Current readings: pathology, prognosis, and lung cancer

Design and implementation of a mobile system for lung cancer patient follow-up in China and initial report of the ongoing patient registry

Introduction

Management of lung cancer remains a challenge. Although clinical and biological patient data are crucial for cancer research, these data may be missing from registries and clinical trials. Biobanks provide a source of high-quality biological material for clinical research; however, linking these samples to the corresponding patient and clinical data is technically challenging. We describe the mobile Lung Cancer Care system (mLCCare), a novel tool which integrates biological and clinical patient data into a single resource.

Methods

mLCCare was developed as a mobile device application (app) and an internet website. Data storage is hosted on cloud servers, with the mobile app and website acting as a front-end to the system. mLCCare also facilitates communication with patients to remind them to take their medication and attend follow-up appointments.

Results

Between January 2014 and October 2015, 5,080 patients with lung cancer have been registered with mLCCare. Data validation ensures all the patient information is of consistently high-quality. Patient cohorts can be constructed via user-specified criteria and data exported for statistical analysis by authorized investigators and collaborators. mLCCare forms the basis of establishing an ongoing lung cancer registry and could form the basis of a high-quality multisite patient registry. Integration of mLCCare with SMS messaging and WeChat functionality facilitates communication between physicians and patients.

Conclusion

It is hoped that mLCCare will prove to be a powerful and widely used tool that will enhance both research and clinical practice.

Apoptosis of Lewis Lung Carcinoma Cells Induced by Microwave via p53 and Proapoptotic Proteins In vivo

Background:

Microwave therapy is a minimal invasive procedure and has been employed in clinical practice for the treatment of various types of cancers. However, its therapeutic application in non-small-cell lung cancer and the underlying mechanism remains to be investigated. This study aimed to investigate its effect on Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) tumor in vivo.

Methods:

Fifty LLC tumor-bearing C57BL/6 mice were adopted to assess the effect of microwave radiation on the growth and apoptosis of LLC tumor in vivo. These mice were randomly assigned to 10 groups with 5 mice in each group. Five groups were treated by single pulse microwave at different doses for different time, and the other five groups were radiated by multiple-pulse treatment of a single dose. Apoptosis of cancer cells was determined by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling assay. Western blotting was applied to detect the expression of proteins.

Results:

Single pulse of microwave radiation for 5 min had little effect on the mice. Only 15-min microwave radiation at 30 mW/cm² significantly increased the mice body temperature (2.20 ± 0.82)°C as compared with the other groups (0.78 ± 0.29 °C, 1.24 ± 0.52 °C, 0.78 ± 0.42 °C, respectively), but it did not affect the apoptosis of LLC tumor cells significantly. Continous microwave radiation exposure, single dose microwave radiation once per day for up to seven days, inhibited cell division and induced apoptosis of LLC tumor cells in a dose- and duration-dependent manner. It upregulated the protein levels of p53, Caspase 3, Bax and downregulated Bcl-2 protein.

Conclusions:

Multiple exposures of LLC-bearing mice to microwave radiation effectively induced tumor cell apoptosis at least partly by upregulating proapoptotic proteins and downregulating antiapoptotic proteins. Continuous radiation at low microwave intensity for a short time per day is promising in treating non-small-cell lung cancer.

High expression of Y-box-binding protein 1 correlates with poor prognosis and early recurrence in patients with small invasive lung adenocarcinoma

Background

Prognosis of small (≤2 cm) invasive lung adenocarcinoma remains poor, and identification of high-risk individuals from the patients after complete surgical resection of lung adenocarcinoma has become an urgent problem. YBX1 has been reported to be able to predict prognosis in many cancers (except lung adenocarcinoma) that are independent of TNM (tumor, nodes, metastases) staging, especially small invasive lung adenocarcinoma. Therefore, we examined the significance of YBX1 expression on prognosis and recurrence in patients with small invasive lung adenocarcinoma.

Material and methods

A total of 75 patients with small invasive lung adenocarcinoma after complete resection were enrolled from January 2008 to December 2010. Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expression of YBX1, and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to precisely assess the overall expression of YBX1. Meanwhile, primary lesions were identified based on the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, the American Thoracic Society, and the European Respiratory Society’s classification of lung adenocarcinoma. The effect of different clinicopathological factors on patients’ survival was examined. Furthermore, Western blot analysis was used to show the expression of YBX1 in vitro.

Results

Sensitivity and specificity of YBX1 for detecting small invasive lung adenocarcinoma from normal surrounding tissue were 66.7% and 74.7% (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve =0.731; P<0.001), respectively. High YBX1 expression was detected in 31 (41.3%) patients, and in A549, H322, Hcc827, and H1299 lung adenocarcinoma cells but not in HLF cells. In addition to sex, age, tumor size, TNM staging, pleural invasion, and lymph node metastasis, the expression of YBX1 was associated with the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, the American Thoracic Society, and the European Respiratory Society pathological grade risk (P=0.026) and differentiation (P=0.009). The patients with low YBX1 expression lived longer than those with high expression (5-year overall survival: 52.3% vs 79.0%; P=0.039) and showed fewer recurrences (P=0.024). In multivariate analyses, high YBX1 expression (odds ratio =2.737; 95% confidence interval: 1.058–7.082; P=0.038) was shown as an independent risk factor of overall survival but not of disease-free survival (odds ratio =1.696; 95% confidence interval: 0.616–4.673; P=0.307).

Conclusion

YBX1 is an important predictor for the prognosis in patients with small invasive lung adenocarcinoma after complete resection.

Sequencing study on familial lung squamous cancer

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. The majority of lung cancers are sporadic, and familial cases are extremely rare. Previous studies have mainly focused on sporadic lung cancer and identified a large quantity of driver genes. However, familial lung cancers are rarer and studied less. The present study recruited a Chinese family in which multiple members had developed lung squamous carcinoma. To find the causative mutations, whole exome sequencing was conducted using a peripheral blood sample of one lung squamous carcinoma patient, and certain variants were validated in more samples. Whole exome sequencing analysis obtained ~2.0 Gb of data (an average of 60x depth for each targeted base), and further validation experiments identified two functional variants in two cancer-related genes (c.1218delA:p.E406fs in PDE4DIP and C1342A:p.L448I in CLTCL1). This study therefore provides useful sources for the further study of hereditary lung cancer.