A prospective comparison of growth patterns with radiomorphology in 232 lung metastases-basis for patient tailored resection planning?

Background

The histologic presence of aggressive local growth of pulmonary metastases is associated with an increased risk for local intrapulmonary recurrence after enucleation or wedge resection. Patient tailored resection planning is possible when morphologic pattern of aggressive growth could be identified based on preoperative CT scans.

Methods

Radiomorphology and microscopic growth characteristics from 232 pulmonary metastases from 87 patients were prospectively compared for the presence or absence of aggressive patterns of local intrapulmonary dissemination.

Results

Microscopic aggressive local growth was found: pleural involvement (18.5%), lymphatic invasion (6.9%), vascular invasion (7.3%), interstitial growth (38.4%), micro satellite nodules (24.5%), spread through air spaces (STAS) (13.4%), and a smooth, slightly blurred or irregular surface in 34.1%, 43.1% and 22.8%. The radiologic margin demarcation was smooth in 37.1%, blurred in 27.6% or irregular in 35.3% and spiculae were present in 26.3% of the lesions. The microscopic and radiologic description of the metastasis surface correlated well [correlation coefficient (CC) =0.75, P<0.001]. A smooth surface on CT scan corresponded with a smooth microscopic surface in 72/86 (83.7%) of the lesions. The radiomorphologic feature of an irregular or cloudy surface was highly associated with the presence of at least one aggressive pattern of local dissemination (P<0.001). The presence of spiculae on CT scan was well associated with the presence of aggressive local spread (P<0.001) and the microscopic features corresponding with spiculae were interstitial growth, STAS and L1.

Conclusions

Radiomorphologic characteristics of lung metastases correspond well with the microscopic appearance of the resected lesion. Therefore it seems possible to adjust safety margins based on the radiologic appearance of the metastasis.

Congenital Segmental Intestinal Dilatation: A 25-Year Review with Long-Term Follow-up at the Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria

Background and Aim  Congenital segmental intestinal dilatation (CSID) is a neonatal condition with unclear etiology and pathogenesis. Typically, the newborn with CSID presents with a limited (circumscribed) bowel dilatation, an abrupt transition between normal and dilated segments, neither intrinsic nor extrinsic perilesional obstruction, and no aganglionosis or neuronal intestinal dysplasia. We aimed to review this disease and the long-term follow-up at the Children's Hospital of the Medical University of Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria. Study Design  Retrospective 25-year review of medical charts, electronic files, and histopathology of neonates with CSID. Results  We identified four infants (three girls and one boy) with CSID. The affected areas included duodenum, ileum, ascending colon, and sigmoid colon. Noteworthy, all patients presented with a cardiovascular defect, of which two required multiple cardiac surgical interventions. Three out of the four patients recovered completely. To date, the three infants are alive. Conclusion  This is the first report of patients with CSID and cardiovascular defects. The clinical and surgical intervention for CSID also requires a thorough cardiologic evaluation in these patients. CSID remains an enigmatic entity pointing to the need for joint forces in identifying common loci for genetic investigations.

Transbronchial cryobiopsy in fibrosing interstitial lung disease: modifications of the procedure lead to risk reduction

Sixty-one subjects with fibrosing interstitial lung disease were prospectively analysed to determine the efficacy of transbronchial cryobiopsy (CryoTBB) and the effect of procedural modifications which were introduced after an interim analysis of the first 19 subjects. The modifications significantly reduced complication rates from 84% to 14% (p<0.001). 30-day-mortality was 2%. The algorithm with initial CryoTBB and surgical lung biopsy (SLB) as optional step-up procedure was feasible. CryoTBB led to a confident diagnosis in 46/61 subjects (75%). Only 21% out of all subjects were forwarded for SLB. As the modified CryoTBB reduced but not eliminated the risk of severe complications, tissue sampling should be limited to patients where confident diagnosis enables life prolonging therapy. Trial registration number: NCT01714518.

Gene expression profiling of homologous recombination repair pathway indicates susceptibility for olaparib treatment in malignant pleural mesothelioma in vitro

BACKGROUND

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a tumour arising from pleural cavities with poor prognosis. Multimodality treatment with pemetrexed combined with cisplatin shows unsatisfying response-rates of 40%. The reasons for the rather poor efficacy of chemotherapeutic treatment are largely unknown. However, it is conceivable that DNA repair mechanisms lead to an impaired therapy response. We hypothesize a major role of homologous recombination (HR) for genome stability and survival of this tumour. Therefore, we analysed genes compiled under the term "BRCAness". An inhibition of this pathway with olaparib might abrogate this effect and induce apoptosis.

METHODS

We investigated the response of three MPM cell lines and lung fibroblasts serving as a control to treatment with pemetrexed, cisplatin and olaparib. Furthermore, we aimed to find possible correlations between response and gene expression patterns associated with BRCAness phenotype. Therefore, 91 clinical MPM samples were digitally screened for gene expression patterns of HR members.

RESULTS

A BRCAness-dependent increase of apoptosis and senescence during olaparib-based treatment of BRCA-associated-protein 1 (BAP1)-mutated cell lines was observed. The gene expression pattern identified could be found in approx. 10% of patient samples. Against this background, patients could be grouped according to their defects in the HR system. Gene expression levels of Aurora Kinase A (AURKA), RAD50 as well as DNA damage-binding protein 2 (DDB2) could be identified as prognostic markers in MPM.

CONCLUSIONS

Defects in HR compiled under the term BRCAness are a common event in MPM. The present data can lead to a better understanding of the underlaying cellular mechanisms and leave the door wide open for new therapeutic approaches for this severe disease with infaust prognosis. Response to Poly (ADP-ribose)-Polymerase (PARP)-Inhibition could be demonstrated in the BAP1-mutated NCI-H2452 cells, especially when combined with cisplatin. Thus, this combination therapy might be effective for up to 2/3 of patients, promising to enhance patients' clinical management and outcome.

Inhibition of Radiation-Induced Ccl2 Signaling Protects Lungs from Vascular Dysfunction and Endothelial Cell Loss

Aims: Radiation-induced normal tissue toxicity often precludes the application of curative radiation doses. Here we investigated the therapeutic potential of chemokine C-C motif ligand 2 (Ccl2) signaling inhibition to protect normal lung tissue from radiotherapy (RT)-induced injury. Results: RT-induced vascular dysfunction and associated adverse effects can be efficiently antagonized by inhibition of Ccl2 signaling using either the selective Ccl2 inhibitor bindarit (BIN) or mice deficient for the main Ccl2 receptor CCR2 (KO). BIN-treatment efficiently counteracted the RT-induced expression of Ccl2, normalized endothelial cell (EC) morphology and vascular function, and limited lung inflammation and metastasis early after irradiation (acute effects). A similar protection of the vascular compartment was detected by loss of Ccl2 signaling in lungs of CCR2-KO mice. Long-term Ccl2 signaling inhibition also significantly limited EC loss and accompanied fibrosis progression as adverse late effect. With respect to the human situation, we further confirmed that Ccl2 secreted by RT-induced senescent epithelial cells resulted in the activation of normally quiescent but DNA-damaged EC finally leading to EC loss in ex vivo cultured human normal lung tissue. Innovation: Abrogation of certain aspects of the secretome of irradiated resident lung cells, in particular signaling inhibition of the senescence-associated secretory phenotype-factor Ccl2 secreted predominantly by RT-induced senescent epithelial cells, resulted in protection of the endothelial compartment. Conclusions: Radioprotection of the normal tissue via Ccl2 signaling inhibition without simultaneous protection or preferable radiosensitization of tumor tissue might improve local tumor control and survival, because higher doses of radiation could be used.

Setting out the frame conditions for feasible use of FFPE derived RNA

INTRODUCTION

The usage of formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue is characterized by its long shelf-life and simple handling. Therefore it is the most commonly available tissue specimen in routine diagnostics and histological studies. Formaldehyde fixation may result in RNA degradation and cross linking with proteins, while storage conditions also affect RNA integrity. The present study was designed to investigate the influence of these factors on RNA analysis.

DESIGN

FFPE-derived RNA from sections of 23 patients with spontaneous pneumothoraxes was used. Unstained sections of FFPE tissue were stored at various temperatures (-80 °C, -20 °C, 4 °C, 24 °C) prior to RNA extraction. The potential impact on RNA quality of semi-automatic and manual RNA isolation and three different deparaffinization agents (mineral oil, xylene and d-limonene) were compared.

RESULTS

The storage temperature of FFPE sections affects RNA concentration and fragmentation, with the optimal storage temperature below -20 °C. The RNA extracted with d-limonene shows equivalent quality to the RNA extracted using more toxic standard agents. The manual isolation provides a higher RNA yield compared to the semi-automatic isolation. However, no differences in the amount of longer RNA fragments were observed. Furthermore, the semi-automatic isolation showed an enhanced RNA quality.

CONCLUSION

FFPE sections not directly used for RNA extraction should be stored below -20 °C to increase quality and yield of the RNA. Usage of semi-automatic isolation produces superior results and simplifies routine processes by having less hands-on-time. Replacement of toxic xylene by d-limonene may contribute to improved occupational safety while not influencing analytical results.

Growth patterns of pulmonary metastases: should we adjust resection techniques to primary histology and size?

OBJECTIVES

Safety margins in pulmonary metastasectomy are not yet well defined. We hypothesize that histological subtype, size of the lesion and local growth characteristics must be taken into consideration during metastasectomy. This study was conducted to examine and classify growth patterns at resection margins and define the relationships between aggressive local growth, metastasis size and local recurrence to direct metastasectomy.

METHODS

Histologic sections of pulmonary metastases were prospectively collected and haematoxylin-eosin stains were systematically evaluated and classified by their pattern of lung tissue infiltration. Logistic regression was used to model the association between the subgroups of colorectal, renal cell and epithelial cancers and melanomas and sarcomas.

RESULTS

From 183 patients, 412 lung specimens were removed, which contained 459 pulmonary metastases. We found that 58% of all lesions had microscopic signs of aggressive local dissemination. The metastases showed histology-specific patterns of local growth: sarcoma was associated with pleural infiltration; colorectal metastases with interstitial spread and aerogenous spread of floating cancer cell clusters; and melanoma with perivascular growth and with lymph vessel involvement. Aggressive patterns of growth had an increasing probability of around 3% for each additional millimetre of metastasis diameter. Local intrapulmonary recurrence was significantly more common in association with interstitial growth and pleural penetration as well as safety margins <7 mm.

CONCLUSIONS

Approximately 40% of all lung metastases have a smooth surface and might be resected with small margins. Growth characteristics within the lung differ with the histologic subtype and safety margins should generally increase with the size of the metastasis.

Immunohistochemically detectable metallothionein expression in malignant pleural mesotheliomas is strongly associated with early failure to platin-based chemotherapy

Background

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a biologically highly aggressive tumor arising from the pleura with a dismal prognosis. Cisplatin is the drug of choice for the treatment of MPM, and carboplatin seems to have comparable efficacy. Nevertheless, cisplatin treatment results in a response rate of merely 14% and a median survival of less than seven months. Due to their role in many cellular processes, methallothioneins (MTs) have been widely studied in various cancers. The known heavy metal detoxifying effect of MT-I and MT-II may be the reason for heavy metal drug resistance of various cancers including MPM.

Methods

105 patients were retrospectively analyzed immunohistochemically for their MT expression levels. Survival analysis was done by Cox-regression, and statistical significance determined using likelihood ratio, Wald test and Score (logrank) tests.

Results

Cox-regression analyses were done in a linear and logarithmic scale revealing a significant association between expression of MT and shortened overall survival (OS) in a linear (p=0.0009) and logarithmic scale (p=0.0003). Reduced progression free survival (PFS) was also observed for MT expressing tumors (linear: p=0.0134, log: p=0.0152).

Conclusion

Since both, overall survival and progression-free survival are negatively correlated with detectable MT expression in MPM, our results indicate a possible resistance to platin-based chemotherapy associated with MT expression upregulation, found exclusively in progressive MPM samples. Initial cell culture studies suggest promoter DNA hypomethylation and expression of miRNA-566 a direct regulator of copper transporter SLC31A1 and a putative regulator of MT1A and MT2A gene expression, to be responsible for the drug resistance.

MET Expression in Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer: Effect on Clinical Outcomes of Chemotherapy, Targeted Therapy, and Immunotherapy

BACKGROUND

The receptor tyrosine kinase MET is implicated in malignant transformation, tumor progression, metastasis, and acquired treatment resistance. We conducted an analysis of the effect of MET expression and MET genomic aberrations on the outcome of patients with advanced or metastatic pulmonary adenocarcinomas prospectively enrolled in an institutional precision oncology program.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Standardized immunohistochemistry (IHC) analyses of MET and markers of pathway activation were available in 384 patients, and next-generation sequencing-based MET hotspot mutation analyses were available from 892 patients. Clinical data were retrieved with a median follow-up from initial diagnosis of 37 months.

RESULTS

High MET expression, defined as MET IHC 3+ or MET H-Score in the upper quartile, was observed in 102 of 384 patients (26.6%). MET exon 14 mutations were only detected in 7 of 892 patients (0.78%). High MET expression correlated with activation markers of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/AKT) pathways only in cases without Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), v-Raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B (BRAF), anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) and proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase ROS (ROS1) aberrations. There was no association of MET expression with outcome during chemotherapy. High MET expression negatively affected the outcome during EGFR-targeting therapy but was associated with more favorable results with programmed death 1/programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1)-directed therapy, independent of smoking history, PD-L1 expression or KRAS mutation. Two patients with MET exon 14 mutation and high PD-L1 expression failed to respond to pembrolizumab.

CONCLUSION

MET expression affects the outcomes of targeted therapies in non-small-cell lung cancer, thus supporting the development of biomarker-informed combination strategies. The interaction of MET expression and MET mutation with immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy is novel and merits further investigation.

Folic-acid metabolism and DNA-repair phenotypes differ between neuroendocrine lung tumors and associate with aggressive subtypes, therapy resistance and outcome

Purpose

25% of all lung cancer cases are neuroendocrine (NELC) including typical (TC) and atypical carcinoid (AC), large-cell neuroendocrine (LCNEC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Prognostic and predictive biomarkers are lacking.

Experimental Design

Sixty patients were used for nCounter mRNA expression analysis of the folic-acid metabolism (ATIC, DHFR, FOLR1, FPGS, GART, GGT1, SLC19A1, TYMS) and DNA-repair (ERCC1, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, XRCC1). Phenotypic classification classified tumors (either below or above the median expression level) with respect to the folic acid metabolism or DNA repair.

Results

Expression of FOLR1, FPGS, MLH1 and TYMS (each p<0.0001) differed significantly between all four tumor types. FOLR1 and FPGS associated with tumor differentiation (both p<0.0001), spread to regional lymph nodes (FOLR1 p=0.0001 and FPGS p=0.0038), OS and PFS (FOLR1 p<0.0050 for both and FPGS p<0.0004 for OS).

Phenotypic sorting revealed the Ft-phenotype to be the most prominent expression profile in carcinoids, whereas SCLC presented nearly univocal with the fT and LCNEC with fT or ft. These results were significant for tumor subtype (p<0.0001).

Conclusions

The assessed biomarkers and phenotypes allow for risk stratification (OS, PFS), diagnostic classification and enhance the biological understanding of the different subtypes of neuroendocrine tumors revealing potential new therapy options and clarifying known resistance mechanisms.

Processing Escape Mechanisms Through Altered Proteasomal Cleavage of Epitopes Affect Immune Response in Pulmonary Neuroendocrine Tumors

Background:

Immunotherapy, especially immune checkpoint inhibition, is one of the most sophisticated approaches in cancer therapy. Immune checkpoint inhibition has already been successfully applied for treatment of non-small cell lung cancer and various other entities. Unfortunately, 60% of the cases show signs of therapy resistance. Additionally, a proportion of cases shows initial insensitivity to immune checkpoint inhibition. We consider a novel escape mechanism in association with deficient proteasomal epitope processing to be one prominent reason for initial insensitivity and therapy resistance. Therefore, we aim to identify mutations in association with these so-called processing escapes, in a highly diverse collective of pulmonary neuroendocrine lung tumors.

Materials and Methods:

Seventy representative tumor specimens of pulmonary neuroendocrine lung tumors were analyzed retrospectively via immunohistochemical detection of CD4, CD8, CD68, and CD20 as well as programmed cell death protein 1 and programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 for tumor immune infiltration and composition. Afterward, samples were screened for alterations in 48 genes, including 221 known mutational hotspots by massive parallel sequencing using the Illumina TruSeq Amplicon-Cancer Panel. For prediction of proteasomal cleavage probabilities, an R implementation of the machine learning tool NetChop 3.1 was utilized.

Results:

Immune cell infiltration of different compositions could be found in the majority of tumors. Deficient epitope processing was revealed to be a common event in those with steady distribution across all different subtypes. Despite immune infiltration, no significant antitumor response could be detected.

Conclusion:

Since it is widely acknowledged that tumors need to avoid the immune system to ensure their survival, processing escapes should already be present during primary tumor development. In line, processing escapes can be found in all tumors, regardless of subtype and mutational burden. Furthermore, there is solid evidence that processing escapes have a negative impact on the antitumor activity of tumor infiltrating immune cells.

Quantitative Analysis of Proteome Modulations in Alveolar Epithelial Type II Cells in Response to Pulmonary Aspergillus fumigatus Infection

The ubiquitous mold Aspergillus fumigatus threatens immunosuppressed patients as inducer of lethal invasive aspergillosis. A. fumigatus conidia are airborne and reach the alveoli, where they encounter alveolar epithelial cells (AEC). Previous studies reported the importance of the surfactant-producing AEC II during A. fumigatus infection via in vitro experiments using cell lines. We established a negative isolation protocol yielding untouched primary murine AEC II with a purity >90%, allowing ex vivo analyses of the cells, which encountered the mold in vivo By label-free proteome analysis of AEC II isolated from mice 24h after A. fumigatus or mock infection we quantified 2256 proteins and found 154 proteins to be significantly differentially abundant between both groups (ANOVA p value ≤ 0.01, ratio of means ≥1.5 or ≤0.67, quantified with ≥2 peptides). Most of these proteins were higher abundant in the infected condition and reflected a comprehensive activation of AEC II on interaction with A. fumigatus This was especially represented by proteins related to oxidative phosphorylation, hence energy production. However, the most strongly induced protein was the l-amino acid oxidase (LAAO) Interleukin 4 induced 1 (IL4I1) with a 42.9 fold higher abundance (ANOVA p value 2.91^-10). IL4I1 has previously been found in B cells, macrophages, dendritic cells and rare neurons. Increased IL4I1 abundance in AEC II was confirmed by qPCR, Western blot and immunohistology. Furthermore, A. fumigatus infected lungs showed high levels of IL4I1 metabolic products. Importantly, higher IL4I1 abundance was also confirmed in lung tissue from human aspergilloma. Because LAAO are key enzymes for bactericidal product generation, AEC II might actively participate in pathogen defense. We provide insights into proteome changes of primary AEC II thereby opening new avenues to analyze the molecular changes of this central lung cell on infectious threats. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD005834.

Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the lung: a rare histological subtype of non-small cell lung cancer with a poor prognosis even at earlier tumour stages

Objectives

Pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma (PSC) is a rare histological subtype of non-small cell lung cancer and comprises a diagnostically and therapeutically challenging group of tumours. We explored the clinicopathological features and prognostic factors of this tumour.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective study of all patients who were treated for PSC in the Department of Thoracic Surgery between May 2005 and December 2014. Primary outcomes of interest were patient survival and prognostic factors.

Results

A total of 58 patients were treated for sarcomatoid carcinoma within the described period and 46 patients underwent surgical resection with curative intent. The mean follow-up period was 30 months. Of the operated patients, 21.7% had pathological stage I disease, and 78.3% had more advanced disease. There were 25 carcinosarcomas, 10 pleomorphic carcinomas, 7 spindle cell carcinomas, 3 giant cell carcinomas and 1 pulmonary blastoma. Overall 5-year survival of the operated patients was 28.7%. A total of 28 patients experienced recurrence and died cancer-related. Our analysis revealed that tumour size, gender, histological entity, lymphatic vessel invasion (L1) and vascular invasion (V1) did not influence survival. There was a trend for decreased survival in older patients (>65 years).

Conclusions

Surgical treatment can achieve satisfactory results with low perioperative mortality, but the overall prognosis even with multimodality concepts and in earlier tumour stages is worse compared to other types of non-small cell lung cancer.

Migrating pleural plaque in a patient with asbestos induced pleural disease: a case report

Background

Health surveillance of formerly asbestos exposed individuals focus on early detection of asbestos related diseases, such as lung fibrosis (asbestosis), pleural plaques, mesothelioma and lung cancer in particular. One main concern is the early and clear identification of lesions with a high risk of malignant changes and their undelayed clinical work-up. False positive results may lead to unnecessary and often painful diagnostic interventions, which create high costs when applied to a large cohort and also may discredit the whole program. We describe an unusual presentation of a common lesion among asbestos exposed individuals, which has to our knowledge never been described before. Being aware of this pathological pathway may prevent inadequate clinical decisions with disadvantages for the patient. Underlying implications regarding health surveillance and the reading of CT-scans of the thorax are important for the management of formerly asbestos exposed individuals.

Case presentation

During follow-up of an asbestos exposed 72 year old former power plant worker with known pleural changes, a nodule located next to the left costophrenic angle was newly discovered on CT-scan. As the previous scan 1 year before did not show any changes in that area, a fast growing tumour was suspected and an immediate biopsy performed. The tissue showed the characteristics of a pleural plaque with no signs of malignancy. After carefully reviewing all previous radiographs a rounded opacity attached to the mediastinal pleura close to the oesophagus and slightly cranial to the position of the removed nodule could be discerned. That nodule had increased in size over several years and was no longer visible on the latest scan. It appeared that the originally slow growing plaque had migrated to the costophrenic angle some time before it was discovered in the latest scan thus imposing as a fast growing tumour.

Conclusions

We concluded that asbestos related pleural plaques can under special circumstances get separated from the pleura and migrate to another position in the pleural cavity. The case provides new insights in the development and properties of pleural lesions and may offer new options for the management of formerly asbestos exposed patients.

miRNA regulation is important for DNA damage repair and recognition in malignant pleural mesothelioma

Platin-containing regimes are currently considered as state-of-the-art therapies in malignant pleural mesotheliomas (MPM) but show dissatisfying response rates ranging from 6 to 16% only. Still, the reasons for the rather poor efficacy remain largely unknown. A clear stratification of patients based on new biomarkers seems to be a promising approach to enhance clinical management, which would be a long-needed improvement for MPM patients but does not seem likely soon unless new biomarkers can be validated. Twenty-four formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumour specimens were subjected to a miRNA expression screening of 800 important miRNAs using digital quantification via the nCounter technique (NanoString). We defined a small subset of miRNAs regulating the key enzymes involved in the repair of platin-associated DNA damage. Particularly, the TP53 pathway network for DNA damage recognition as well as genes related to the term "BRCAness" are the main miRNA targets within this context. The TP53 pathway network for DNA damage recognition as well as genes related to the term "BRCAness" are the main players for risk stratification in patients suffering from this severe disease. Taking the specific molecular profile of the tumour into account can help to enhance the clinical management prospectively and to smooth the way to better response prediction.