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Greenland KK, Pennel KAF, Cioccoloni G, Rogerson C, Barnieh FM, Speirs V. Trailblazers in cancer research: the next generation - the British Association of Cancer Research early-career conference. Biol Open 2023; 12:bio060121. [PMID: 37846765 PMCID: PMC10602000 DOI: 10.1242/bio.060121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The inaugural 'British Association of Cancer Research (BACR) Early Career Conference, Trailblazers in Cancer Research 2023', was a 2-day meeting held in Manchester, UK. Recognising the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to early-career researchers (ECRs), the BACR executive committee organised an in-person conference to address the lack of network and training opportunities during this time. The conference brought together PhD students and post-doctoral researchers from across the UK and beyond, who shared their outstanding contributions to cancer research. The meeting incorporated several cutting-edge cancer themes, including 'Cancer Cell Signalling and The Tumour Microenvironment'; 'Emerging Approaches in Cancer Treatment'; 'Cancer Omics and Lifestyle', and 'Nutrition and Cancer'. Alongside showcasing world-class cancer research, the meeting included a career-focused session which allowed industrial and non-academic speakers to provide vital insight into alternative career paths aside from the familiar 'academic' route. Importantly, the conference also introduced delegates to Patient Public Involvement in cancer research, an area of limited experience for many. Overall, the BACR Trailblazers Conference was hugely successful and presented an excellent platform for collaboration and networking among ECRs in cancer research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyle K. Greenland
- Imperial Centre for Translational and Experimental Medicine, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London W12 0NN, UK
| | - Kathryn A. F. Pennel
- School of Cancer Sciences, Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G61 1BD, UK
| | - Giorgia Cioccoloni
- School of Food Science & Nutrition, Faculty of Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
| | - Connor Rogerson
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1GA, UK
| | - Francis M. Barnieh
- Institute of Cancer Therapeutics, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford BD7 1DP, UK
| | - Valerie Speirs
- Institute of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, UK
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Khunger A, Piazza E, Warren S, Smith TH, Ren X, White A, Elliott N, Cesano A, Beechem JM, Kirkwood JM, Tarhini AA. CTLA-4 blockade and interferon-α induce proinflammatory transcriptional changes in the tumor immune landscape that correlate with pathologic response in melanoma. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0245287. [PMID: 33428680 PMCID: PMC7799833 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0245287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2020] [Accepted: 12/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Patients with locally/regionally advanced melanoma were treated with neoadjuvant combination immunotherapy with high-dose interferon α-2b (HDI) and ipilimumab in a phase I clinical trial. Tumor specimens were obtained prior to the initiation of neoadjuvant therapy, at the time of surgery and progression if available. In this study, gene expression profiles of tumor specimens (N = 27) were investigated using the NanoString nCounter® platform to evaluate associations with clinical outcomes (pathologic response, radiologic response, relapse-free survival (RFS), and overall survival (OS)) and define biomarkers associated with tumor response. The Tumor Inflammation Signature (TIS), an 18-gene signature that enriches for response to Programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) checkpoint blockade, was also evaluated for association with clinical response and survival. It was observed that neoadjuvant ipilimumab-HDI therapy demonstrated an upregulation of immune-related genes, chemokines, and transcription regulator genes involved in immune cell activation, function, or cell proliferation. Importantly, increased expression of baseline pro-inflammatory genes CCL19, CD3D, CD8A, CD22, LY9, IL12RB1, C1S, C7, AMICA1, TIAM1, TIGIT, THY1 was associated with longer OS (p < 0.05). In addition, multiple genes that encode a component or a regulator of the extracellular matrix such as MMP2 and COL1A2 were identified post-treatment as being associated with longer RFS and OS. In all baseline tissues, high TIS scores were associated with longer OS (p = 0.0166). Also, downregulated expression of cell proliferation-related genes such as CUL1, CCND1 and AAMP at baseline was associated with pathological and radiological response (unadjusted p < 0.01). In conclusion, we identified numerous genes that play roles in multiple biological pathways involved in immune activation, immune suppression and cell proliferation correlating with pathological/radiological responses following neoadjuvant immunotherapy highlighting the complexity of immune responses modulated by immunotherapy. Our observations suggest that TIS may be a useful biomarker for predicting survival outcomes with combination immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arjun Khunger
- Department of Internal Medicine, Memorial Hospital West, Pembroke Pines, Florida, United States of America
| | - Erin Piazza
- NanoString® Technologies, Inc., Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - Sarah Warren
- NanoString® Technologies, Inc., Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - Thomas H. Smith
- NanoString® Technologies, Inc., Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - Xing Ren
- NanoString® Technologies, Inc., Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - Andrew White
- NanoString® Technologies, Inc., Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - Nathan Elliott
- NanoString® Technologies, Inc., Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - Alessandra Cesano
- ESSA Pharma, South San Francisco, California, United States of America
| | - Joseph M. Beechem
- NanoString® Technologies, Inc., Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - John M. Kirkwood
- UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Ahmad A. Tarhini
- Department of Cutaneous Oncology and Immunology, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, Florida, United States of America
- University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Jensen MB, Lænkholm AV, Balslev E, Buckingham W, Ferree S, Glavicic V, Dupont Jensen J, Søegaard Knoop A, Mouridsen HT, Nielsen D, Nielsen TO, Ejlertsen B. The Prosigna 50-gene profile and responsiveness to adjuvant anthracycline-based chemotherapy in high-risk breast cancer patients. NPJ Breast Cancer 2020; 6:7. [PMID: 32140564 PMCID: PMC7044229 DOI: 10.1038/s41523-020-0148-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2019] [Accepted: 01/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The DBCG89D trial randomized high-risk early breast cancer patients to adjuvant CMF (cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and fluorouracil) or CEF (cyclophosphamide, epirubicin and fluorouracil). Prosigna assays were performed by researchers with no access to clinical data. Time to distant recurrence (DR) was the primary endpoint, time to recurrence (TR) and overall survival (OS) secondary. Among the 980 Danish patients enrolled, Prosigna results were obtained in 686. Continuous ROR score was associated with DR for CMF (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 1.20, 95% CI 1.09-1.33), and for CEF (HR 1.04, 95% CI 0.92-1.18), P interaction = 0.06. DR was significantly longer in CEF compared to CMF treated patients with Her2-enriched tumors (HR 0.58, 95% CI 0.38-0.86), but not in patients with luminal tumors. Heterogeneity of treatment effect was significant for TR and OS. In this prospective-retrospective analysis, patients with Her2-enriched breast cancer derived substantial benefit from anthracycline chemotherapy whereas anthracyclines are not an essential component of chemotherapy for patients with luminal subtypes. The benefit of CEF vs. CMF correlated with increasing ROR Score.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maj-Britt Jensen
- Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Anne-Vibeke Lænkholm
- Department of Surgical Pathology, Zealand University Hospital, Slagelse, Denmark
| | - Eva Balslev
- Department of Pathology, Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Herlev, Denmark
| | | | - Sean Ferree
- NanoString Technologies Inc, Seattle, WA USA
| | - Vesna Glavicic
- Department of Oncology, Zealand University Hospital, Naestved, Denmark
| | | | - Ann Søegaard Knoop
- Department of Oncology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Henning T. Mouridsen
- Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Dorte Nielsen
- Department of Oncology, Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Herlev, Denmark
| | - Torsten O. Nielsen
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC Canada
| | - Bent Ejlertsen
- Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group, Department of Oncology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
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