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Roma L, Ercan C, Conticelli F, Akyürek N, Savic Prince S, Mertz KD, Diebold J, Lardinois D, Piscuoglio S, Ng CK, Bubendorf L. Tracing Tumor Heterogeneity of Pleomorphic Carcinoma of the Lung. J Thorac Oncol 2024:S1556-0864(24)00205-3. [PMID: 38723776 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtho.2024.04.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2024] [Revised: 04/23/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma (PPC) is an aggressive and highly heterogeneous NSCLC whose underlying biology is still poorly understood. METHODS A total of 42 tumor areas from 20 patients with PPC were microdissected, including 39 primary tumors and three metastases, and the histologically distinct components were subjected to whole exome sequencing separately. We further performed in silico analysis of microdissected bulk RNA sequencing and methylation data of 28 samples from 14 patients with PPC. We validated our findings using immunohistochemistry. RESULTS The epithelial and the sarcomatoid components of PPCs shared a large number of genomic alterations. Most mutations in cancer driver genes were clonal and truncal between the two components of PPCs suggesting a common ancestor. The high number of alterations in the RTK-RAS pathway suggests that it plays an important role in the evolution of PPC. The metastases morphologically and genetically resembled the epithelial or the sarcomatoid components of the tumor. The transcriptomic and epigenetic profiles of the sarcomatoid components of PPCs with matched squamous-like or adenocarcinoma-like components differed from each other, and they shared more similarities to their matched epithelial components. NCAM1/CD56 was preferentially expressed in the sarcomatoid component of squamous-like PPCs, whereas CDH1/E-Cadherin expression was down-regulated in the sarcomatoid component of most PPCs. CONCLUSION Lung adenocarcinoma-like PPCs are mainly driven by RTK-RAS signaling, whereas epithelial-mesenchymal transition programs as highlighted by increased NCAM1 and decreased CDH1 expression govern the epithelial-sarcomatoid transition between the clonally related tumor components. Several alterations in PPCs pinpoint therapeutic opportunities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca Roma
- Pathology, Institute of Medical Genetics and Pathology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Caner Ercan
- Pathology, Institute of Medical Genetics and Pathology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Floriana Conticelli
- Pathology, Institute of Medical Genetics and Pathology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Department of Public Health, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | - Nalan Akyürek
- Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Spasenija Savic Prince
- Pathology, Institute of Medical Genetics and Pathology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Kirsten D Mertz
- Institute for Pathology, Cantonal Hospital Baselland, Liestal, Switzerland
| | - Joachim Diebold
- Institute of Pathology, Cantonal Hospital Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland
| | - Didier Lardinois
- Division of Thoracic Surgery, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Salvatore Piscuoglio
- Pathology, Institute of Medical Genetics and Pathology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland; IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, Milan, Italy
| | - Charlotte Ky Ng
- Department for BioMedical Research (DBMR), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Lukas Bubendorf
- Pathology, Institute of Medical Genetics and Pathology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
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Garioni M, Tschan VJ, Blukacz L, Nuciforo S, Parmentier R, Roma L, Coto-Llerena M, Pueschel H, Piscuoglio S, Vlajnic T, Stenner F, Seifert HH, Rentsch CA, Bubendorf L, Le Magnen C. Patient-derived organoids identify tailored therapeutic options and determinants of plasticity in sarcomatoid urothelial bladder cancer. NPJ Precis Oncol 2023; 7:112. [PMID: 37919480 PMCID: PMC10622543 DOI: 10.1038/s41698-023-00466-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2023] [Accepted: 10/13/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Sarcomatoid Urothelial Bladder Cancer (SARC) is a rare and aggressive histological subtype of bladder cancer for which therapeutic options are limited and experimental models are lacking. Here, we report the establishment of a long-term 3D organoid-like model derived from a SARC patient (SarBC-01). SarBC-01 emulates aggressive morphological, phenotypical, and transcriptional features of SARC and harbors somatic mutations in genes frequently altered in sarcomatoid tumors such as TP53 (p53) and RB1 (pRB). High-throughput drug screening, using a library comprising 1567 compounds in SarBC-01 and conventional urothelial carcinoma (UroCa) organoids, identified drug candidates active against SARC cells exclusively, or UroCa cells exclusively, or both. Among those, standard-of-care chemotherapeutic drugs inhibited both SARC and UroCa cells, while a subset of targeted drugs was specifically effective in SARC cells, including agents targeting the Glucocorticoid Receptor (GR) pathway. In two independent patient cohorts and in organoid models, GR and its encoding gene NR3C1 were found to be significantly more expressed in SARC as compared to UroCa, suggesting that high GR expression is a hallmark of SARC tumors. Further, glucocorticoid treatment impaired the mesenchymal morphology, abrogated the invasive ability of SARC cells, and led to transcriptomic changes associated with reversion of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, at single-cell level. Altogether, our study highlights the power of organoids for precision oncology and for providing key insights into factors driving rare tumor entities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele Garioni
- Institute of Medical Genetics and Pathology, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- Department of Urology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- Department of Biomedicine, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Viviane J Tschan
- Department of Biomedicine, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Lauriane Blukacz
- Department of Biomedicine, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Sandro Nuciforo
- Department of Biomedicine, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Romuald Parmentier
- Institute of Medical Genetics and Pathology, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- Department of Urology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- Department of Biomedicine, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Luca Roma
- Institute of Medical Genetics and Pathology, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Mairene Coto-Llerena
- Institute of Medical Genetics and Pathology, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- Department of Biomedicine, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Heike Pueschel
- Department of Urology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Salvatore Piscuoglio
- Institute of Medical Genetics and Pathology, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- Department of Biomedicine, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Tatjana Vlajnic
- Institute of Medical Genetics and Pathology, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Frank Stenner
- Division of Medical Oncology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | | | - Cyrill A Rentsch
- Department of Urology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Lukas Bubendorf
- Institute of Medical Genetics and Pathology, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Clémentine Le Magnen
- Institute of Medical Genetics and Pathology, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
- Department of Urology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
- Department of Biomedicine, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
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Knockdown of RhoQ, a member of Rho GTPase, accelerates TGF-β-induced EMT in human lung adenocarcinoma. Biochem Biophys Rep 2022; 32:101346. [PMID: 36120491 PMCID: PMC9474329 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrep.2022.101346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2022] [Revised: 08/30/2022] [Accepted: 09/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, and the most common subtype of lung cancer is adenocarcinoma. RhoQ is a Rho family GTPase with primary sequence and structural similarities to Cdc42 and RhoJ. RhoQ is involved in neurite outgrowth via membrane trafficking and is essential for insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in mature adipocytes. However, the function of RhoQ in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remains unclear. In this study, RhoQ siRNAs were introduced into A549 and PC-9 cells. Expression level of EMT-related genes and invasion ability were investigated using Western blot and transwell assay. To examine the relationship between RhoQ expression and prognosis of LUAD, Kaplan–Meier plotter was used. We discovered that suppressing RhoQ expression promoted TGF-β-mediated EMT and invasion in LUAD cell lines. Furthermore, RhoQ knockdown increased Smad3 phosphorylation and Snail expression, indicating that RhoQ was involved in TGF/Smad signaling during the EMT process. Moreover, Kaplan–Meier plotter analysis revealed that low RhoQ levels were associated with poor overall survival in patients with LUAD. In conclusion, these findings shed light on RhoQ's role as a negative regulator of TGF-β-mediated EMT in LUAD. Knockdown of RhoQ expression promoted TGF-β-mediated EMT and invasion in human lung adenocarcinoma cells. RhoQ knockdown increased Smad3 phosphorylation and Snail expression during the EMT process. Low RhoQ levels were associated with poor overall survival in patients with lung adenocarcinoma.
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