Expression of Ep-CAM, but not of E48, associates with nodal involvement in advanced squamous cell carcinomas of the larynx

Identification of DNA damage and repair gene-related markers in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma by single-cell and bulk RNA sequencing

BACKGROUND

The DNA damage response (DDR) has a major impact on the development and progression of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Investigating biomarkers linked to the DDR may facilitate prognostic assessment and prediction of immunological characteristics for patients with PDAC.

METHODS

The single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) dataset GSE212966 was obtained from the GEO database, whereas the bulk RNA-seq data were sourced from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) databases. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and univariate Cox regression analyses were used to select genes to construct a prognostic risk model. Finally, the correlations of the model score with drug sensitivity, immunological checkpoints, and immune infiltration were assessed.

RESULTS

We used 16 DDR marker genes to construct a predictive model. Furthermore, we established that the model had strong performance in both the training and validation cohorts. For PDAC, the model risk score served as an independent predictor of prognosis. There were notable differences in the proportions of the immune cells in the tumor microenvironment and drug sensitivity between the high and low risk score groups. The study confirmed that the risk score model is useful for predicting the immunotherapy response. Our experiments verified that knockdown of LY6D inhibits cell proliferation, promotes apoptosis and DNA damage.

CONCLUSION

Our creative integration of bulk RNA sequencing and scRNA-seq data allowed us to construct a DDR-related prognostic model. Our model can be used to predict the immunological features, treatment response and prognosis of PDAC with a relatively high degree of accuracy.

Silencing LY6D Expression Inhibits Colon Cancer in Xenograft Mice and Regulates Colon Cancer Stem Cells' Proliferation, Stemness, Invasion, and Apoptosis via the MAPK Pathway

This study explored the role of lymphocyte antigen 6 family member D (LY6D) in colon cancer stem cells' (CCSCs) proliferation and invasion. LY6D was knocked down using siRNA, and the down-regulation of LY6D was verified using Western blotting. After LY6D knockdown, CCSCs' proliferation, stemness, and invasion were suppressed, whereas apoptosis was increased. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis revealed that the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between siLY6D and the negative control groups were significantly enriched in the cell-substrate adherens junction, focal adhesion, and cell-substrate junction terms. Meanwhile, the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis revealed that the DEGs were significantly enriched in the MAPK pathway. In addition, Western blotting results showed that pBRAF and pERK1/2, cascade kinases of the MAPK pathway, were significantly down-regulated after LY6D knockdown. In addition, nude mice xenograft experiments showed that the siLY6D treatment decreased tumor sizes and weights and improved tumor-bearing mice survival rates compared with the control group. In conclusion, these findings indicate that LY6D, which is highly expressed in CCSCs, is a key factor involved in tumor growth and development and might be a potential cancer marker and therapeutic target for colon cancer.

Development of head and neck pathology in Europe

This review gives a brief history of the development of head and neck pathology in Europe from a humble beginning in the 1930s to the explosive activities the last 15 years. During the decades before the introduction of immunohistochemistry in the 1980s, head and neck pathology grew as a subspeciality in many European countries. In the late 1940s, the Institute of Laryngology and Otology with its own pathology laboratory was founded in London, and in 1964 the World Health Organization (WHO) International Reference Centre for the Histological Classification of Salivary Tumours was established at the Bland-Sutton Institute of Pathology, also in London. International collaboration, and very much so in Europe, led to the publication of the first WHO Classification of Salivary Gland Tumours in 1972. In the 1960s, a salivary gland register was organised in Hamburg and in Cologne the microlaryngoscopy was invented enabling microscopic endoscopic examination and rather shortly afterwards a carbon dioxide laser attached to the microscope became established and laryngeal lesions could be treated by laser vaporisation. During the last three decades, the use of immunohistochemistry supplemented with cytogenetic and refined molecular techniques has greatly facilitated the pathological diagnostics of head and neck lesions and has had a huge impact on research. Collaboration between different European centres has drastically increased partly due to establishment of scientific societies such as the Head and Neck Working Group (HNWG) within the European Society of Pathology and the International Head and Neck Scientific Group (IHNSG). A very large number of European pathologists have contributed to the 2nd, 3rd and 4th WHO books, and are involved in the upcoming 5th edition. Accredited educational meetings and courses are nowadays regularly arranged in Europe. Numerous textbooks on head and neck pathology have been written and edited by European pathologists. The increased collaboration has created larger series of tumours for research and new entities, mainly defined by their genetic abnormalities, are continuously emerging from Europe, particularly regarding salivary gland neoplasms and "undifferentiated" sinonasal tumours. These findings have led to a better and more precise classification and open the possibilities for new treatment strategies.

Prognostic value of biomarkers EpCAM and αB-crystallin associated with lymphatic metastasis in breast cancer by iTRAQ analysis

Background

Metastasis is responsible for the majority of deaths in a variety of cancer types, including breast cancer. Although several factors or biomarkers have been identified to predict the outcome of patients with breast cancer, few studies have been conducted to identify metastasis-associated biomarkers.

Methods

Quantitative iTRAQ proteomics analysis was used to detect differentially expressed proteins between lymph node metastases and their paired primary tumor tissues from 23 patients with metastatic breast cancer. Immunohistochemistry was performed to validate the expression of two upregulated (EpCAM, FADD) and two downregulated (NDRG1, αB-crystallin) proteins in 190 paraffin-embedded tissue samples. These four proteins were further analyzed for their correlation with clinicopathological features in 190 breast cancer patients.

Results

We identified 637 differentially regulated proteins (397 upregulated and 240 downregulated) in lymph node metastases compared with their paired primary tumor tissues. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD013931. Furthermore, bioinformatics analysis using GEO profiling confirmed the difference in the expression of EpCAM between metastases and primary tumors tissues. Two upregulated (EpCAM, FADD) and two downregulated (NDRG1, αB-crystallin) proteins were associated with the progression of breast cancer. Obviously, EpCAM plays a role in the metastasis of breast cancer cells to the lymph node. We further identified αB-crystallin as an independent biomarker to predict lymph node metastasis and the outcome of breast cancer patients.

Conclusion

We have identified that EpCAM plays a role in the metastasis of breast cancer cells to the lymph node. αB-crystallin, a stress-related protein that has recently been shown to be important for cell invasion and survival, was identified as a potential prognostic biomarker to predict the outcome of breast cancer patients.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-019-6016-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Differential expression of epithelial cell adhesion molecule in salivary gland neoplasms

Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) is the epithelial-specific molecule expressed on various epithelial cell types. The function of EpCAM involves cellular adhesion, proliferation, and signaling in both normal tissues and cancers. The purposes of this study were to investigate the EpCAM expression in salivary gland neoplasms and examine its relationship with pathologic characteristics. Forty-two cases of salivary gland neoplasms, including 20 mucoepidermoid carcinomas (MECs), 11 adenoid cystic carcinomas (ACCs), 9 pleomorphic adenomas (PAs), and 2 polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinomas (PLGAs) were enrolled. Epithelial cell adhesion molecule expression was analyzed immunohistochemically using MOC-31 and BerEP4 antibodies. Results showed that the majority of MECs and all PLGAs showed EpCAM expression in more than 50% of neoplastic cells, whereas most PAs and ACCs did not express this protein. In MECs, most EpCAM-positive neoplastic cells were clear cells, glandular epithelial cells, and intermediate cells, whereas squamous cells and mucous cells were largely negative. The expression was limited to ductal epithelium in EpCAM-positive PAs and ACCs. The decreased EpCAM expression in MECs was significantly associated with microscopically diminished cystic components, the presence of small nest invasion at invasive front, cellular anaplasia, vascular invasion, and high pathologic grade. These data suggested that EpCAM showed different expression pattern among salivary gland neoplasms and in different grades of MECs.

Subcellular differential expression of Ep-ICD in oral dysplasia and cancer is associated with disease progression and prognosis

Background

Identification of patients with oral dysplasia at high risk of cancer development and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) at increased risk of disease recurrence will enable rigorous personalized treatment. Regulated intramembranous proteolysis of Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) resulting in release of its intracellular domain Ep-ICD into cytoplasm and nucleus triggers oncogenic signaling. We analyzed the expression of Ep-ICD in oral dysplasia and cancer and determined its clinical significance in disease progression and prognosis.

Methods

In a retrospective study, immunohistochemical analysis of nuclear and cytoplasmic Ep-ICD and EpEx (extracellular domain of EpCAM), was carried out in 115 OSCC, 97 oral dysplasia and 105 normal oral tissues, correlated with clinicopathological parameters and disease outcome over 60 months for oral dysplasia and OSCC patients. Disease-free survival (DFS) was determined by Kaplan-Meier method and multivariate Cox regression analysis.

Results

In comparison with normal oral tissues, significant increase in nuclear Ep-ICD and membrane EpEx was observed in dysplasia, and OSCC (p = 0.013 and < 0.001 respectively). Oral dysplasia patients with increased overall Ep-ICD developed cancer in short time period (mean = 47 months; p = 0.044). OSCC patients with increased nuclear Ep-ICD and membrane EpEx had significantly reduced mean DFS of 33.7 months (p = 0.018).

Conclusions

Our study provided clinical evidence for Ep-ICD as a predictor of cancer development in patients with oral dysplasia and recurrence in OSCC patients, suggesting its potential utility in enhanced management of those patients detected to have increased risk of progression to cancer and recurrence in OSCC patients.

Predictive value of E-cadherin and Ep-CAM in cervical lymph node metastasis of supraglottic larynx carcinoma

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the value of E-cadherin and epithelial cell adhesion molecule (Ep-CAM) expression in laryngeal biopsy materials for predicting cervical lymph node metastasis in patients with supraglottic laryngeal carcinoma.

METHODS

All patients participating in the study were selected from among the surgically treated patients at the department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Erciyes University School of Medicine between 1991 and 2005. The study consisted of thirty patients who had pathologically metastatic lymph nodes (pN+ group) and 30 age-, sex-, T value- and differentiation matched patients without pathologically metastatic lymph nodes (pN0 group). Immunohistochemical studies were performed with E-cadherin and Ep-CAM antibodies on representative tumor sections collected from paraffin sections of laryngeal biopsy materials. The expression of E-cadherin and Ep-CAM was compared between the pN0 and pN+ groups. The association between immunostaining of E-cadherin and Ep-CAM was also evaluated.

RESULTS

There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of E-cadherin and Ep-CAM expression. There was also a very poor agreement between the expression of E-cadherin and Ep-CAM.

CONCLUSION

Multi-institutional and multidisciplinary immunohistochemical studies conducted with standardized methodology and also with more patient participation may help to obtain more specific results.

Expression of EpCAM and prognosis in early-stage glottic cancer treated by radiotherapy

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS

Treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) often requires radiotherapy, but relapse can occur. There is, therefore, an urgent need for the identification of a predictive novel biomarker for radiosensitivity. The epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) has been shown to promote the transformation of malignant tumors, and EpCAM may have prognostic significance, but it is not known if EpCAM determines prognosis, especially with respect to radiotherapy. Therefore, we determined the incidence of the expression of EpCAM in HNSCC and analyzed the prognostic value in patients with early-stage glottic cancer treated with radiotherapy.

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective analysis.

METHODS

All patients with HNSCCs examined in our hospital between January 2012 and February 2013 were analyzed prospectively for the expression of EpCAM. T1-2N0 glottic cancer patients who were primarily treated by radiation therapy between 1995 and 2008 were retrospectively investigated. Patients with or without local recurrence after radical radiation therapy were extracted. The relationship between local recurrence and histopathologic EpCAM expression was compared within these two groups.

RESULTS

One hundred eighteen patients with HNSCCs from the nasopharynx, oropharynx, hypopharynx, larynx, oral cavity, paranasal cavity, unknown primary, and other sites were analyzed. Positive expression of EpCAM was noted in the oropharynx, hypopharynx, and larynx (72%, 90%, and 58%, respectively). Seventeen and 22 patients with or without local recurrence were extracted, respectively. There was no difference between two groups, with the exception of EpCAM expression.

CONCLUSIONS

The expression of EpCAM in HNSCC was investigated. Patients with strong EpCAM expression were associated with local recurrence after primary radiation therapy.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

NA