimed to examine the effects of single nucleotide variants TNFRSF1B c.587T>G, c.*188A>G, c.*215C>T, and c.*922C>T on the clinicopathological characteristics and survival of cutaneous melanoma (CM) patients. Patients were genotyped using RT-PCR. TNFRSF1B levels were measured using qPCR. Luciferase reporter assay evaluated the interaction of miR-96 and miR-1271 with the 3'-UTR of TNFRSF1B. The c.587TT genotype was more common in patients younger than 54 years old than in older patients. Patients with c.*922CT or TT, c.587TG or GG + c.*922CT or TT genotypes, as well as those with the haplotype TATT, presented a higher risk of tumor progression and death due to the disease effects. Individuals with the c.*922TT genotype had a higher TNFRSF1B expression than those with the CC genotype. miR-1271 had less efficient binding with the 3'-UTR of the T allele when compared with the C allele of the SNV c.*922C>T. Our findings, for the first time, demonstrate that TNFRSF1B c.587T>G and c.*922C>T variants can serve as independent prognostic factors in CM patients.

Primary Hepatoid Adenocarcinoma of Gallbladder With MB21D2/GALNT12/ARID2 Mutations: A Case Report

BACKGROUND

Primary hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the gallbladder is a relatively rare type of extrahepatic adenocarcinoma. The genetic changes involved in this type of adenocarcinoma were unexplained so far. We reported a rare case of primary hepatoid adenocarcinoma of gallbladder with Mab-21 domain containing 2 (MB21D2), polypeptide N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase 12 (GALNT12), and AT-rich interaction domain 2 (ARID2) mutations, which was confirmed after surgical resection pathologically.

CASE SUMMARY

A 69-year-old female with distention of hypogastrium and constipation received enema treatment, but ineffectively. No abnormalities were found on relevant physical examination. Then, the CT and MRI demonstrated a 3.3-4-cm soft tissue mass shadow in the neck of the gallbladder. The primary lesions consisted of two components: high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia of glands and hepatoid glands microscopically after laparoscope cholecystectomy. Immunohistochemical staining showed the sameness and difference of the two areas. Furthermore, tumor mutational burden (TMB) shows that the MB21D2, GALNT12, and ARID2 genes were mutated.

CONCLUSION

This is the first report of primary hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the gallbladder with MB21D2, GALNT12, and ARID2 mutations. This will provide a theoretical basis for genetic changes in rare tumors.

The role of HLA variation in lymphoma aetiology and survival

Epidemiologic and laboratory evidence has consistently supported a strong inflammatory and immune component for lymphoma aetiology. These studies have consistently implicated variation in the immune gene, human leucocyte antigen (HLA), to be associated with lymphoma risk. In this review, we summarize the historical and recent evidence of HLA in both lymphoma aetiology and survival. The recent momentum in uncovering HLA associations has been propelled by the conduct of genome-wide association studies (GWAS), which has permitted the evaluation of imputed HLA alleles in much larger sample sizes than historically feasible with allelotyping studies. Based on the culmination of smaller HLA typing studies and larger GWAS, we now recognize several HLA associations with Hodgkin (HL) and non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHLs) and their subtypes. Although other genetic variants have also been implicated with lymphoma risk, it is notable that HLA associations have been reported in every NHL and HL subtype evaluated to date. Both HLA class I and class II alleles have been linked with NHL and HL risk. It is notable that the associations identified are largely specific to each lymphoma subtype. However, pleiotropic HLA associations have also been observed. For example, rs10484561, which is in linkage disequilibrium with HLA-DRB1*01:01˜DQA1*01:01˜DQB1*05:01, has been implicated in increased FL and DLBCL risk. Opposing HLA associations across subtypes have also been reported, such as for HLA-A*01:01 which is associated with increased risk of EBV-positive cHL but decreased risk of EBV-negative cHL and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia/small cell lymphoma. Due to extensive linkage disequilibrium and allele/haplotypic variation across race/ethnicities, identification of causal alleles/haplotypes remains challenging. Follow-up functional studies are needed to identify the specific immunological pathways responsible in the multifactorial aetiology of HL and NHL. Correlative studies linking HLA alleles with known molecular subtypes and HLA expression in the tumours are also needed. Finally, additional association studies investigating HLA diversity and lymphoma survival are also required to replicate initial associations reported to date.

Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in SMAD7 and CHI3L1 and Colorectal Cancer Risk

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading cancers throughout the world. It represents the third most common cancer and the fourth in mortality. Most of CRC are sporadic, arise with no known high-penetrant genetic variation and with no previous family history. The etiology of sporadic CRC is considered to be multifactorial and arises from the interaction of genetic variants of low-penetrant genes and environmental risk factors. The most common well-studied genetic variation is single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). SNP arises as a point mutation. If the frequency of the sequence variation reaches 1% or more in the population, it is referred to as polymorphism, but if it is lower than 1%, the allele is typically considered as a mutation. Lots of SNPs have been associated with CRC development and progression, for example, genes of TGF-β1 and CHI3L1 pathways. TGF-β1 is a pleiotropic cytokine with a dual role in cancer development and progression. TGF-β1 mediates its actions through canonical and noncanonical pathways. The most important negative regulatory protein for TGF-β1 activity is termed SMAD7. The production of TGF-β can be controlled by another protein called YKL-40. YKL-40 is a glycoprotein with an important role in cancer initiation and metastasis. YKL-40 is encoded by the CHI3L1 gene. The aim of the present review is to give a brief introduction of CRC, SNP, and examples of some SNPs that have been documented to be associated with CRC. We also discuss two important signaling pathways TGF-β1 and CHI3L1 that influence the incidence and progression of CRC.

Very early onset inflammatory bowel disease

Very early onset inflammatory bowel disease (VEO-IBD) represents a unique and growing subset of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Some VEO-IBD patients present with immunodeficiency and possess loss of function genetic mutations involving immune pathways that cause their IBD. A search for Mendelian causes of IBD is likely most beneficial when the presentation involves extra-intestinal autoimmunity or involves intestinal histopathology that is atypical for IBD. While a subset of these young patients will have highly aggressive courses (and likely present with immunodeficiency), the majority of patients with VEO-IBD appear to have disease courses similar to that of their older counterparts. Most notably, many of these young children will require long courses of immunosuppression simply as a result of the profoundly early presentation-thus increasing their long-term risks of cancer and opportunistic infections.

Testing and Confidence Intervals for High Dimensional Proportional Hazards Model

This paper proposes a decorrelation-based approach to test hypotheses and construct confidence intervals for the low dimensional component of high dimensional proportional hazards models. Motivated by the geometric projection principle, we propose new decorrelated score, Wald and partial likelihood ratio statistics. Without assuming model selection consistency, we prove the asymptotic normality of these test statistics, establish their semiparametric optimality. We also develop new procedures for constructing pointwise confidence intervals for the baseline hazard function and baseline survival function. Thorough numerical results are provided to back up our theory.

ABCG2 and NCF4 polymorphisms are associated with clinical outcomes in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients treated with R-CHOP

The impact of pharmacogenetics on predicting survival in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) remains unclear. We tested 337 DLBCL patients treated with rituximab-cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) for 9 single nucleotide polymorphisms from 6 genes (CD20, FCGR2A, NAD(P)H, ABCC2, ABCG2 and CYP3A5). Patients who carried the NCF4 rs1883112 GG genotype showed significantly shorter progression-free survival (PFS) (P = 0.023) and event-free survival (EFS) (P < 0.001) comparing with A allele. A significantly shortened PFS (P = 0.013) and EFS (P = 0.002) was also observed in the patients with ABCG2 rs2231137 GG genotype. Furthermore, the elder (> 60 years old) or male patients with ABCG2 rs2231137 GG genotype had poorer PFS and EFS than A allele. Moreover, CD20 rs2070770 CC and RAC2 rs13058338 AT genotypes were independent predictors of chemotherapy-induced toxicity. Cox proportional hazards analyses demonstrated that the GG genotype of ABCG2 rs2231137 and NCF4 rs1883112 were risk factors in DLBCL patients. In conclusion, the identified polymorphisms provide guide for the identification of DLBCL patients who are likely to benefit from chemotherapy.