Correlation between KRAS, NRAS and BRAF mutations and tumor localizations in patients with primary and metastatic colorectal cancer

Quantitative Analysis of NKX2-3 Expression in Human Colon: An Immunohistochemical Study

In mice, Nkx2-3 homeodomain transcription factor defines the vascular specification of secondary and tertiary lymphoid tissues of the intestines. In human studies, polymorphisms in NKX2-3 have been identified as a susceptibility factor in inflammatory bowel diseases, whereas in mice, its absence is associated with protection against experimental colitis and enhanced intestinal epithelial proliferation. Here, we investigated the expression of NKX2-3 in normal, polyp, and adenocarcinoma human colon samples using immunohistochemistry and quantitative morphometry, correlating its expression with endothelial and mesenchymal stromal markers. Our results revealed that the expression of NKX2-3 is regionally confined to the lamina propria and lamina muscularis mucosae, and its production is restricted mostly to endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells with variable co-expression of CD34, alpha smooth muscle antigen (αSMA), and vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP-1). The frequency of NKX2-3-positive cells and intensity of expression correlated inversely with aging. Furthermore, in most colorectal carcinoma samples, we observed a significant reduction of NKX2-3 expression. These findings indicate that the NKX2-3 transcription factor is produced by both endothelial and non-endothelial tissue constituents in the colon, and its expression changes during aging and in colorectal malignancies. (J Histochem Cytochem XX: XXX-XXX, XXXX).

Single-center study on clinicopathological and typical molecular pathologic features of metastatic brain tumor

BACKGROUND

The metastatic brain tumor is the most common brain tumor. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the clinicopathological and molecular pathologic features of brain metastases (BM).

METHODS

A total of 269 patients were diagnosed with BM through surgical resection at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital from January 2010 to March 2020. We reviewed the clinicopathological features and molecular status of primary and metastatic brain tissues using immunohistochemistry and molecular pathology results.

RESULTS

Among 269 patients, 139 males and 130 females were included. The median age of primary tumor was 58 years (range, 13 to 87 years) and 86 patients (32.0%) had BM at initial presentation. Median BM free interval was 28.0 months (range, 1 to 286 months). The most frequent primary site was lung 46.5% (125/269), and followed by breast 15.6% (42/269), colorectum 10.0% (27/269). Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation was found in 50.8% (32/63) and 58.0% (40/69) of lung primary and BM, respectively. In both breast primary and breast cancer with BM, luminal B was the most frequent subtype at 37.9% (11/29) and 42.9% (18/42), respectively, followed by human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 with 31.0% (9/29) and 33.3% (14/42). Triple-negative was 20.7% (6/29) and 16.7% (7/42), and luminal A was 10.3% (3/29) and 7.1% (3/42) of breast primary and BM, respectively. In colorectal primary and colorectal cancer with BM, KRAS mutation was found in 76.9% (10/13) and 66.7% (2/3), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

We report the clinicopathological and molecular pathologic features of BM that can provide useful information for understanding the pathogenesis of metastasis and for clinical trials based on the tumor's molecular pathology.

Preventive effects of 13 different drugs on colorectal cancer: a network meta-analysis

Introduction

The aim of the study was to evaluate the preventive effect of 13 drugs on colorectal cancer (CRC) and guide the clinical application of these drugs.

Material and methods

PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies. The Cochrane bias risk assessment tool and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale quality evaluation tool were used to evaluate the quality of the included RCTs and cohort studies. The funnel plot was used to analyze publication bias. A network meta-analysis of the extracted data was conducted using Stata16.0 software.

Results

A total of 57 studies (34 RCTs and 23 cohort studies) involving 82719 participants were included. The network meta-analysis revealed that the quality of the included studies was good; the funnel plot showed no obvious publication bias. The network meta-analysis showed that the preventive effect of 13 drugs on CRC was better than that of the placebo. Allopurinol (SUCRA: 97.2%) was found to have the best effect, followed by berberine (SUCRA: 89.9%), non-aspirin NSAIDs (SUCRA: 84.5%), statins (SUCRA: 66.5%), metformin (SUCRA: 66.3%), calcium (SUCRA: 48.9%), mesalazine (SUCRA: 44.5%), ursodeoxycholic acid (SUCRA: 42.6%), vitamin D (SUCRA: 41.4%), mercaptopurine (SUCRA: 39.4%), aspirin (SUCRA: 30.4%), folic acid (SUCRA: 24.9%), and eicosapentaenoic acid (SUCRA: 16.3%).

Conclusions

The preventive effect of allopurinol on CRC was better than that of the other 13 drugs. These results can help doctors and patients understand the preventative effects of these drugs more intuitively and provide an evidence-based basis for the clinical application of these drugs.