Citations

Introduction: Intrinsic wave propagation is a novel approach to measure myocardial stiffness (MS) as validated in animal studies. Aims and Hypothesis: 1) To compare MS measured by the wave method with chamber stiffness (CS) derived from noninvasively estimated end-diastolic pressure-volume relationship (EDPVR) in patients; 2) To test the hypothesis that MS is superior to CS for predicting outcomes in patients with cardiac amyloidosis (CA). Methods: Prospective study in 56 patients with amyloidosis (CA: 38, noncardiac amyloidosis, NCA: 18; 90% AL-type; age 63 ± 10 yrs; ejection fraction 57 ± 11%) and 36 normal subjects (age 49 ± 13 years). Intrinsic velocity propagation of myocardial stretch (iVP), a measure of MS, was measured by ultra-high frame rate (250-465Hz) tissue Doppler imaging. Left ventricular (LV) EDPVR were reconstructed using the noninvasive single-beat method (Fig.A). Stiffness coefficients (α, β, load-independent) and CS (dP/dV) were calculated. End-diastolic pressure (EDP) was estimated from E/e’. Adverse events at follow-up (death, heart failure, stroke, significant arrhythmia) were recorded. Results: iVP was higher in CA compared to NCA and controls, indicating higher MS (Fig. B). This was confirmed by EDPVR, which were steeper and shifted leftward (Fig. A). The slope (β) of EDPVR and CS (dP/dV) were higher and LV capacitance (V 30 , volume at 30 mmHg) was lower in CA (Fig. A) and correlated with iVP (β: r = 0.59; CS dP/dV, r = 0.43; EDP, r = 0.61; all p<0.0001). Patients with higher LV thickness (r = 0.66), lower LV longitudinal strain (r = -0.57) and elevated NT-proBNP (r = 0.69) had higher iVP. At follow-up (median 2.5 years), after adjusting for relevant confounders, an iVP >2.7 m/s was strongly associated with excess events (p<0.0001; Fig. C) and was superior to measures of CS (dP/dV: p = 0.28; β >6.5: p = 0.03; Fig. D). Conclusions: Myocardial stiffness by intrinsic wave method shows similar findings to chamber stiffness by EDVPR, but is more strongly related to outcomes in patients with amyloidosis.

PURPOSE Many patients and physicians remain concerned about the potential detrimental effects of pregnancy after breast cancer (BC) in terms of reproductive outcomes and maternal safety. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed at providing updated evidence on these topics. METHODS A systematic literature review was conducted to identify studies including patients with a pregnancy after BC (PROSPERO number CRD42020158324). Likelihood of pregnancy after BC, their reproductive outcomes, and maternal safety were assessed. Pooled relative risks, odds ratios (ORs), and hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% CIs were calculated using random effects models. RESULTS Of 6,462 identified records, 39 were included involving 8,093,401 women from the general population and 112,840 patients with BC of whom 7,505 had a pregnancy after diagnosis. BC survivors were significantly less likely to have a subsequent pregnancy compared with the general population (relative risk, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.32 to 0.49). Risks of caesarean section (OR, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.04 to 1.25), low birth weight (OR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.31 to 1.73), preterm birth (OR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.11 to 1.88), and small for gestational age (OR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.33) were significantly higher in BC survivors, particularly in those with previous chemotherapy exposure, compared with the general population. No significantly increased risk of congenital abnormalities or other reproductive complications were observed. Compared to patients with BC without subsequent pregnancy, those with a pregnancy had better disease-free survival (HR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.49 to 0.89) and overall survival (HR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.45 to 0.68). Similar results were observed after correcting for potential confounders and irrespective of patient, tumor, and treatment characteristics, pregnancy outcome, and timing of pregnancy. CONCLUSION These results provide reassuring evidence on the safety of conceiving in BC survivors. Patients' pregnancy desire should be considered a crucial component of their survivorship care plan.

Abstract Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a particularly aggressive primary brain tumor that is relatively common in adults. The disease comes with a dismal prognosis, often with expected survival just over a year when treated with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. A promising addition to our GBM treatment arsenal are oncolytic viruses (OVs), a class of immunotherapy now in clinical trials. The most effective OVs home in on tumor cells, killing them and releasing tumor-associated antigens that elicit antitumor immunity. This effectiveness, however, varies depending on the cell state—a property that may be influenced by the composition of the extracellular matrix (ECM) of GBM. Cellular communication network factor 1 (CCN1) is found in the ECM of the majority of GBMs and is predictive of resistance to OVs, particularly those derived from herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). In this study, our aim is to understand how extracellular CCN1 alters the GBM intracellular state in a manner that confers resistance to OVs. We began by using our NetDecoder platform to build CCN1-specific prioritized protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks from published LN229 human GBM transcriptomic datasets. From this network, we identified 12 PPI edges that dominate the network flow in CCN1-high LN229 cells when compared to CCN1-low controls. The 21 unique nodes that comprise these binary PPI edges were extracted and subjected to downstream biological process overrepresentation analyses using Gene Ontology. We found that the cytokine-mediated signaling pathway (FDR = 4.2 x 10-11; enrichment ratio = 15.8) and the cellular response to cytokine stimulus (FDR = 3.1 x 10-9; enrichment ratio = 10.9) were highly enriched when mapped to these nodes. We conclude that CCN1, acting as a paracrine signal in the GBM tumor microenvironment, primes the cell to inhibit HSV-1 and other candidate OV replication prior to any virus interactions, thus contributing to immunovirotherapy resistance. While CCN1 and its cell surface integrin binding partners are ostensible drug targets for overcoming this resistance, pharmacologic interventions that target CCN1-specific high flow edges in our prioritized PPI network may be more effective. Citation Format: Dileep D. Monie, Cristina Correia, Cheng Zhang, Choong Ung, Richard G. Vile, Hu Li. Innate immunity and cytokine signaling pathways drive resistance to HSV-1 oncolytic immunovirotherapy in glioblastoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr 1679.

AbstractIrritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a gut‐brain disorder in which symptoms are shaped by serotonin acting centrally and peripherally. The serotonin transporter gene SLC6A4 has been implicated in IBS pathophysiology, but the underlying genetic mechanisms remain unclear. We sequenced the alternative P2 promoter driving intestinal SLC6A4 expression and identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that were associated with IBS in a discovery sample. Identified SNPs built different haplotypes, and the tagging SNP rs2020938 seems to associate with constipation‐predominant IBS (IBS‐C) in females. rs2020938 validation was performed in 1978 additional IBS patients and 6,038 controls from eight countries. Meta‐analysis on data from 2,175 IBS patients and 6,128 controls confirmed the association with female IBS‐C. Expression analyses revealed that the P2 promoter drives SLC6A4 expression primarily in the small intestine. Gene reporter assays showed a functional impact of SNPs in the P2 region. In silico analysis of the polymorphic promoter indicated differential expression regulation. Further follow‐up revealed that the major allele of the tagging SNP rs2020938 correlates with differential SLC6A4 expression in the jejunum and with stool consistency, indicating functional relevance. Our data consolidate rs2020938 as a functional SNP associated with IBS‐C risk in females, underlining the relevance of SLC6A4 in IBS pathogenesis.

Hepatocellular adenomas are rare in children. A large study focused on pediatric patients has not been undertaken. A natural language search was performed at 5 institutions for hepatocellular adenomas in patients younger than 21 years old. Clinical characteristics as well as immunohistochemical staining profile was reviewed and adenomas subtyped per standard classification. Patients were divided into prepubescent and postpubescent age group. Thirty-one patients were included. Eleven (35%) were male and 10 (32%) were prepubescent. Fifteen (54%) of 28 patients with known clinical histories had adenomas associated with a syndrome. The percentage of the different adenoma subtypes was: 16% β-catenin activated, 10% combined inflammatory and β-catenin activated, 29% HFN1α-inactivated, 35% inflammatory, and 10% unclassified subtype by immunohistochemical staining. Interestingly 53% of patients with syndromes were male, while 85% of patients in the nonsyndromic group were female. The total number of β-catenin activated tumors was greater in the syndromic group (5/15, 33%) and prepubescent group (5/10, 50%) than in the nonsyndromic group (2/13, 16%) and postpubescent group (3/21, 14%), P=0.4 and 0.07, respectively. Inflammatory type adenoma was more frequent in the postpubescent (10/21, 48%) than in the prepubescent group (1/10, 10%), P=0.06, trending toward significance. Pediatric patients with hepatocellular adenomas frequently have syndromes, especially in the prepubescent group. In patients with syndromes a greater percentage of adenomas were β-catenin activated. In patients without a known syndrome the distribution of hepatocellular adenoma subtypes appears similar to adults.

The Genitourinary Pathology Society (GUPS) undertook a critical review of the recent advances in bladder cancer focusing on important topics of high interest for the practicing surgical pathologist and urologist. This review represents the second of 2 manuscripts ensuing from this effort. Herein, we address the effective reporting of bladder cancer, focusing particularly on newly published data since the last 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) classification. In addition, this review focuses on the importance of reporting bladder cancer with divergent differentiation and variant (subtypes of urothelial carcinoma) histologies and the potential impact on patient care. We provide new recommendations for reporting pT1 staging in diagnostic pathology. Furthermore, we explore molecular evolution and classification, emphasizing aspects that impact the understanding of important concepts relevant to reporting and management of patients.

The Genitourinary Pathology Society (GUPS) undertook a critical review of the recent advances in bladder neoplasia with a focus on issues relevant to the practicing surgical pathologist for the understanding and effective reporting of bladder cancer, emphasizing particularly on the newly accumulated evidence post-2016 World Health Organization (WHO) classification. The work is presented in 2 manuscripts. Here, in the first, we revisit the nomenclature and classification system used for grading flat and papillary urothelial lesions centering on clinical relevance, and on dilemmas related to application in routine reporting. As patients of noninvasive bladder cancer frequently undergo cystoscopy and biopsy in their typically prolonged clinical course and for surveillance of disease, we discuss morphologies presented in these scenarios which may not have readily applicable diagnostic terms in the WHO classification. The topic of inverted patterns in urothelial neoplasia, particularly when prominent or exclusive, and beyond inverted papilloma has not been addressed formally in the WHO classification. Herein we provide a through review and suggest guidelines for when and how to report such lesions. In promulgating these GUPS recommendations, we aim to provide clarity on the clinical application of these not so uncommon diagnostically challenging situations encountered in routine practice, while also importantly advocating consistent terminology which would inform future work.