Citations

Abstract We describe the case of a 50-year-old woman with a lung tumor composed of crystal-storing histiocytes. These cells and associated plasma cells failed to show clonal light chain restriction, and the patient had no associated hematologic disorder. The differential diagnosis included crystal-storing histiocytosis, characterized by accumulation of crystallized immunoglobulins, a rare manifestation of monoclonal gammopathies/plasma cell dyscrasias. Crystal-laden histiocytes have previously been described in many organs. Four reports have described crystal-storing histiocytosis in the lung, always associated with a lymphoproliferative disorder. The present patient, 1 other case from our archive, and 1 case reported in the literature, all without an association with lymphoproliferative disorder, make a full description and definition of this lesion appropriate. The morphology, immunohistochemical profile, and electron microscopic features are described herein, and the term pulmonary crystal-storing histiocytoma is proposed. A practical algorithm is presented for the assessment of solitary lung masses composed of large histiocytic cells.

Introduction: Richter's syndrome (RS) represents transformation of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) into a highly aggressive lymphoma with dismal prognosis. Transcriptomic alterations have been described in CLL but most studies focused on peripheral blood samples with minimal data on RS-involved tissue. Moreover, transcriptomic features of RS have not been well defined in the era of CLL novel therapies. In this study we investigated transcriptomic profiles of CLL/RS-involved nodal tissue using samples from a clinical trial cohort of refractory CLL and RS patients treated with Pembrolizumab (NCT02332980). Methods: Nodal samples from 9 RS and 4 CLL patients in MC1485 trial cohort were reviewed and classified as previously published (Ding et al, Blood 2017). All samples were collected prior to Pembrolizumab treatment. Targeted gene expression profiling of 789 immune-related genes were performed on FFPE nodal samples using Nanostring nCounter® Analysis System (NanoString Technologies, Seattle, WA). Differential expression analysis was performed using NanoStringDiff. Genes with 2 fold-change in expression with a false-discovery rate less than 5% were considered differentially expressed. Results: The details for the therapy history of this cohort were illustrated in Figure 1a. All patients exposed to prior ibrutinib before the tissue biopsy had developed clinical progression while receiving ibrutinib. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering using the 300 most variable genes in expression revealed two clusters: C1 and C2 (Figure 1b). C1 included 4 RS and 3 CLL treated with prior chemotherapy without prior ibrutinib, and 1 RS treated with prior ibrutinib. C2 included 1 CLL and 3 RS received prior ibrutinib, and 1 RS treated with chemotherapy. The segregation of gene expression profiles in samples was largely driven by recent exposure to ibrutinib. In C1 cluster (majority had no prior ibrutinb), RS and CLL samples were clearly separated into two subgroups (Figure 1b). In C2 cluster, CLL 8 treated with ibrutinib showed more similarity in gene expression to RS, than to other CLL samples treated with chemotherapy. In comparison of C2 to C1, we identified 71 differentially expressed genes, of which 34 genes were downregulated and 37 were upregulated in C2. Among the upregulated genes in C2 (majority had prior ibrutinib) are known immune modulating genes including LILRA6, FCGR3A, IL-10, CD163, CD14, IL-2RB (figure 1c). Downregulated genes in C2 are involved in B cell activation including CD40LG, CD22, CD79A, MS4A1 (CD20), and LTB, reflecting the expected biological effect of ibrutinib in reducing B cell activation. Among the 9 RS samples, we compared gene profiles between the two groups of RS with or without prior ibrutinib therapy. 38 downregulated genes and 10 upregulated genes were found in the 4 RS treated with ibrutinib in comparison with 5 RS treated with chemotherapy. The top upregulated genes in the ibrutinib-exposed group included PTHLH, S100A8, IGSF3, TERT, and PRKCB, while the downregulated genes in these samples included MS4A1, LTB and CD38 (figure 1d). In order to delineate the differences of RS vs CLL, we compared gene expression profiles between 5 RS samples and 3 CLL samples that were treated with only chemotherapy. RS samples showed significant upregulation of 129 genes and downregulation of 7 genes. Among the most significantly upregulated genes are multiple genes involved in monocyte and myeloid lineage regulation including TNFSF13, S100A9, FCN1, LGALS2, CD14, FCGR2A, SERPINA1, and LILRB3. Conclusion: Our study indicates that ibrutinib-resistant, RS-involved tissues are characterized by downregulation of genes in B cell activation, but with PRKCB and TERT upregulation. Furthermore, RS-involved nodal tissues display the increased expression of genes involved in myeloid/monocytic regulation in comparison with CLL-involved nodal tissues. These findings implicate that differential therapies for RS and CLL patients need to be adopted based on their prior therapy and gene expression signatures. Studies using large sample size will be needed to verify this hypothesis. Figure Disclosures Zhao: Merck: Current Employment. Blumenschein:Merck: Current Employment. Yearley:Merck: Current Employment. Wang:Novartis: Research Funding; Incyte: Research Funding; Innocare: Research Funding. Parikh:Verastem Oncology: Honoraria; GlaxoSmithKline: Honoraria; Pharmacyclics: Honoraria, Research Funding; MorphoSys: Research Funding; Ascentage Pharma: Research Funding; Genentech: Honoraria; AbbVie: Honoraria, Research Funding; Merck: Research Funding; TG Therapeutics: Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Honoraria, Research Funding. Kenderian:Sunesis: Research Funding; MorphoSys: Research Funding; Humanigen: Consultancy, Patents & Royalties, Research Funding; Gilead: Research Funding; BMS: Research Funding; Tolero: Research Funding; Lentigen: Research Funding; Juno: Research Funding; Mettaforge: Patents & Royalties; Torque: Consultancy; Kite: Research Funding; Novartis: Patents & Royalties, Research Funding. Kay:Astra Zeneca: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Acerta Pharma: Research Funding; Juno Theraputics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Dava Oncology: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Oncotracker: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Sunesis: Research Funding; MEI Pharma: Research Funding; Agios Pharma: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Bristol Meyer Squib: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Tolero Pharmaceuticals: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Abbvie: Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Rigel: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Morpho-sys: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Cytomx: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Braggio:DASA: Consultancy; Bayer: Other: Stock Owner; Acerta Pharma: Research Funding. Ding:DTRM: Research Funding; Astra Zeneca: Research Funding; Abbvie: Research Funding; Merck: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Octapharma: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; MEI Pharma: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; alexion: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Beigene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.

AbstractIntroductionMachine learning models were used to discover novel disease trajectories for autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease.MethodsLongitudinal structural magnetic resonance imaging, amyloid positron emission tomography (PET), and fluorodeoxyglucose PET were acquired in 131 mutation carriers and 74 non‐carriers from the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network; the groups were matched for age, education, sex, and apolipoprotein ε4 (APOE ε4). A deep neural network was trained to predict disease progression for each modality. Relief algorithms identified the strongest predictors of mutation status.ResultsThe Relief algorithm identified the caudate, cingulate, and precuneus as the strongest predictors among all modalities. The model yielded accurate results for predicting future Pittsburgh compound B (R2 = 0.95), fluorodeoxyglucose (R2 = 0.93), and atrophy (R2 = 0.95) in mutation carriers compared to non‐carriers.DiscussionResults suggest a sigmoidal trajectory for amyloid, a biphasic response for metabolism, and a gradual decrease in volume, with disease progression primarily in subcortical, middle frontal, and posterior parietal regions.

ABSTRACT Copper is an essential transition metal for all eukaryotes. In mammals, intestinal copper absorption is mediated by the ATP7A copper transporter, whereas copper excretion occurs predominantly through the biliary route and is mediated by the paralog ATP7B. Both transporters have been shown to be recycled actively between the endosomal network and the plasma membrane by a molecular machinery known as the COMMD/CCDC22/CCDC93 or CCC complex. In fact, mutations in COMMD1 can lead to impaired biliary copper excretion and liver pathology in dogs and in mice with liver-specific Commd1 deficiency, recapitulating aspects of this phenotype. Nonetheless, the role of the CCC complex in intestinal copper absorption in vivo has not been studied, and the potential redundancy of various COMMD family members has not been tested. In this study, we examined copper homeostasis in enterocyte-specific and hepatocyte-specific COMMD gene-deficient mice. We found that, in contrast to effects in cell lines in culture, COMMD protein deficiency induced minimal changes in ATP7A in enterocytes and did not lead to altered copper levels under low- or high-copper diets, suggesting that regulation of ATP7A in enterocytes is not of physiological consequence. By contrast, deficiency of any of three COMMD genes (Commd1, Commd6 or Commd9) resulted in hepatic copper accumulation under high-copper diets. We found that each of these deficiencies caused destabilization of the entire CCC complex and suggest that this might explain their shared phenotype. Overall, we conclude that the CCC complex plays an important role in ATP7B endosomal recycling and function.

Background: Patients ≥55 years of age with high-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML) may benefit from an allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), which is often the only potentially curative therapy available. However, complete remission (CR) is usually a pre-requisite for most centers to perform HCT, as CR predicts an optimal outcome. Many older patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) AML are not transplanted as they do not achieve the required CR. In addition, due to their advanced age, they are unable to tolerate the myeloablative conditioning required for eradication of disease, while the more tolerable reduced intensity conditioning often exhibits high rates of relapse. The SIERRA trial is a prospective, randomized, phase 3 trial for older patients with R/R AML to address this unmet need. We hypothesized that a targeted delivery of radiation to the marrow, achieved with a limit of 24 Gray (Gy) radiation dose to the liver, via an infusion of a therapeutic dose of Iomab-B enables successful engraftment despite active disease in the marrow. Methods: Eligible patients were ≥55 years with active R/R AML (≥5% blasts), adequate organ function, and related/unrelated 8/8 HLA-matched donors. Patients were randomized (1:1) to the Iomab-B or Conventional Care (CC) arm. Patients randomized to Iomab-B received an outpatient dosimetric dose of Iomab-B followed by nuclear medicine imaging to determine the personalized therapeutic dose that would deliver radiation to the marrow while limiting the delivery of radiation to the liver to 24 Gy. HCT is performed 12-14 days following the infusion of a therapeutic dose of Iomab-B, and a non-myeloablative conditioning backbone of fludarabine (30 mg/m2 x 3) and low-dose Total Body Irradiation (TBI 2 Gy x 1 dose). Patients on the CC arm received investigator's choice of salvage therapy, including newly approved targeted agents, and could proceed to physician's choice of conditioning and HCT if they achieved CR. If CC patients did not achieve CR, the study allowed them to cross-over and receive Iomab-B-based conditioning followed by allogeneic HCT. Results: Preliminary data were available from 106 patients (Table 1). 53 patients (median age 64) were randomized to Iomab-B and received allogeneic transplant. All Iomab-B patients engrafted, despite a pre-therapy median of 26% marrow blasts. After randomization, 83% (44/53) CC patients failed salvage therapy, including 45% (24/53) who received targeted agents. 26 of 44 (60%) CC patients, with a median 33% marrow blasts, crossed over and received Iomab-B followed by allogeneic HCT. Patient age, donor type (MRD, MUD), bone marrow cellularity, blast percentage, type of donor, stem cell dose, administered Iomab-B activity (mCi), and absorbed radiation dose to the marrow (Gy), were analyzed for time to engraftment among each group. Median time to neutrophil and platelet engraftment were 14 days (range 9-22) and 17 days (range 4-39) respectively, with 91% of evaluable patients achieving full donor chimerism (>95% by day 100, Table 1). Neither the radiation dose delivered to the marrow (median 14.7 Gy; range, 4.6-32 Gy; Table 1) nor the total administered activity (median 632 mCi; range, 354-1027 mCi) showed correlation with the time to either neutrophil (p value=0.525) or platelet engraftment (p value=0.952). Regression analyses, considering all of the variables individually, did not indicate a statistically significant correlation (p > 0.1) between days to engraftment and radiation dose delivered to the marrow. These results were consistent for the Iomab-B cross-over group as well. Furthermore, the marrow absorbed dose did not show a significant correlation with % chimerism at day 28 in patients on the Iomab-B arm or in cross-over patients. Conclusion: Dosimetry to determine a patient-specific therapeutic dose of Iomab-B of 24 Gy to the liver provided absorbed marrow radiation doses that allowed for reliable engraftment after allogeneic HCT in older patients with R/R AML, despite a heavy leukemia burden with median bone marrow blasts of 26% prior to HCT (Iomab-B arm). There was no relationship between total administered activity or radiation dose delivered to the marrow with the speed of engraftment. The SIERRA trial is currently enrolling patients (www.sierratrial.com or clinicaltrials.gov NCT02665065). Disclosures Gyurkocza: Actinium: Research Funding. Nath:Daiichi Sankyo: Consultancy, Honoraria; Actinium: Consultancy, Honoraria; Astellas: Consultancy, Honoraria. Stiff:Kite, a Gilead Company: Research Funding; Gamida Cell: Research Funding; Atara: Research Funding; Unum: Research Funding; Macrogenics: Research Funding; Delta-Fly: Research Funding; Amgen: Research Funding. Hari:Takeda: Consultancy; BMS: Consultancy; GSK: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; Incyte Corporation: Consultancy. Al-Kadhimi:Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc.: Research Funding; Genzyme: Research Funding; Bluebird Bio: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Gilead Science: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Moderna: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Novavax: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Abboud:BMS: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; AbbVie Inc: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Forty Seven Inc: Research Funding; Abbott Labs: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; AlloVir: Research Funding; Ryvu: Research Funding; Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc.: Research Funding; Johnson & Johnson: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Pfizer: Research Funding. Magalhaes-Silverman:Incyte: Research Funding; Kadmon Holdings: Research Funding; Actinium Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding. Foran:BMS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Pfizer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; H3Biosciences: Research Funding; Agios: Honoraria, Research Funding; Xencor: Research Funding; Trillium: Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; Kura Oncology: Research Funding; Aptose: Research Funding; Aprea: Research Funding; Actinium: Research Funding; Boehringer Ingelheim: Research Funding; Abbvie: Research Funding; Revolution Medicine: Consultancy; Servier: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Schuster:Amgen, Abbvie, Gilead, Takeda, Celgene, Pharmacyclics, Astellas, Verastem, Merck, Novartis, Takeda, Genentech,, Seattle Genetics: Other: Personal Fees; Karyopharm: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Kebriaei:Amgen: Other: Research Support; Pfizer: Other: Served on advisory board; Ziopharm: Other: Research Support; Jazz: Consultancy; Novartis: Other: Served on advisory board; Kite: Other: Served on advisory board. Levy:Karyopharm: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Seattle Genetics: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Bristol Meyers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; BeiGene: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Baylor University Med Center: Current Employment. Giralt:ACTINUUM: Consultancy, Research Funding; MILTENYI: Consultancy, Research Funding; KITE: Consultancy; TAKEDA: Research Funding; CELGENE: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; JAZZ: Consultancy, Honoraria; AMGEN: Consultancy, Research Funding; OMEROS: Consultancy, Honoraria; NOVARTIS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding. Liang:Actinium Pharmaceuticals: Current Employment. Berger:Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc.: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Reddy:Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc.: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company.

Background: Despite recently approved novel targeted therapies, most patients with high-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML) still require allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) to achieve long-term survival. However, older patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) AML are often unable to undergo HCT due to the toxicity of myeloablative pre-conditioning. Since higher doses of chemotherapy and radiation are associated with prolonged myelosuppression or infectious complications, targeted radiotherapy with Iomab-B, employed in the SIERRA trial, was designed to minimize toxicities in a patient population unable to tolerate standard high-dose myeloablative HCT pre-conditioning. We hypothesize that Iomab-B, which spares non-hematologic organs such as the GI tract, exhibits a favorable toxicity profile with respect to mucositis, febrile neutropenia (FN), and sepsis. Methods: The SIERRA trial is a prospective trial for patients ≥55 years of age with R/R AML (≥5% blasts) and 8/8 HLA-matched related or unrelated donors. Patients were randomized (1:1) to Iomab-B or Conventional Care (CC). Those in the Iomab-B group received a dosimetric infusion of Iomab-B followed by nuclear imaging to determine the personalized therapeutic dose to be delivered to the bone marrow and to other sites of disease. Therapeutic dose calculations, utilizing the Olinda software (Version 2.1, Hermes Medical) to determine the delivery of a maximum of 24 Gray (Gy) dose to the liver, were performed based on the imaging results. HCT is performed 12-14 days following the infusion of a therapeutic dose of Iomab-B, and a non-myeloablative conditioning backbone of fludarabine (30 mg/m2 x 3) and low-dose Total Body Irradiation (TBI 2 Gy x 1 dose). CC patients received the investigator's choice of salvage therapy. Safety data was evaluated from randomization and up to 100 days after HCT in the patients randomized to the Iomab-B group. We specifically evaluated AE variables of mucositis (Gr 2-4), FN (Gr3,4) and sepsis. An analysis was performed with both total activity of Iomab-B as well as with the radiation dose delivered to the bone marrow, stomach wall, small and large intestinal walls. For each of the 3 AEs of interest, a multivariate analysis was performed, allowing each of the predictor variables to be included in the model. Results: A total of 106 patients were randomized at the time of analysis. For those randomized to Iomab-B, data is available for 45 patients that received a therapeutic dose of Iomab-B and HCT. The median dose of Iomab-B administered was 603 mCi (range 313-1027 mCi) and the median radiation dose delivered to the marrow in the Iomab-B group was 14.7 Gy (range 4.6 - 32 Gy). All patients (median age 64) treated with a therapeutic dose of Iomab-B achieved neutrophil engraftment after a median of 14 days post-HCT (range 9-22), despite presenting with a median 26% marrow blasts prior to initiation of therapy. Rates of mucositis, FN, and sepsis are shown in Table 1. No correlation between AEs (FN, mucositis, sepsis) and administered Iomab-B activity (p=0.08), nor with dose delivered to GI tract (p=0.09) was observed. Furthermore, these AEs were not related to the dose of radiation received by the small intestine (median 2.7 Gy range 1.1-6.8 Gy) large intestine (median 2.6 Gy range 0.9-6.5 Gy), nor an average of all 4 GI sites (median 2.8 Gy range 1.6-6.8 Gy). Conclusions: Unlike cases involving treatment with cytotoxic chemotherapy and external beam radiation where mucositis, infections and sepsis increase along with the administered dose, targeted myeloablative conditioning with Iomab-B resulted in low incidences of severe mucositis, FN, and sepsis. These AEs do not appear to be related to the total dose of Iomab-B administered nor to the specific radiation dose delivered to the bone marrow. Furthermore, a low dose of radiation (2.8 Gy) was received by the GI tract compared to the larger dose of radiation (14.7 Gy) delivered to the marrow. Taken together, these results represent potentially significant improvements in the safe delivery of myeloablative therapy with high-dose targeted radioimmunotherapy, prior to HCT in older patients with R/R AML. This SIERRA trial is currently enrolling patients (www.sierratrial.com or clinicaltrials.gov NCT02665065). Disclosures Gyurkocza: Actinium: Research Funding. Nath:Actinium: Consultancy, Honoraria; Astellas: Consultancy, Honoraria; Daiichi Sankyo: Consultancy, Honoraria. Stiff:Kite, a Gilead Company: Research Funding; Gamida Cell: Research Funding; Atara: Research Funding; Unum: Research Funding; Delta-Fly: Research Funding; Macrogenics: Research Funding; Amgen: Research Funding. Hari:Amgen: Consultancy; GSK: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; BMS: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy; Incyte Corporation: Consultancy. Al-Kadhimi:Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc.: Research Funding; Genzyme: Research Funding; Bluebird Bio: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Gilead Science: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Moderna: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Novavax: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Abboud:Ryvu: Research Funding; Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc.: Research Funding; Pfizer: Research Funding; Johnson & Johnson: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; BMS: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Abbott Labs: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; AbbVie Inc: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; AlloVir: Research Funding; Forty Seven Inc: Research Funding. Magalhaes-Silverman:Kadmon Holdings: Research Funding; Actinium Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; Incyte: Research Funding. Foran:Xencor: Research Funding; Trillium: Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; Kura Oncology: Research Funding; Aptose: Research Funding; Aprea: Research Funding; Actinium: Research Funding; Boehringer Ingelheim: Research Funding; Abbvie: Research Funding; BMS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Pfizer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Servier: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Revolution Medicine: Consultancy; Agios: Honoraria, Research Funding; H3Biosciences: Research Funding. Schuster:Amgen, Abbvie, Gilead, Takeda, Celgene, Pharmacyclics, Astellas, Verastem, Merck, Novartis, Takeda, Genentech,, Seattle Genetics: Other: Personal Fees; Karyopharm: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Kebriaei:Pfizer: Other: Served on advisory board; Kite: Other: Served on advisory board; Amgen: Other: Research Support; Ziopharm: Other: Research Support; Novartis: Other: Served on advisory board; Jazz: Consultancy. Levy:Karyopharm,Takeda, BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Giralt:KITE: Consultancy; NOVARTIS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; OMEROS: Consultancy, Honoraria; ACTINUUM: Consultancy, Research Funding; MILTENYI: Consultancy, Research Funding; TAKEDA: Research Funding; CELGENE: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; JAZZ: Consultancy, Honoraria; AMGEN: Consultancy, Research Funding. Liang:Actinium Pharmaceuticals: Current Employment. Berger:Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc.: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Reddy:Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc.: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company.

Abstract Background: Accumulating evidence suggests a relationship between endometrial cancer and ovarian cancer. Independent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for endometrial cancer and ovarian cancer have identified 16 and 27 risk regions, respectively, four of which overlap between the two cancers. We aimed to identify joint endometrial and ovarian cancer risk loci by performing a meta-analysis of GWAS summary statistics from these two cancers. Methods: Using LDScore regression, we explored the genetic correlation between endometrial cancer and ovarian cancer. To identify loci associated with the risk of both cancers, we implemented a pipeline of statistical genetic analyses (i.e., inverse-variance meta-analysis, colocalization, and M-values) and performed analyses stratified by subtype. Candidate target genes were then prioritized using functional genomic data. Results: Genetic correlation analysis revealed significant genetic correlation between the two cancers (rG = 0.43, P = 2.66 × 10−5). We found seven loci associated with risk for both cancers (PBonferroni < 2.4 × 10−9). In addition, four novel subgenome-wide regions at 7p22.2, 7q22.1, 9p12, and 11q13.3 were identified (P < 5 × 10−7). Promoter-associated HiChIP chromatin loops from immortalized endometrium and ovarian cell lines and expression quantitative trait loci data highlighted candidate target genes for further investigation. Conclusions: Using cross-cancer GWAS meta-analysis, we have identified several joint endometrial and ovarian cancer risk loci and candidate target genes for future functional analysis. Impact: Our research highlights the shared genetic relationship between endometrial cancer and ovarian cancer. Further studies in larger sample sets are required to confirm our findings.

Abstract Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membrane-bound vesicles released by most cells and are found in diverse biological fluids. The release of EVs provides a new mechanism for intercellular communication, allowing cells to transfer their functional cargoes to target cells. Glomerular diseases account for a large proportion of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) worldwide. In recent years, an increasing number of research groups have focused their effort on identifying the functional role of EVs in renal diseases. However, the involvement of EVs in the pathophysiology of glomerular diseases has not been comprehensively described and discussed. In this review, we first briefly introduce the characteristics of EVs. Then, we describe the involvement of EVs in the mechanisms underlying glomerular diseases, including immunological and fibrotic processes. We also discuss what functions EVs derived from different kidney cells have in glomerular diseases and how EVs exert their effects through different signaling pathways. Furthermore, we summarize recent advances in the knowledge of EV involvement in the pathogenesis of various glomerular diseases. Finally, we propose future research directions for identifying better management strategies for glomerular diseases.