The Crowded Crosstalk between Cancer Cells and Stromal Microenvironment in Gynecological Malignancies: Biological Pathways and Therapeutic Implication

Estrogen Promotes Endometrial Cancer Development by Modulating ZNF626, SLK, and RFWD3 Gene Expression and Inducing Immune Inflammatory Changes

Background: Elevated estrogen has been found to contribute to the pathological development of endometrial cancer (EC), potentially through alterations in the tumor inflammatory immune microenvironment. However, the exact mechanisms underlying this process remain unclear. Methods: Bioinformatics was used to identify differentially expressed genes, analyze pathway enrichment, and assess their correlation with immune cell infiltration. Ishikawa cells and ECC-1 cells were stimulated with estradiol (E2) or the selective estrogen receptor modulator Arzoxifene, and qPCR was performed to measure gene expression changes. CCK8 and FACS assays were used to analyze cell cycle alterations, while Western blotting (WB) was used to evaluate apoptosis. Results: ZNF626 and SLK were highly expressed in EC tissues, whereas RFWD3 expression was downregulated. Immune cell infiltration analysis revealed a positive correlation between ZNF626 and M2 macrophages, while SLK was negatively correlated with M1 macrophages, memory B cells, and plasma cells. RFWD3 showed more complex correlations with multiple immune cell phenotypes, including T cells. E2 stimulation resulted in the increased expression of ZNF626 and SLK, while RFWD3 expression decreased. This was accompanied by enhanced cell proliferation and suppressed apoptosis. In contrast, Arzoxifene stimulation produced the opposite effects. Conclusions: Estrogen promotes cell proliferation and inhibits apoptosis by upregulating ZNF626 and SLK, while downregulating RFWD3. Furthermore, estrogen induces a shift in the tumor microenvironment, characterized by a reduction in memory CD4+ T cells and a transition from M1 to M2 macrophage phenotypes, thus facilitating the onset and progression of EC.

Transcriptome analysis of ovarian cancer uncovers association between tumor-related inflammation/immunity and patient outcome

Background

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is a cancer that affects the female reproductive system and is highly lethal. It poses significant challenges in terms of treatment and often has a poor prognosis. In recent years, with the advent of PARPi, the treatment of ovarian cancer has entered a new stage of full-process management. Although more and more drugs have been approved, the therapeutic effect of PARPi is still very limited. With the rapid development of PD-1/PD-L1, CTLA-4, oncolytic viruses, cancer vaccines, adoptive cell therapy, etc., tumor immunotherapy has provided new opportunities for the treatment of ovarian cancer.

Methods

This study used comprehensive transcriptome analysis across multiple databases to gather gene transcripts and clinical features of normal ovarian samples and tissue samples from ovarian cancer. The aim was to explore the mechanisms underlying tumor immunotherapy resistance and to reveal the relationship between ovarian cancer's immune microenvironment and genes linked to inflammation. Various R packages were used for differential gene analysis, enrichment analysis, co-expression network construction, and prognostic model building.

Results

It has been found that the prognosis of ovarian cancer patients is closely associated with sets of genes involved in inflammation. The immune infiltration microenvironment, clinicopathological features, and survival rates differed significantly between two inflammatory gene expression patterns identified using cluster and immune microenvironment analyses. Further analysis revealed that the high-risk group had a higher abundance of M2-type macrophage infiltration, more active anti-tumor immune response, higher tumor stemness score, potentially worse prognosis, and lower response rates to multiple chemotherapy drugs and immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Conclusion

These findings provide new perspectives and potential targets for immunotherapy and prognostic evaluation of ovarian cancer and offer new strategies and directions for clinical treatment and patient management. This study provides crucial information to further our comprehension of drug response mechanisms and tumor immunotherapy. It offers new strategies and methods for the treatment and prognostic improvement of ovarian cancer.

Tumor- and host-derived heparanase-2 (Hpa2) attenuates tumorigenicity: role of Hpa2 in macrophage polarization and BRD7 nuclear localization

Little attention was given to heparanase 2 (Hpa2) over the last two decades, possibly because it lacks a heparan sulfate (HS)-degrading activity typical of heparanase. Emerging results suggest, nonetheless, that Hpa2 plays a role in human pathologies, including cancer progression where it functions as a tumor suppressor. Here, we examined the role of Hpa2 in cervical carcinoma. We report that high levels of Hpa2 correlate with prolonged survival of cervical carcinoma patients. Strong staining intensity of Hpa2 also correlates with low tumor grade. Overexpression of Hpa2 in SiHa cervical carcinoma cells resulted in tumor xenografts that were two-fold smaller than control tumors. Interestingly, even smaller tumor xenografts were developed by SiHa cells overexpressing the Pro140Arg and Asn543Ile Hpa2 missense mutations that were identified in patients diagnosed with urofacial syndrome (UFS). Utilizing the Ras recruitment system, we identified bromodomain-containing protein 7 (BRD7) to interact with Hpa2 and found that both BRD7 and the Hpa2 mutants are translocated to the cell nucleus in tumors developed by the Pro140Arg and Asn543Ile Hpa2 mutants. Utilizing our newly developed conditional Hpa2-KO mice, we further show that Hpa2 plays a critical role in macrophage polarization; in the absence of Hpa2, macrophages are shifted towards pro-tumorigenic, M2 phenotype. Notably, implanting SiHa cervical carcinoma cells together with Hpa2-KO macrophages promoted tumor growth. These results support, and further expand, the notion that Hpa2 functions as a tumor suppressor, co-operating with another tumor suppressor, BRD7.

The immune microenvironment of cancer of the uterine cervix

While several treatment choices exist for cervical cancer, such as surgical therapy, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, some patients will still show poor prognosis. HPV infection is a principal factor for cervical cancer development, from early inflammation to proliferation, angiogenesis, and neoplastic growth. While HPV T-cell responses exist, the tumor seems to evade the immune system upon its tolerance. The latter suggests the existence of a confluent tumor microenvironment responsible for the evasion tactics employed by the neoplasm. Therefore, novel biomarkers governing prognosis and treatment planning must be developed, with several studies tackling the significance of the tumor microenvironment in the genesis, development, proliferation, and overall response of cervical cancer during neoplastic processes. This review aims to analyze and contemplate the characteristics of the tumor microenvironment and its role in prognosis, progression, evasion, and invasion, including therapeutic outcome and overall survival.

Single-cell RNA sequencing in endometrial cancer: exploring the epithelial cells and the microenvironment landscape

Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technology has emerged as a powerful tool for dissecting cellular heterogeneity and understanding the intricate biology of diseases, including cancer. Endometrial cancer (EC) stands out as the most prevalent gynecological malignancy in Europe and the second most diagnosed worldwide, yet its cellular complexity remains poorly understood. In this review, we explore the contributions of scRNA-seq studies to shed light on the tumor cells and cellular landscape of EC. We discuss the diverse tumoral and microenvironmental populations identified through scRNA-seq, highlighting the implications for understanding disease progression. Furthermore, we address potential limitations inherent in scRNA-seq studies, such as technical biases and sample size constraints, emphasizing the need for larger-scale research encompassing a broader spectrum of EC histological subtypes. Notably, a significant proportion of scRNA-seq analyses have focused on primary endometrioid carcinoma tumors, underscoring the need to incorporate additional histological and aggressive types to comprehensively capture the heterogeneity of EC. By critically evaluating the current state of scRNA-seq research in EC, this review underscores the importance of advancing towards more comprehensive studies to accelerate our understanding of this complex disease.

Construction of an immune-related gene prognostic model for obese endometrial cancer patients based on bioinformatics analysis

Background

The tumor microenvironment (TME) affected the prognosis of tumors. However, its effect on the outcomes of obese endometrial cancer (EC) patients had not been reported.

Methods

This research performed a retrospective analysis of the transcriptome profiles and medical data of 503 EC patients. Immune scores were assessed by estimation algorithms. Cox and LASSO regression analyses were utilized to pinpoint key genes linked to prognosis, and the RPS was created to forecast the outcomes of obese EC patients. The relationship among genetic mutations and RPS was examined using CNV and somatic mutation information. ssGSEA and GSVA were employed to detect immune infiltration and immune pathway enrichment associated with key genes. The TIDE algorithm and GDSC database were utilized to forecast patients' responses of patients to immunotherapy and chemotherapy, respectively. Finally, we employed the 'rms' R software package to construct the nomogram.

Results

The prognosis of obese EC patients was associated with immune scores. Three key genes (EYA4, MBOAT2 and SCGB2A1) were identified. The risk prognosis score (RPS) for obese EC patients was established by risk stratification and prognostic prediction using prognostic genes. The higher the RPS, the worse the prognosis, and the more malignant the genomic alterations. The high RPS group had a significantly reduced proportion of most immune cells in comparison to the low RPS group. The high RPS group was linked to G2M, MYC and E2F related pathways such as cell proliferation, cell cycle and cell death. Cisplatin, tamoxifen and topotecan had a greater effect on the low RPS group. Notably, the nomogram had a good predictive ability.

Conclusion

Our study designed a reliable RPS for obese EC patients to forecast their prognosis, immune aggressiveness, and responses to immunotherapy and drug treatments.

Role of Tumor-Associated Macrophages in Cervical Cancer: Integrating Classical Perspectives with Recent Technological Advances

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play a pivotal role in the tumor microenvironment, influencing cancer progression and contributing to poor prognosis. However, in cervical cancer (CC), their significance and involvement are relatively less studied than in other gynecological cancers such as ovarian and endometrial cancer. This review aims to provide an overview of TAMs, covering their origins and phenotypes and their impact on CC progression, along with major TAM-targeted therapeutic approaches. Furthermore, we advocate for the integration of cutting-edge research methodologies, such as single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial RNA sequencing, to enable in-depth and comprehensive investigations into TAMs in CC, which would be beneficial in leading to more personalized and effective immunotherapy strategies for patients with CC.

LINC00960 affects osteosarcoma treatment and prognosis by regulating the tumor immune microenvironment

Background

Osteosarcoma (OS), the commonest primary malignant bone tumor, is mainly seen in children and teenagers. LINC00960, a newly discovered long intergenic non-protein coding RNA, has been shown to be important in certain cancers. The objective of this study was to assess LINC00960's prognostic and therapeutic value and analyze its mechanism of action in osteosarcoma.

Methods

With the transcriptome information of 85 osteosarcomas from the TARGET database, the Cox regression analyses, K-M curve, and ROC curve, were conducted for survival and prognostic analysis. The functional analysis was conducted using GO, KEGG, GSEA, and GSVA. The ESTIMATE, ssGSEA, MCP-counter, ImmuCellAI algorithms, and immune checkpoint correlation analysis were performed for immune-related analysis. The single-cell RNA sequencing data of 6 osteosarcoma patients was obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. The Tumor Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion algorithm and the "pRRophetic" R package were performed to predict the response to immunotherapy and chemotherapy.

Results

LINC00960 overexpression is associated with osteosarcoma metastasis and poor prognosis. Based on the LINC00960 expression, the nomogram prediction model was created, which showed good accuracy and precision to predict the overall survival of osteosarcoma. Single-cell and immune-related analysis showed that LINC00960 is mainly highly expressed in the tumor-exhausted CD8 T cells in osteosarcoma. In osteosarcoma, the expression of LIC00960 was favorably connected with immune checkpoint-related genes and negatively correlated with immune infiltration. TIDE analysis indicated that low LINC00960 expression patients might have a better response to immunotherapy. Drug sensitivity analysis showed that high LINC00960 expression patients might have better responses to Bleomycin and Doxorubicin.

Conclusion

LINC00960 has the potential to be a novel biomarker for predicting overall survival in osteosarcoma patients and to guide more individualized treatment and clinical decision-making.

A landscape of patient-derived cancer-associated fibroblast signals in endometrial cancers

In conversation with endometrial tumor cells, the endometrial cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are the "partners in crime" of uterine neoplasm's highly heterogeneous tumor microenvironment (TME). We designed a laboratory-friendly method to culture endometrial CAFs on a patient-to-patient basis for studying the CAF-TME and CAF-tumor cell interaction(s). Here, we present a comprehensive characterization of endometrial CAFs derived from patients' tumor tissues (T) and tumor-adjacent normal tissues (N). We used more than 80 T and N from 53 consecutive consented patients with endometrial cancers at the Avera Cancer Institute. We derived TCAF and NCAF in a non-enzymatic feeder-layer culture and characterized their expression of markers by qRT-PCR, flow cytometry, immunocytochemistry, immunofluorescence, and Western blot. Although similar in the expression pattern of EpCAM-/CK18-/vimentin+ as in ovarian CAFs, endometrial NCAFs, and TCAFs characteristically presented dual morphology in culture. Endometrial CAFs were EpCAM-/CK18-/CD45-/CD31-/SMA+/TE-7+/PDGFRA+/CXCL12+/Meflin+/CD155+/CD90+ with patient-specific positivity for S100A4/FAP/PD-L1/CD44. Endometrial CAFs expressed mRNAs for signaling proteins of several pathways and receptor-ligands, including (1) cell cycle pathway, (2) TGF pathway, (3) FGF pathway, (4) Wnt-beta-catenin pathway, (5) HER pathway, (6) tyrosine kinase receptor ligands, and (7) steroid receptors. We tested the hypoxic response of CAFs to show that endometrial CAFs upregulate MMP1 in a HIF-1a-independent manner. In trying to delineate the relationship between expressions of CAF markers and T-cells in the tumor tissue, we observed that FAP-positive CAFs that are derived from CD4/CD8 positive tumor tissue expressed CXCL12 mRNA. The data indicate the role of the CXCL12-CXCR4 pathway of the CAF-rich stroma in the lymphocytic infiltration of the tumor. We demonstrate that endometrial CAFs can be cultured in an enzymatic-digestion-independent manner, and their signaling landscape can be mapped toward understanding CAF-TME dialogue. Our data will help unearth the functional relevance of endometrial CAFs in the context of clinical outcomes and designing CAF-inclusive therapy in the future.

Characterization of candidate factors associated with the metastasis and progression of high-grade serous ovarian cancer

BACKGROUND

High-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) is the biggest cause of gynecological cancer-related mortality because of its extremely metastatic nature. This study aimed to explore and evaluate the characteristics of candidate factors associated with the metastasis and progression of HGSOC.

METHODS

Transcriptomic data of HGSOC patients' samples collected from primary tumors and matched omental metastatic tumors were obtained from three independent studies in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were selected to evaluate the effects on the prognosis and progression of ovarian cancer using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Hub genes' immune landscapes were estimated by the Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) database. Finally, using 25 HGSOC patients' cancer tissues and 10 normal fallopian tube tissues, immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed to quantify the expression levels of hub genes associated with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stages.

RESULTS

Fourteen DEGs, ADIPOQ , ALPK2 , BARX1 , CD37 , CNR2 , COL5A3 , FABP4 , FAP , GPR68 , ITGBL1 , MOXD1 , PODNL1 , SFRP2 , and TRAF3IP3 , were upregulated in metastatic tumors in every database while CADPS , GATA4 , STAR , and TSPAN8 were downregulated. ALPK2 , FAP , SFRP2 , GATA4 , STAR , and TSPAN8 were selected as hub genes significantly associated with survival and recurrence. All hub genes were correlated with tumor microenvironment infiltration, especially cancer-associated fibroblasts and natural killer (NK) cells. Furthermore, the expression of FAP and SFRP2 was positively correlated with the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, and their increased protein expression levels in metastatic samples compared with primary tumor samples and normal tissues were confirmed by IHC ( P = 0.0002 and P = 0.0001, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

This study describes screening for DEGs in HGSOC primary tumors and matched metastasis tumors using integrated bioinformatics analyses. We identified six hub genes that were correlated with the progression of HGSOC, particularly FAP and SFRP2 , which might provide effective targets to predict prognosis and provide novel insights into individual therapeutic strategies for HGSOC.

Pyroptosis: the dawn of a new era in endometrial cancer treatment

Endometrial cancer (EC) is a malignancy of the inner epithelial lining of the uterus. While early-stage EC is often curable through surgery, the management of advanced, recurrent and metastatic EC poses significant challenges and is associated with a poor prognosis. Pyroptosis, an emerging form of programmed cell death, is characterized by the cleavage of gasdermin proteins, inducing the formation of extensive gasdermin pores in the cell membrane and the leakage of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-18 (IL-18), consequently causing cell swelling, lysis and death. It has been found to be implicated in the occurrence and progression of almost all tumors. Recent studies have demonstrated that regulating tumor cells pyroptosis can exploit synergies function with traditional tumor treatments. This paper provides an overview of the research progress made in molecular mechanisms of pyroptosis. It then discusses the role of pyroptosis and its components in initiation and progression of endometrial cancer, emphasizing recent insights into the underlying mechanisms and highlighting unresolved questions. Furthermore, it explores the potential value of pyroptosis in the treatment of endometrial cancer, considering its current application in tumor radiotherapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy.

Role of the tumor microenvironment in the lymphatic metastasis of cervical cancer (Review)

Lymphatic metastasis is the primary type of cervical cancer metastasis and is associated with an extremely poor prognosis in patients. The tumor microenvironment primarily includes cancer-associated fibroblasts, tumor-associated macrophages, myeloid-derived suppressor cells, immune and inflammatory cells, and blood and lymphatic vascular networks, which can promote the establishment of lymphatic metastatic sites within immunosuppressive microenvironments or promote lymphatic metastasis by stimulating lymphangiogenesis and epithelial-mesenchymal transformation. As the most important feature of the tumor microenvironment, hypoxia plays an essential role in lymph node metastasis. In this review, the known mechanisms of hypoxia, and the involvement of stromal components and immune inflammatory cells in the tumor microenvironment of lymphatic metastasis of cervical cancer are discussed. Additionally, a summary of the clinical trials targeting the tumor microenvironment for the treatment of cervical cancer is provided, emphasizing the potential and challenges of immunotherapy.

Suppressive stroma-immune prognostic signature impedes immunotherapy in ovarian cancer and can be reversed by PDGFRB inhibitors

BACKGROUND

As the most lethal gynecologic cancer, ovarian cancer (OV) holds the potential of being immunotherapy-responsive. However, only modest therapeutic effects have been achieved by immunotherapies such as immune checkpoint blockade. This study aims to propose a generalized stroma-immune prognostic signature (SIPS) to identify OV patients who may benefit from immunotherapy.

METHODS

The 2097 OV patients included in the study were significant with high-grade serous ovarian cancer in the III/IV stage. The 470 immune-related signatures were collected and analyzed by the Cox regression and Lasso algorithm to generalize a credible SIPS. Correlations between the SIPS signature and tumor microenvironment were further analyzed. The critical immunosuppressive role of stroma indicated by the SIPS was further validated by targeting the major suppressive stroma component (CAFs, Cancer-associated fibroblasts) in vitro and in vivo. With four machine-learning methods predicting tumor immune subtypes, the stroma-immune signature was upgraded to a 23-gene signature.

RESULTS

The SIPS effectively discriminated the high-risk individuals in the training and validating cohorts, where the high SIPS succeeded in predicting worse survival in several immunotherapy cohorts. The SIPS signature was positively correlated with stroma components, especially CAFs and immunosuppressive cells in the tumor microenvironment, indicating the critical suppressive stroma-immune network. The combination of CAFs' marker PDGFRB inhibitors and frontline PARP inhibitors substantially inhibited tumor growth and promoted the survival of OV-bearing mice. The stroma-immune signature was upgraded to a 23-gene signature to improve clinical utility. Several drug types that suppress stroma-immune signatures, such as EGFR inhibitors, could be candidates for potential immunotherapeutic combinations in ovarian cancer.

CONCLUSIONS

The stroma-immune signature could efficiently predict the immunotherapeutic sensitivity of OV patients. Immunotherapy and auxiliary drugs targeting stroma could enhance immunotherapeutic efficacy in ovarian cancer.

Construction of the novel immune risk scoring system related to CD8+ T cells in uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC) is a gynecological malignant tumor with high incidence and poor prognosis. Although immunotherapy has brought significant survival benefits to advanced UCEC patients, traditional evaluation indicators cannot accurately identify all potential beneficiaries of immunotherapy. Consequently, it is necessary to construct a new scoring system to predict patient prognosis and responsiveness of immunotherapy.

METHODS

CIBERSORT combined with weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), non-negative matrix factorization (NMF), and random forest algorithms to screen the module associated with CD8⁺ T cells, and key genes related to prognosis were selected out by univariate, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and multivariate Cox regression analyses to develop the novel immune risk score (NIRS). Kaplan-Meier (K-M) analysis was used to compare the difference of survival between high- and low- NIRS groups. We  also explored the correlations between NIRS, immune infiltration and immunotherapy, and three external validation sets were used to verify the predictive performance of NIRS. Furthermore, clinical subgroup analysis, mutation analysis, differential expression of immune checkpoints, and drug sensitivity analysis were performed to generate individualized treatments for patients with different risk scores. Finally, gene set variation analysis (GSVA) was conducted to explore the biological functions of NIRS, and qRT-PCR was applied to verify the differential expressions of three trait genes at cellular and tissue levels.

RESULTS

Among the modules clustered by WGCNA, the magenta module was most positively associated with CD8⁺ T cells. Three genes (CTSW, CD3D and CD48) were selected to construct NIRS after multiple screening procedures. NIRS was confirmed as an independent prognostic factor of UCEC, and patients with high NIRS had significantly worse prognosis compared to those with low NIRS. The high NIRS group showed lower levels of infiltrated immune cells, gene mutations, and expression of multiple immune checkpoints, indicating reduced sensitivity to immunotherapy. Three module genes were identified as protective factors positively correlated with the level of CD8⁺ T cells.

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, we constructed NIRS as a novel predictive signature of UCEC. NIRS not only differentiates patients with distinct prognoses and immune responsiveness, but also guides their therapeutic regimens.

What is new in cancer-associated fibroblast biomarkers?

The tumor microenvironment is one of the important drivers of tumor development. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are a major component of the tumor stroma and actively participate in tumor development, invasion, metastasis, drug resistance, and other biological behaviors. CAFs are a highly heterogeneous group of cells, a reflection of the diversity of their origin, biomarkers, and functions. The diversity of CAF origin determines the complexity of CAF biomarkers, and CAF subpopulations expressing different biomarkers may play contrasting roles in tumor progression. In this review, we provide an overview of these emerging CAF biomarkers and the biological functions that they suggest, which may give a better understanding of the relationship between CAFs and tumor cells and be of great significance for breakthroughs in precision targeted therapy for tumors. Video Abstract.

T1 mapping and extracellular volume fraction measurement to evaluate the poor-prognosis factors in patients with cervical squamous cell carcinoma

PURPOSE

To evaluate the clinical feasibility of T₁ mapping and extracellular volume fraction (ECV) measurement in assessing prognostic factors in patients with cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 117 CSCC patients and 59 healthy volunteers underwent T₁ mapping and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) on a 3 T system. Native T₁ , contrast-enhanced T₁ , ECV, and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were calculated and compared based on surgico-pathologically verified deep stromal infiltration, parametrial invasion (PMI), lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI), lymph node metastasis, stage, histologic grade, and the Ki-67 labeling index (LI).

RESULTS

Native T₁ , contrast-enhanced T₁ , ECV, and ADC values were significantly different between CSCC and the normal cervix (all p < 0.05). No significant differences were observed in any parameters of CSCC when the tumors were grouped by stromal infiltration or lymph node status, respectively (all p > 0.05). In subgroups of the tumor stage and PMI, native T₁ was significantly higher for advanced-stage (p = 0.032) and PMI-positive CSCC (p = 0.001). In subgroups of the grade and Ki-67 LI, contrast-enhanced T₁ was significantly higher for high-grade (p = 0.012) and Ki-67 LI ≥ 50% tumors (p = 0.027). ECV was significantly higher in LVSI-positive CSCC than in LVSI-negative CSCC (p < 0.001). ADC values showed a significant difference for the grade (p < 0.001) but none for the other subgroups.

CONCLUSION

Both T₁ mapping and DWI could stratify the CSCC histologic grade. In addition, T₁ mapping and ECV measurement might provide more quantitative metrics for noninvasively predicting poor prognostic factors and aiding in preoperative risk assessment in CSCC patients.

Targeting tumor-associated macrophages for successful immunotherapy of ovarian carcinoma

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is among the top five causes of cancer-related death in women, largely reflecting early, prediagnosis dissemination of malignant cells to the peritoneum. Despite improvements in medical therapies, particularly with the implementation of novel drugs targeting homologous recombination deficiency, the survival rates of patients with EOC remain low. Unlike other neoplasms, EOC remains relatively insensitive to immune checkpoint inhibitors, which is correlated with a tumor microenvironment (TME) characterized by poor infiltration by immune cells and active immunosuppression dominated by immune components with tumor-promoting properties, especially tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). In recent years, TAMs have attracted interest as potential therapeutic targets by seeking to reverse the immunosuppression in the TME and enhance the clinical efficacy of immunotherapy. Here, we review the key biological features of TAMs that affect tumor progression and their relevance as potential targets for treating EOC. We especially focus on the therapies that might modulate the recruitment, polarization, survival, and functional properties of TAMs in the TME of EOC that can be harnessed to develop superior combinatorial regimens with immunotherapy for the clinical care of patients with EOC.

PHF6 promotes the progression of endometrial carcinoma by increasing cancer cells growth and decreasing T-cell infiltration

Uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC) is the most common cancer of the female reproductive tract. The overall survival of advanced and recurrent UCEC patients is still unfavourable nowadays. It is urgent to find a predictive biomarker and block tumorgenesis at an early stage. Plant homeodomain finger protein 6 (PHF6) is a key player in epigenetic regulation, and its alterations lead to various diseases, including tumours. Here, we found that PHF6 expression was upregulated in UCEC tissues compared with normal tissues. The UCEC patients with high PHF6 expression had poor survival than UCEC patients with low PHF6 expression. PHF6 mutation occurred in 12% of UCEC patients, and PHF6 mutation predicted favourable clinical outcome in UCEC patients. Depletion of PHF6 effectively inhibited HEC-1-A and KLE cell proliferation in vitro and decreased HEC-1-A cell growth in vivo. Furthermore, high PHF6 level indicated a subtype of UCECs characterized by low immune infiltration, such as CD3⁺ T-cell infiltration. While knockdown of PHF6 in endometrial carcinoma cells increased T-cell migration by promoting IL32 production and secretion. Taken together, our findings suggested that PHF6 might play an oncogenic role in UCEC patients. Thus, PHF6 could be a potential biomarker in predicting the prognosis of UCEC patients. Depletion of PHF6 may be a novel therapeutic strategy for UCEC patients.

Fighting Carcinogenesis with Plant Metabolites by Weakening Proliferative Signaling and Disabling Replicative Immortality Networks of Rapidly Dividing and Invading Cancerous Cells

BACKGROUND

Cancer, an uncontrolled multistage disease causing swift division of cells, is a leading disease with the highest mortality rate. Cellular heterogeneity, evading growth suppressors, resisting cell death, and replicative immortality drive the tumor progression by resisting the therapeutic action of existing anticancer drugs through a series of intrinsic and extrinsic cellular interactions. The innate cellular mechanisms also regulate the replication process as a fence against proliferative signaling, enabling replicative immortality through telomere dysfunction.

AREA COVERED

The conventional genotoxic drugs have several off-target and collateral side effects associated with them. Thus, the need for the therapies targeting cyclin-dependent kinases or P13K signaling pathway to expose cancer cells to immune destruction, deactivation of invasion and metastasis, and maintaining cellular energetics is imperative. Compounds with anticancer attributes isolated from plants and rich in alkaloids, terpenes, and polyphenols have proven to be less toxic and highly targetspecific, making them biologically significant. This has opened a gateway for the exploration of more novel plant molecules by signifying their role as anticancer agents in synergy and alone, making them more effective than the existing cytotoxic regimens.

EXPERT OPINION

In this context, the current review presented recent data on cancer cases around the globe, along with discussing the fundamentals of proliferative signaling and replicative immortality of cancer cells. Recent findings were also highlighted, including antiproliferative and antireplicative action of plant-derived compounds, besides explaining the need for improving drug delivery systems.

The association between the tumor immune microenvironments and clinical outcome in low-grade, early-stage endometrial cancer patients

Endometrial tumors show substantial heterogeneity in their immune microenvironment. This heterogeneity could be used to improve the accuracy of current outcome prediction tools. We assessed the immune microenvironment of 235 patients diagnosed with low-grade, early-stage endometrial cancer. Multiplex quantitative immunofluorescence was carried out to measure CD8, CD68, FOXP3, PD-1, and PD-L1 markers, as well as cytokeratin (CK), on tissue microarrays. Clustering results revealed five robust immune response patterns, each associated with specific immune populations, cell phenotypes, and cell spatial clustering. Most samples (69%) belonged to the immune-desert subtype, characterized by low immune cell densities. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL)-rich samples (4%) displayed high CD8⁺ T-cell infiltration, as well as a high percentage of CD8/PD-1⁺ cells. Immune-exclusion samples (19%) displayed the lowest CD8⁺ infiltration combined with high PD-L1 expression levels in CK⁺ tumor cells. In addition, they demonstrated high tumor cell spatial clustering as well as increased spatial proximity of CD8⁺ /PD-1⁺ and CK/PD-L1⁺ cells. FOXP3 and macrophage-rich phenotypes (3% and 4% of total samples) displayed relatively high levels of FOXP3⁺ regulatory T-cells and CD68⁺ macrophages, respectively. These phenotypes correlated with clinical outcomes, with immune-exclusion tumors showing an association with tumor relapse. When compared with prediction models built using routine pathological variables, models optimized with immune variables showed increased outcome prediction capacity (AUC = 0.89 versus 0.78) and stratification potential. The improved prediction capacity was independent of mismatch repair protein status and adjuvant radiotherapy treatment. Further, immunofluorescence results could be partially recapitulated using single-marker immunohistochemistry (IHC) performed on whole tissue sections. TIL-rich tumors demonstrated increased CD8⁺ T-cells by IHC, while immune-exclusion tumors displayed a lack of CD8⁺ T-cells and frequent expression of PD-L1 in tumor cells. Our results demonstrate the capability of the immune microenvironment to improve standard prediction tools in low-grade, early-stage endometrial carcinomas. © 2022 The Authors. The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

Comprehensive analyses identify RIPOR2 as a genomic instability-associated immune prognostic biomarker in cervical cancer

Cervical cancer (CC) is a malignancy that tends to have a poor prognosis when detected at an advanced stage; however, there are few studies on the early detection of CC at the genetic level. The tumor microenvironment (TME) and genomic instability (GI) greatly affect the survival of tumor patients via effects on carcinogenesis, tumor growth, and resistance. It is necessary to identify biomarkers simultaneously correlated with components of the TME and with GI, as these could predict the survival of patients and the efficacy of immunotherapy. In this study, we extracted somatic mutational data and transcriptome information of CC cases from The Cancer Genome Atlas, and the GSE44001 dataset from the Gene Expression Omnibus database was downloaded for external verification. Stromal components differed most between genomic unstable and genomic stable groups. Differentially expressed genes were screened out on the basis of GI and StromalScore, using somatic mutation information and ESTIMATE methods. We obtained the intersection of GI- and StromalScore-related genes and used them to establish a four-gene signature comprising RIPOR2, CCL22, PAMR1, and FBN1 for prognostic prediction. We described immunogenomic characteristics using this risk model, with methods including CIBERSORT, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), and single-sample GSEA. We further explored the protective factor RIPOR2, which has a close relationship with ImmuneScore. A series of in vitro experiments, including immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, quantitative reverse transcription PCR, transwell assay, CCK8 assay, EdU assay, cell cycle detection, colony formation assay, and Western blotting were performed to validate RIPOR2 as an anti-tumor signature. Combined with integrative bioinformatic analyses, these experiments showed a strong relationship between RIPOR2 with tumor mutation burden, expression of genes related to DNA damage response (especially PARP1), TME-related scores, activation of immune checkpoint activation, and efficacy of immunotherapy. To summarize, RIPOR2 was successfully identified through comprehensive analyses of the TME and GI as a potential biomarker for forecasting the prognosis and immunotherapy response, which could guide clinical strategies for the treatment of CC patients.

A Multistep Tumor Growth Model of High-Grade Serous Ovarian Carcinoma Identifies Hypoxia-Associated Signatures

High-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSC) is associated with late-stage disease presentation and poor prognosis, with a limited understanding of early transformation events. Our study analyzes HGSC tumor progression and organ-specific metastatic dissemination to identify hypoxia-associated molecular, cellular, and histological alterations. Clinical characteristics of the HGSC were replicated in orthotopic xenografts, which involve metastatic dissemination and the prevalence of group B tumors (volume: >0.0625 ≤ 0.5 cm3). Enhanced hyaluronic acid (HA) deposition, expanded tumor vasculature, and increased necrosis contributed to the remodeling of tumor tissue architecture. The proliferative potential of tumor cells and the ability to form glands were also altered during tumor growth. Flow cytometry and label chase-based molecular profiling across the tumor regenerative hierarchy identified the hypoxia-vasculogenic niche and the hybrid epithelial-mesenchymal tumor-cell state as determinants of self-renewal capabilities of progenitors and cancer stem cells. A regulatory network and mathematical model based on tumor histology and molecular signatures predicted hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF1A) as a central node connecting HA synthesis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, metabolic, vasculogenic, inflammatory, and necrotic pathways in HGSC tumors. Thus, our findings provide a temporal resolution of hypoxia-associated events that sculpt HGSC tumor growth; an in-depth understanding of it may aid in the early detection and treatment of HGSC.

Novel approaches for treatment of endometrial carcinoma

Endometrial cancer (EC) is common malignancy in women and its incidence is slowly on the rise. Accurate surgical staging, with aggressive cytoreduction when indicated, remains the most critical step in the treatment. Careful pathological evaluation and/or molecular risk stratification guides for proper systemic adjuvant radiotherapy ± chemotherapy. Recurrent and metastatic EC has dismal prognosis and palliative therapies (chemotherapy, hormonal therapy or radiation) forms the backbone of treatment. There is an unmet need of newer therapies to improve survival in such cases. A number of tyrosine kinase inhibitors are currently under evaluation. Recent data on therapeutic targeting of HER2 positive serous EC is exciting. Data on check point inhibitors particularly based on biomarker select population has raised hope for potentially effective treatment for women with high risk endometrial cancer .

A Targeted Proteomics Approach for Screening Serum Biomarkers Observed in the Early Stage of Type I Endometrial Cancer

Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common gynecologic malignancy, and it arises in the inner part of the uterus. Identification of serum biomarkers is essential for diagnosing the disease at an early stage. In this study, we selected 44 healthy controls and 44 type I EC at tumor stage 1, and we used the Immuno-oncology panel and the Target 96 Oncology III panel to simultaneously detect the levels of 92 cancer-related proteins in serum, using a proximity extension assay. By applying this methodology, we identified 20 proteins, associated with the outcome at binary logistic regression, with a p-value below 0.01 for the first panel and 24 proteins with a p-value below 0.02 for the second one. The final multivariate logistic regression model, combining proteins from the two panels, generated a model with a sensitivity of 97.67% and a specificity of 83.72%. These results support the use of the proposed algorithm after a validation phase.

Exploring the Pharmacological Mechanism of the Effective Chinese Medicines Against Gynecological Cancer Based on Meta-Analysis Combined With Network Pharmacology Analysis

This meta-analysis plus network pharmacology aimed to investigate whether traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) combined with chemotherapy is associated with more beneficial efficacy data in the treatment of gynecological cancer (GC). A total of 11 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) consisting of 863 GC patients were included. Results showed a better ORR (RR: 1.42, 95% CI: 1.18–1.71; I² = 21.4%; p = 0.282), DCR (RR: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.03–1.25; I² = 0.0%; p = 0.492), PD (RR: 0.27, 95% CI: 0.11–0.65, p = 0.003; I² = 0.0%, p = 0.930), and QOL (SMD: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.38–1.33, p = 0.005) and higher proportions of CD3⁺ T (WMD: 5.65, 95% CI: 4.23–7.08, p = 0.000; I² = 68.3%, p = 0.004), CD4⁺ T (WMD: 6.97, 95% CI: 5.35–8.59, p = 0.000; I² = 83.4%, p = 0.000), and the CD4⁺/CD8⁺ T ratio (WMD: 0.32, 95% CI: 0.23–0.42, p = 0.000; I² = 78.0%, p = 0.000). The number of adverse events (AEs) was significantly lower in the TCM + chemotherapy group. The active components and targets of 19 high-frequency Chinese medicines obtained from the meta-analysis were screened and explored in network pharmacology analysis. Also, a regulatory network of active components and targets, a core network and key genes, a diagram of protein interaction, network topology analysis, and gene body GO function and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis were performed. A total of 120 active components were identified. NPM1 and HSPA8 are the most critical target proteins in the core network of protein interaction. HSP90AA1 is the most important target protein in the TCM group. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that it was highly significant in the lipid and atherosclerotic pathways. Therefore, moderate evidence revealed that TCM plus chemotherapy has obvious advantages over chemotherapy alone in terms of tumor responses, QOL, peripheral blood lymphocyte levels, and fewer AEs in the treatment of GC. The potential important targets and core genes were displayed.

Inflammation-Related LncRNAs Signature for Prognosis and Immune Response Evaluation in Uterine Corpus Endometrial Carcinoma

Backgrounds

Uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC) is one of the greatest threats on the female reproductive system. The aim of this study is to explore the inflammation-related LncRNA (IRLs) signature predicting the clinical outcomes and response of UCEC patients to immunotherapy and chemotherapy.

Methods

Consensus clustering analysis was employed to determine inflammation-related subtype. Cox regression methods were used to unearth potential prognostic IRLs and set up a risk model. The prognostic value of the prognostic model was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, and univariate and multivariate analyses. Differential abundance of immune cell infiltration, expression levels of immunomodulators, the status of tumor mutation burden (TMB), the response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), drug sensitivity, and functional enrichment in different risk groups were also explored. Finally, we used quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) to confirm the expression patterns of model IRLs in clinical specimens.

Results

All UCEC cases were divided into two clusters (C1 = 454) and (C2 = 57) which had significant differences in prognosis and immune status. Five hub IRLs were selected to develop an IRL prognostic signature (IRLPS) which had value in forecasting the clinical outcome of UCEC patients. Biological processes related to tumor and immune response were screened. Function enrichment algorithm showed tumor signaling pathways (ERBB signaling, TGF-β signaling, and Wnt signaling) were remarkably activated in high-risk group scores. In addition, the high-risk group had a higher infiltration level of M2 macrophages and lower TMB value, suggesting patients with high risk were prone to a immunosuppressive status. Furthermore, we determined several potential molecular drugs for UCEC.

Conclusion

We successfully identified a novel molecular subtype and inflammation-related prognostic model for UCEC. Our constructed risk signature can be employed to assess the survival of UCEC patients and offer a valuable reference for clinical treatment regimens.

Alteration of Gene and miRNA Expression in Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia and Cervical Cancer

Background: Cervical cancer is one of the most common malignancies in women in terms of prevalence and mortality. Cervical cancer has some particularities that distinguish it from any other oncologic pathology: first, it is completely preventable by prompt detection of its precursor, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN); second, the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a known etiological agent; third, the mean age at diagnosis is much lower than in other oncologic conditions, as a consequence of the sexually-transmitted HPV. Methods: We evaluated the expression level of several long noncoding RNAs and a microRNA in samples from 30 patients with CIN, 9 with cervical cancer and 38 normal samples using qRT-PCR technology. Results: We observed higher expression levels for MEG3, DAPK1, MLH1 and MALAT1 in CIN samples than in normal samples, whereas TIMP3 and SOX1 had lower expression levels. For cancer samples, DAPK1, MLH1 and MALAT1 had higher expression, and MEG3, TIMP3 and SOX1 had lower expression when compared to normal samples. In the case of CIN versus cancer samples, only MEG3 gene showed a statistically significant difference. The expression of miR-205-5p was lower in both CIN and cancer samples compared to normal samples. Conclusion: Decreased MEG3 expression could be considered an alarm signal in the transition from a premalignant cervical lesion to invasive cancer, while altered expression levels of TIMP3, SOX1, MLH1, MALAT1 and miR-205-5p could serve as early biomarkers in the diagnosis of premalignant cervical lesions. Future studies, including a larger number of patients with CIN, will be of particular importance in validating these observations.

Like Brothers in Arms: How Hormonal Stimuli and Changes in the Metabolism Signaling Cooperate, Leading HPV Infection to Drive the Onset of Cervical Cancer

Despite all precautionary actions and the possibility of using vaccinations to counteract infections caused by human papillomaviruses (HPVs), HPV-related cancers still account for approximately 5% of all carcinomas. Worldwide, many women are still excluded from adequate health care due to their social position and origin. Therefore, immense efforts in research and therapy are still required to counteract the challenges that this disease entails. The special thing about an HPV infection is that it is not only able to trick the immune system in a sophisticated way, but also, through genetic integration into the host genome, to use all the resources available to the host cells to complete the replication cycle of the virus without activating the alarm mechanisms of immune recognition and elimination. The mechanisms utilized by the virus are the metabolic, immune, and hormonal signaling pathways that it manipulates. Since the virus is dependent on replication enzymes of the host cells, it also intervenes in the cell cycle of the differentiating keratinocytes and shifts their terminal differentiation to the uppermost layers of the squamocolumnar transformation zone (TZ) of the cervix. The individual signaling pathways are closely related and equally important not only for the successful replication of the virus but also for the onset of cervical cancer. We will therefore analyze the effects of HPV infection on metabolic signaling, as well as changes in hormonal and immune signaling in the tumor and its microenvironment to understand how each level of signaling interacts to promote tumorigenesis of cervical cancer.

The Role of the Adipokine Resistin in the Pathogenesis and Progression of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

Obesity is a civilization disease associated with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and some malignancies. The results concerning the relationship between obesity and epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) are inconclusive. The higher incidence of neoplasms in obese subjects has led to the development of the adipokine hypothesis. Omental adipocyte cells interact with cancer cells, promoting their migration and metastasis via the secretion of adipokines, growth factors, and hormones. One of the adipokines is resistin. It was shown in vitro that resistin stimulates the growth and differentiation of ovarian cancer cells. Moreover, it increases the level of angiogenesis factors, e.g., matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2) and vascular epithelial growth factor (VEGF). Additionally, resistin induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and stemness in EOC cell lines. A positive correlation has been shown between a higher level of resistin expression and the stage of histological differentiation of EOC or the occurrence of lymph node metastases. In addition, the overexpression of resistin has been found to act as an independent factor determining disease-free survival as well as overall survival in EOC patients. Growing evidence supports the finding that resistin plays an important role in some mechanisms leading to the progression of EOC, though this issue still requires further research.

Adipocytokines and disease progression in endometrial cancer: a systematic review

The objective of the study was to document the effect of adipocytokines on endometrial cancer progression. A search of the databases CINAHL, Medline, PubMed, Cochrane, Web of Science, Embase and Google Scholar was performed for English language articles from January 2000 to December 2020 using the keywords: (Endometrial cancer) AND (progression OR metastasis) AND (adipocytokine OR adiponectin OR leptin OR visfatin OR IL-6 OR TNF-α OR adipokine OR cytokine). Forty-nine studies on adipocytokines have been included in this review. Adiponectin has been linked with anti-proliferative and anti-metastatic effects on endometrial cancer cells and is associated with a better prognosis. Leptin, visfatin and resistin are linked to the stimulation of endometrial cancer growth, proliferation, invasion and metastasis and are associated with worse prognosis or with a higher grade/stage of endometrial cancer. IL-6, Il-11, IL-31, IL-33, TNF-α, TGF-β1, SDF-1 and CXCR are involved in endometrial cancer cell growth and metastasis or involved in epithelial mesenchymal transformation (EMT) or associated with advanced disease. Adipocytokines have been found to directly impact endometrial cancer cell proliferation, invasion and migration. These molecules and their signalling pathways may be used to determine prognosis and course of the disease and may also be exploited as potential targets for cancer treatment and prevention of progression.

The Role of Deubiquitinases in Virus Replication and Host Innate Immune Response

As a critical post-translational modification, ubiquitination is known to affect almost all the cellular processes including immunity, signaling pathways, cell death, cancer development, and viral infection by controlling protein stability. Deubiquitinases (DUBs) cleave ubiquitin from proteins and reverse the process of ubiquitination. Thus, DUBs play an important role in the deubiquitination process and serve as therapeutic targets for various diseases. DUBs are found in eukaryotes, bacteria, and viruses and influence various biological processes. Here, we summarize recent findings on the function of DUBs in modulating viral infection, the mechanism by which viral DUBs regulate host innate immune response, and highlight those DUBs that have recently been discovered as antiviral therapeutic targets.

Endometrial cancer

Although endometrial cancer management remains challenging, a deeper understanding of the genetic diversity as well as the drivers of the various pathogenic states of this disease has led to development of divergent management approaches in an effort to improve therapeutic precision in this complex malignancy. This comprehensive review provides an update on the epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis and molecular classification, recent advancements in disease management, as well as important patient quality-of-life considerations and emerging developments in the rapidly evolving therapeutic landscape of endometrial cancers.

Comprehensive Analysis of the Tumor Microenvironment and Ferroptosis-Related Genes Predict Prognosis with Ovarian Cancer

The early diagnosis of ovarian cancer (OC) is critical to improve the prognosis and prevent recurrence of patients. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of factors which can accurately predict it. In this study, we focused on the interaction of immune infiltration and ferroptosis and selected the ESTIMATE algorithm and 15 ferroptosis-related genes (FRGs) to construct a novel E-FRG scoring model for predicting overall survival of OC patients. The gene expression and corresponding clinical characteristics were obtained from the TCGA dataset (n = 375), GSE18520 (n = 53), and GSE32062 (n = 260). A total of 15 FRGs derived from FerrDb with the immune score and stromal score were identified in the prognostic model by using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO)–penalized COX regression analysis. The Kaplan–Meier survival analysis and time-dependent ROC curves performed a powerful prognostic ability of the E-FRG model via multi-validation. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis and Gene Set Variation Analysis elucidate multiple potential pathways between the high and low E-FRG score group. Finally, the proteins of different genes in the model were verified in drug-resistant and non–drug-resistant tumor tissues. The results of this research provide new prospects in the role of immune infiltration and ferroptosis as a helpful tool to predict the outcome of OC patients.

Construction and validation of a metabolic gene-associated prognostic model for cervical carcinoma and the role on tumor microenvironment and immunity

Metabolic reprogramming is a common feature of tumor cells and is associated with tumorigenesis and progression. In this study, a metabolic gene-associated prognostic model (MGPM) was constructed using multiple bioinformatics analysis methods in cervical carcinoma (CC) tissues from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, which comprised fifteen differentially expressed metabolic genes (DEMGs). Patients were divided into a high-risk group with shorter overall survival (OS) and a low-risk group with better survival. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that the MGPM precisely predicted the 1-, 3- and 5-year survival of CC patients. As expected, MGPM exhibited a favorable prognostic significance in the training and testing datasets of TCGA. And the clinicopathological parameters including stage, tumor (T) and metastasis (M) classifications had significant differences in low- and high-risk groups, which further demonstrated the MGPM had a favorite prognostic prediction ability. Additionally, patients with low-ESTMATEScore had a shorter OS and when those combined with high-risk scores presented a worse prognosis. Through “CIBERSORT” package and Wilcoxon rank-sum test, patients in the high-risk group with a poor prognosis showed lower levels of infiltration of T cell CD8 (P < 0.001), T cells memory activated (P = 0.010) and mast cells resting (P < 0.001), and higher levels of mast cells activated (P < 0.001), and we also found these patients had a worse response for immunosuppressive therapy. These findings demonstrate that MGPM accurately predicts survival outcomes in CC patients, which will be helpful for further optimizing immunotherapies for cancer by reprogramming its cell metabolism.

The Value of Shear Wave Elastography in Predicting the Risk of Endometrial Cancer and Atypical Endometrial Hyperplasia

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate shear wave elastography (SWE) technology diagnosis value of endometrial cancer (EC) and atypical endometrial hyperplasia (AEH), and to establish predictive logistic regression models for the diagnosis of EC and AEH.

METHODS

Clinical information collection, transvaginal conventional ultrasonography, and SWE check were performed on 122 patients, who were perimenopausal or postmenopausal vaginal bleeding with ≥4.5 mm thick endometrium. The maximal (Emax) and mean (Emean) of Young's modulus for the endometrium were obtained. Using pathology as the gold standard, ROC curves were plotted to evaluate Young's modulus on the diagnostic effectiveness of EC and AEH. Single-factor analysis and bivariate logistic regression methods were applied to assess the clinical variables, transuaginal conventional ultrasonography variables, and Young's modulus on the identification of EC and AEH.

RESULTS

Out of 122 cases of endometrial lesions, 85 cases were benign lesions, and the remaining 37 cases were EC and AEH. The Emax and Emean for the benign group were 29.80 ± 11.40 and 17.96 ± 8.05 kPa, respectively. The Emax and Emean values for EC and AEH group were 59.49 ± 16.95 and 38.46 ± 17.10 kPa, respectively. Emax and Emean for both groups were statistically significant, with p <.001. In the logistical regression analysis, endometrial thickness, Color score, and Young's modulus were identified as independent risk factors for EC and AEH.

CONCLUSIONS

SWE technology plays an important role in the diagnosis of EC and AEH, and the diagnostic effectiveness would be higher when combined with conventional ultrasonography.

Dysregulated tumor-associated macrophages in carcinogenesis, progression and targeted therapy of gynecological and breast cancers

Gynecological and breast cancers are a group of heterogeneous malignant tumors. Although existing treatment strategies have ameliorated the clinical outcomes of patients, the overall survival rate of advanced diseases remains unsatisfactory. Increasing evidence has indicated that the development and prognosis of tumors are closely related to the tumor microenvironment (TME), which restricts the immune response and provokes malignant progression. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are the main component of TME and act as a key regulator in tumor metastasis, immunosuppression and therapeutic resistance. Several preclinical trials have studied potential drugs that target TAMs to achieve potent anticancer therapy. This review focuses on the various functions of TAMs and how they influence the carcinogenesis of gynecological and breast cancers through regulating cancer cell proliferation, tumor angiogenesis and tumor-related immunosuppression. Besides, we also discuss the potential application of disabling TAMs signaling as a part of cancer therapeutic strategies, as well as CAR macrophages, TAMs-based vaccines and TAMs nanobiotechnology. These research advances support that targeting TAMs combined with conventional therapy might be used as effective therapeutics for gynecological and breast cancers in the future.

Clinical and Prognostic Value of Antigen-Presenting Cells with PD-L1/PD-L2 Expression in Ovarian Cancer Patients

The latest literature demonstrates the predominant role of the programmed cell death axis (PD-1/PD-L1/PD-L2) in ovarian cancer (OC) pathogenesis. However, data concerning this issue is ambiguous. Our research aimed to evaluate the clinical importance of PD-L1/PD-L2 expression in OC environments. We evaluated the role of PD-L1/PD-L2 in OC patients (n = 53). The analysis was performed via flow cytometry on myeloid (mDCs) and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) and monocytes/macrophages (MO/MA) in peripheral blood, peritoneal fluid (PF), and tumor tissue (TT). The data were correlated with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of OC patients. The concentration of soluble PD-L1 (sPD-L1) and PD-1 in the plasma and PF were determined by ELISA. We established an accumulation of PD-L1+/PD-L2+ mDCs, pDCs, and MA in the tumor microenvironment. We showed an elevated level of sPD-L1 in the PF of OC patients in comparison to plasma and healthy subjects. sPD-L1 levels in PF showed a positive relationship with Ca125 concentration. Moreover, we established an association between higher sPD-L1 levels in PF and shorter survival of OC patients. An accumulation of PD-L1+/PD-L2+ mDCs, pDCs, and MA in the TT and high sPD-L1 levels in PF could represent the hallmark of immune regulation in OC patients.

Immune-Related LncRNAs Affect the Prognosis of Osteosarcoma, Which Are Related to the Tumor Immune Microenvironment

Background: Abnormal expression of lncRNA is closely related to the occurrence and metastasis of osteosarcoma. The tumor immune microenvironment (TIM) is considered to be an important factor affecting the prognosis and treatment of osteosarcoma. This study aims to explore the effect of immune-related lncRNAs (IRLs) on the prognosis of osteosarcoma and its relationship with the TIM.

Methods: Ninety-five osteosarcoma samples from the TARGET database were included. Iterative LASSO regression and multivariate Cox regression analysis were used to screen the IRLs signature with the optimal AUC. The predict function was used to calculate the risk score and divide osteosarcoma into a high-risk group and low-risk group based on the optimal cut-off value of the risk score. The lncRNAs in IRLs signature that affect metastasis were screened for in vitro validation. Single sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) and ESTIMATE algorithms were used to evaluate the role of TIM in the influence of IRLs on osteosarcoma prognosis.

Results: Ten IRLs constituted the IRLs signature, with an AUC of 0.96. The recurrence and metastasis rates of osteosarcoma in the high-risk group were higher than those in the low-risk group. In vitro experiments showed that knockdown of lncRNA (AC006033.2) could increase the proliferation, migration, and invasion of osteosarcoma. ssGSEA and ESTIMATE results showed that the immune cell content and immune score in the low-risk group were generally higher than those in the high-risk group. In addition, the expression levels of immune escape-related genes were higher in the high-risk group.

Conclusion: The IRLs signature is a reliable biomarker for the prognosis of osteosarcoma, and they alter the prognosis of osteosarcoma. In addition, IRLs signature and patient prognosis may be related to TIM in osteosarcoma. The higher the content of immune cells in the TIM of osteosarcoma, the lower the risk score of patients and the better the prognosis. The higher the expression of immune escape-related genes, the lower the risk score of patients and the better the prognosis.

Cancer-Associated Fibroblast Functions as a Road-Block in Cancer Therapy

The journey of a normal resident fibroblast belonging to the tumor microenvironment (TME) from being a tumor pacifier to a tumor patron is fascinating. We introduce cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF) as a crucial component of the TME. Activated-CAF partners with tumor cells and all components of TME in an established solid tumor. We briefly overview the origin, activation, markers, and overall functions of CAF with a particular reference to how different functions of CAF in an established tumor are functionally connected to the development of resistance to cancer therapy in solid tumors. We interrogate the role of CAF in mediating resistance to different modes of therapies. Functional diversity of CAF in orchestrating treatment resistance in solid tumors portrays CAF as a common orchestrator of treatment resistance; a roadblock in cancer therapy.

Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts in Conversation with Tumor Cells in Endometrial Cancers: A Partner in Crime

A tumor cell carrying characteristic genomic alteration(s) exists within its host’s microenvironment. The tumor microenvironment (TME) renders holistic support to the tumor via cross-talk between tumor cells and three components of TME, immune components, vascular components, and fibroblast components. The tempero-spatial interaction of tumor cells with its microenvironment is the deterministic factor for tumor growth, progression, resistance to therapy, and its outcome in clinics. TME (1) facilitates proliferation, and the ensuing metastasis-associated phenotypes, (2) perturbs immune surveillance and supports tumor cells in their effort to evade immune recognition, and (3) actively participates in developing drug-induced resistance in cancer cells. Cancer-Associated Fibroblast (CAF) is a unique component of TME. CAF is the host mesenchyme immediately surrounding the tumor cells in solid tumors. It facilitates tumor growth and progression and participates in developing drug resistance in tumor cells by playing a critical role in all the ways mentioned above. The clinical outcome of a disease is thus critically contributed to by the CAF component of TME. Although CAFs have been identified historically, the functional relevance of CAF-tumor cell cross-talk and their influence on angiogenic and immune-components of TME are yet to be characterized in solid tumors, especially in endometrial cancers. Currently, the standard of care for the treatment of endometrial cancers is primarily guided by therapies directed towards the disease’s tumor compartment and immune compartments. Unfortunately, in the current state of therapies, a complete response (CR) to the therapy is still limited despite a more commonly achieved partial response (PR) and stable disease (SD) in patients. Acknowledging the limitations of the current sets of therapies based on only the tumor and immune compartments of the disease, we sought to put forward this review based on the importance of the cross-talk between CAF of the tumor microenvironment and tumor cells. The premise of the review is to recognize the critical role of CAF in disease progression. This manuscript presents a systemic review of the role of CAF in endometrial cancers. We critically interrogated the active involvement of CAF in the tumor compartment of endometrial cancers. Here we present the functional characteristics of CAF in the context of endometrial cancers. We review (1) the characteristics of CAF, (2) their evolution from being anti-tumor to pro-tumor, (3) their involvement in regulating growth and several metastasis-associated phenotypes of tumor cells, (4) their participation in perturbing immune defense and evading immune surveillance, and (5) their role in mediating drug resistance via tumor-CAF cross-talk with particular reference to endometrial cancers. We interrogate the functional characteristics of CAF in the light of its dialogue with tumor cells and other components of TME towards developing a CAF-based strategy for precision therapy to supplement tumor-based therapy. The purpose of the review is to present a new vision and initiate a thought process which recognizes the importance of CAF in a tumor, thereby resulting in a novel approach to the design and management of the disease in endometrial cancers.

The Immune Microenvironment in Human Papilloma Virus-Induced Cervical Lesions-Evidence for Estrogen as an Immunomodulator

Globally, human papilloma virus (HPV) infection is a common sexually transmitted disease. However, most of the HPV infections eventually resolve aided by the body’s efficient cell-mediated immune responses. In the vast majority of the small group of patients who develop overt disease too, it is the immune response that culminates in regression of lesions. It is therefore a rarity that persistent infection by high-risk genotypes of HPV compounded by other risk factors progresses through precancer (various grades of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia—CIN) to cervical cancer (CxCa). Hence, although CxCa is a rare culmination of HPV infection, the latter is nevertheless causally linked to >90% of cancer. The three ‘Es’ of cancer immunoediting viz. elimination, equilibrium, and escape come into vogue during the gradual evolution of CIN 1 to CxCa. Both cell-intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms operate to eliminate virally infected cells: cell-extrinsic players are anti-tumor/antiviral effectors like Th1 subset of CD4+ T cells, CD8+ cytotoxic T cells, Natural Killer cells, etc. and pro-tumorigenic/immunosuppressive cells like regulatory T cells (Tregs), Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells (MDSCs), type 2 macrophages, etc. And accordingly, when immunosuppressive cells overpower the effectors e.g., in high-grade lesions like CIN 2 or 3, the scale is tilted towards immune escape and the disease progresses to cancer. Estradiol has long been considered as a co-factor in cervical carcinogenesis. In addition to the gonads, the Peyer’s patches in the gut synthesize estradiol. Over and above local production of the hormone in the tissues, estradiol metabolism by the gut microbiome: estrobolome versus tryptophan non-metabolizing microbiome, regulates free estradiol levels in the intestine and extraintestinal mucosal sites. Elevated tissue levels of the hormone serve more than one purpose: besides a direct growth-promoting action on cervical epithelial cells, estradiol acting genomically via Estrogen Receptor-α also boosts the function of the stromal and infiltrating immunosuppressive cells viz. Tregs, MDSCs, and carcinoma-associated fibroblasts. Hence as a corollary, therapeutic repurposing of Selective Estrogen Receptor Disruptors or aromatase inhibitors could be useful for modulating immune function in cervical precancer/cancer. The immunomodulatory role of estradiol in HPV-mediated cervical lesions is reviewed.

Identification of Tumor Microenvironment-Related Alternative Splicing Events to Predict the Prognosis of Endometrial Cancer

Background

Endometrial cancer (EC) is one of the most common female malignant tumors. The immunity is believed to be associated with EC patients’ survival, and growing studies have shown that aberrant alternative splicing (AS) might contribute to the progression of cancers.

Methods

We downloaded the clinical information and mRNA expression profiles of 542 tumor tissues and 23 normal tissues from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. ESTIMATE algorithm was carried out on each EC sample, and the OS-related different expressed AS (DEAS) events were identified by comparing the high and low stromal/immune scores groups. Next, we constructed a risk score model to predict the prognosis of EC patients. Finally, we used unsupervised cluster analysis to compare the relationship between prognosis and tumor immune microenvironment.

Results

The prognostic risk score model was constructed based on 16 OS-related DEAS events finally identified, and then we found that compared with high-risk group the OS in the low-risk group was notably better. Furthermore, according to the results of unsupervised cluster analysis, we found that the better the prognosis, the higher the patient’s ESTIMATE score and the higher the infiltration of immune cells.

Conclusions

We used bioinformatics to construct a gene signature to predict the prognosis of patients with EC. The gene signature was combined with tumor microenvironment (TME) and AS events, which allowed a deeper understanding of the immune status of EC patients, and also provided new insights for clinical patients with EC.

Dynamic crosstalk within the tumor microenvironment of uterine cervical carcinoma: baseline network, iatrogenic alterations, and translational implications

Uterine cervical cancer is the fourth most frequent gynecological tumor worldwide. The tumor microenvironment of cervical cancer is the result of persistent high-risk human papillomavirus infection together with stromal activation of estrogen receptor alpha and the pro-angiogenic and pro-inflammatory activity of immune cells, mainly T-helper 17 cells and tumor-associated macrophages. Therapeutic management (e.g., immunotherapy, especially in advanced cases) may be influenced by the translational implications of tumoral stroma crosstalk and an abundance of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes within the tumor microenvironment. The prognosis of cervical cancer is inversely correlated with microvessel density, making anti-angiogenic strategies with agents such as bevacizumab crucial for improving both progression-free survival and overall survival in patients with advanced and recurrent tumors.

The immune landscape during the tumorigenesis of cervical cancer

Objective

Deciphering the determinants of the intralesional immune reaction in cervical carcinogenesis may be conducive to improving the understanding of the disease and then improve outcomes.

Methods

Public gene‐expression data and full clinical annotation were searched in Gene Expression Omnibus in the joint analysis of the array‐based four eligible cohorts. The infiltrating estimation was quantified using microenvironment cell populations‐counter algorithm and absolute‐mode CIBERSORT and verified by flow cytometry analysis. An unsupervised classification on immune genes strongly associated with progression, designated by linear mixed‐effects regression. We determined immune response and signaling features of the different developmental stages and immune phenotypes by functional annotation and systematically correlated the expression of immune checkpoints with cell‐infiltrating characteristics.

Results

We identified the lesion‐intrinsic immunosuppression mechanism was triggered at precancerous stages, such as genome instability and mutation, aerobic glycolysis, activation of proto‐oncogene pathways and so forth. Predominant innate and adoptive cells were increasing from normalcy to cancer (B cell, total T cell, regulatory T cells [Tregs], monocytes, neutrophils, and M2‐like macrophages) together with the decrease of CD4⁺ T cell and CD8⁺ T cell through the development of cervical cancer. Immune escape initiated on the expression of immunosuppressive molecules from high‐grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) and culminated in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Of note, the expression of immune checkpoints was escalated in the immune‐hot and immune‐warm phenotype largely encompassed by HSIL and SCC under the stress of both activated and suppressive immune responses.

Conclusions

Immune surveillance is unleashing from low‐grade squamous intraepithelial lesions onwards and immune‐suppression mechanisms are triggered in HSIL. Thorough knowledge of the immune changing pattern during cervical tumorigenesis contributes to finding the potential therapeutic targets to susceptive patients towards immune checkpoints inhibitors.

Comprehensive Analysis Identifies Potential Ferroptosis-Associated mRNA Therapeutic Targets in Ovarian Cancer

Objective: This study aimed to explore ferroptosis-related mRNAs as potential therapeutic targets for ovarian cancer treatment.

Methods: Molecular subtypes were classified based on ferroptosis-related mRNAs via ConsensusClusterPlus package. The differences in prognosis, stromal score, immune score, immune function, and immune checkpoints were assessed between subtypes. Small molecular drugs were predicted via the CMap database. The sensitivity to chemotherapy drugs was estimated through the GDSC. A LASSO Cox regression model was conducted via the glmnet package, followed by a nomogram model.

Results: Based on ferroptosis mRNA expression profile, two molecular subtypes (C1 and C2) were classified, with distinct clinical outcomes. C1 subtype exhibited higher stromal score, immune cell score (T helper, Treg, neutrophil) and immune function (APC co-inhibition, parainflammation and Type II IFN response). Higher mRNA expression levels of immune checkpoints (like PDCD1) were found in C1 than C2. Potential small molecular drugs (PI3K and mTOR inhibitors) were found for treatment of ovarian cancer. C1 was more sensitive to eight chemotherapy drugs (A.443654, AZD.0530, AZD6482, AZD7762, AZD8055, BAY.61.3606, Bicalutamide, and CGP.60474). A 15-ferroptosis-related mRNA signature was developed, which could robustly and independently predict the outcomes. Moreover, a nomogram was established combining the signature and age, which could intuitively and accurately predict the 5-year overall survival probability.

Conclusion: Our study characterized two ferroptosis-related subtypes with distinct prognosis and tumor immune features, which could assist clinicians make decisions and individual therapy. Moreover, 15 ferroptosis-related mRNAs were identified, which could become potential therapeutic targets for ovarian cancer.

An RGDKGE-Containing Cryptic Collagen Fragment Regulates Phosphorylation of Large Tumor Suppressor Kinase-1 and Controls Ovarian Tumor Growth by a Yes-Associated Protein-Dependent Mechanism

The growth and spread of malignant tumors, such as ovarian carcinomas, are governed in part by complex interconnected signaling cascades occurring between stromal and tumor cells. These reciprocal cross-talk signaling networks operating within the local tissue microenvironment may enhance malignant tumor progression. Understanding how novel bioactive molecules generated within the tumor microenvironment regulate signaling pathways in distinct cellular compartments is critical for the development of more effective treatment paradigms. Herein, we provide evidence that blocking cellular interactions with an RGDKGE-containing collagen peptide that selectively binds integrin β3 on ovarian tumor cells enhances the phosphorylation of the hippo effector kinase large tumor suppressor kinase-1 and reduces nuclear accumulation of yes-associated protein and its target gene c-Myc. Selectively targeting this RGDKGE-containing collagen fragment inhibited ovarian tumor growth and the development of ascites fluid in vivo. These findings suggest that this bioactive collagen fragment may represent a previously unknown regulator of the hippo effector kinase large tumor suppressor kinase-1 and regulate ovarian tumor growth by a yes-associated protein-dependent mechanism. Taken together, these data not only provide new mechanistic insight into how a unique collagen fragment may regulate ovarian cancer, but in addition may help provide a useful new alternative strategy to control ovarian tumor progression based on selectively disrupting a previously unappreciated signaling cascade.

Integrated Bioinformatical Analysis Identifies GIMAP4 as an Immune-Related Prognostic Biomarker Associated With Remodeling in Cervical Cancer Tumor Microenvironment

Tumor microenvironment (TME) is emerging as an essential part of cervical cancer (CC) tumorigenesis and development, becoming a hotspot of research these years. However, comprehending the specific composition of TME is still facing enormous challenges, especially the immune and stromal components. In this study, we downloaded the RNA-seq profiles and somatic mutation data of 309 CC cases from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, which were analyzed by integrative bioinformatical methods. Initially, ESTIMATE computational method was employed to calculate the amount of immune and stromal components. Then, based on the high- and low-immunity cohorts, we recognized the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) as well as the differentially mutated genes (DMGs). Additionally, we conducted an intersection analysis of DEGs and DMGs, ultimately determining an immune-related prognostic signature, GTPase, IMAP Family Member 4 (GIMAP4). Moreover, sequential analyses demonstrated that GIMAP4 was a protective factor in CC, positively correlated with the overall survival (OS) and negatively with distant metastasis. Besides, we utilized the Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) to explore the enrichment-pathways in high and low-expression cohorts of GIMAP4. The results indicated that the genes of the high-expression cohort had a high enrichment in immune-related biological processes and metabolic activities in the low one. Furthermore, CIBERSORT analysis was applied to evaluate the proportion of tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TICs), illustrating that several activated TICs were strongly associated with GIMAP4 expression, which suggested that GIMAP4 had the potential to be an indicator for the immune state in TME of CC. Hence, GIMAP4 contributed to predicting the CC patients’ clinical outcomes, such as survival rate, distant metastasis and immunotherapy response. Moreover, GIMAP4 could serve as a promising biomarker for TME remodeling, suggesting the possible underlying mechanisms of tumorigenesis and CC progression, which may provide different therapeutic perceptions of CC, and therefore improve treatment.

Identification of prognosis-related genes in the cervical cancer immune microenvironment

BACKGROUND

Cervical cancer is the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer in women worldwide. The metastasis and invasion of this type of cancer are closely related to the tumor microenvironment. Immune cells and stromal cells dominate the tumor microenvironment in cervical cancer. Therefore, we should further investigate the complex interplay between the tumor progression with immune cells or stromal cells.

METHODS

We downloaded the gene expression profiles and clinical data of 307 patients with cervical cancers based on the TCGA database. Subsequently, the Estimation of Stromal and Immune cells in Malignant Tumours using Expression data (ESTIMATE) algorithm was used to calculate the scores of stromal cells and immune cells in order to uncover differential expressed genes, and we analyzed the correlation between their scores and patient survival. Then the Cell type Identification By Estimating Relative Subsets Of known RNA Transcripts (CIBERSORT) deconvolution algorithm was applied to quantify the fraction and infiltration of 22 types of immune cells in cervical cancer. Moreover, we also used R language packs and network tools to analyze GO term, gene enrichment pathway, and protein-protein relationship to trace down genes related to inflammation and immune regulation.

RESULTS

The gene expression profiles and corresponding clinical data of 307 patients were obtained from TCGA database. The results showed that the scores were statistically significant between the high immunescore group and the low immunescore group. And the low immunescore group had shorter survival period than the high scores group (P = 0.035). Among the 22 types of immune cells, only T cells and mast cells were significantly related to the survival rate of cervical cancer patients. Moreover, PPI network analysis revealed that CCR5 and CXCL9, -10, -11/CXCR3 axis might be a new target for cervical cancer treatment. Finally, Kaplan-Meier survival curves found outnine representative genes significantly related to survival rate including BTNL8, CCR7, CD1E, CD6, CD27, CD79A, GRAP2, SP1B, LY9.

CONCLUSIONS

These genes can be used as markers for the prognosis and diagnosis of cervical cancer and also might be used as treatment targets.

Reconstruction of Immune Microenvironment and Signaling Pathways in Endometrioid Endometrial Adenocarcinoma During Formation of Lymphovascular Space Involvement and Lymph Node Metastasis

Background

The amplification or mutation of oncogenes and escape from immune surveillance systems promote tumor metastasis. However, subtle changes in the immune microenvironment and signaling pathways are poorly understood during the formation of lymphovascular space involvement (LVSI) and lymph node (LN) metastasis of endometrioid endometrial adenocarcinoma (EEA).

Patients and methods

We detected tumor immunology-related signaling pathways and immunocyte subtypes according to the mRNA levels of 750 oncogenes and genes relating to the tumor microenvironment and immune response using the Nanostring PanCancer IO 360 Panel in 24 paraffin-embedded tissues of EEAs and benign gynecological diseases. Internal reference genes were used for data normalization.

Results

Angiogenesis and immune cell adhesion signaling pathways were activated during LVSI formation of EEA progression. However, during the development of LVSI to LN metastasis, immune system signaling pathways were significantly inhibited, including antigen presentation, cytotoxicity, lymphoid compartment, interferon signaling, and costimulatory signaling pathways. Immune-related genes (CD69, HLA-DOA, ATF3, GBP1, AP2, DTX3L, EGR1, GBP4, TAP1, EIF2AK2, MX1, ISG15, STAT1, and HLA-DRA) were significantly downregulated in EEA with LN metastasis compared to those in EEA with LVSI. Instead, hypoxia, metabolic stress, epigenetic regulation, matrix remodeling, and metastasis signaling pathways were continuously activated in LN metastasis. We also found that neutrophils, macrophages, and mast cells might be involved in LVSI formation and LN metastasis in EEA.

Conclusions

EEA with metastatic LNs showed significant immunosuppressive effects. Some oncogenes, matrix remodeling- and hypoxia-related genes, and neutrophil signatures showed higher expression, suggesting their potential as therapeutic targets and offering new immunotherapy strategies in EEA during LN metastasis.

Tumor microenvironment pathways: Cross regulation in breast cancer metastasis

The tumor microenvironment (TME) is heterogeneous and contains a multiple cell population with surrounded immune cells, which plays a major role in regulating metastasis. The multifunctional pathways, Hedgehog (Hh), Wnt, Notch, and NF-kB, cross-regulates metastasis in breast cancer. This review presents substantial evidence for cross-regulation of TME components and signaling pathways, which makes breast TME more heterogeneous and complex, promoting breast cancer progression and metastasis as a highly aggressive form. We discoursed the importance of stromal and immune cells as well as their crosstalk in bridging the metastasis. We also discussed the role of Hh and Notch pathways in the intervention between breast cancer cells and macrophages to support TME; Notch signaling in the bidirectional communication between cancer cells and components of TME; Wnt signal pathway in controlling the factors responsible for EMT and NF-κB pathway in the regulation of genes controlling the inflammatory response. We also present the role of exosomes and their miRNAs in the cross-regulation of TME cells as well as pathways in the reprogramming of breast TME to support metastasis. Finally, we examined and discussed the targeted small molecule inhibitors and natural compounds targeting developmental pathways and proposed small molecule natural compounds as potential therapeutics of TME based on the multitargeting ability. In conclusion, the understanding of the molecular basis of the cross-regulation of TME pathways and their inhibitors helps identify molecular targets for rational drug discovery to treat breast cancers.