Cancer

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a subtype of breast cancer with unmet medical needs. Several studies have proved that high levels of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) at diagnosis of TNBC confer better prognosis and patients respond better to specific chemotherapies. Nonetheless, current evidence suggests that only 15% of TNBC patients have very high levels of TILs, and another 15% lacks TILs.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play regulatory role in cellular processes and their aberrant expression may drive cancer progression. Here we report the function of a lncRNA PAINT (Prostate Cancer Associated Intergenic Non-Coding Transcript) in promoting prostate cancer (PCa) progression. Upregulation of PAINT was noted in advanced stage and metastatic PCa. Inhibition of PAINT decreased cell proliferation, S-phase progression, increased expression of apoptotic markers, and improved sensitivity to docetaxel and Aurora kinase inhibitor VX-680.

Ocular adnexal (OA) sebaceous carcinoma is an aggressive malignancy. Oncologic drivers of ocular sebaceous carcinoma are incompletely understood. A retrospective search of our pathology archives for OA sebaceous carcinoma identified 18 primary resection specimens. Immunohistochemistry for p16 and ZEB1 and RNA in situ hybridization for high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) subtypes were performed. High-risk HPV was demonstrated in 2/11 (18%) cases. p16 overexpression was observed in 10/11 (91%).

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is a spindle cell neoplasm of the skin and superficial soft tissue with a tendency for locally aggressive behavior; metastatic potential coincides with fibrosarcomatous transformation. The vast majority of DFSPs harbor the t(17;22) translocation resulting in a COL1A1-PDGFB fusion that drives autocrine growth stimulation via PDGFB overexpression. Here, we examined the utility of PDGFB RNA chromogenic in situ hybridization (CISH) for the diagnosis of DFSP.

High-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPVs), particularly HPV16 and HPV18, are the etiologic factors of ano-genital cancers and some head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. Viral E6 and E7 oncoproteins, controlled at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels, drive hrHPVs-induced carcinogenesis. In this study, we investigated the implication of the DEAD-box helicase eIF4A3, an Exon Junction Complex factor, in the regulation of HPV16 gene expression. Our data revealed that the depletion of the factor eIF4A3 upregulated E7 oncoprotein levels.

Background Oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma is associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) and often presents with early metastasis to cervical neck lymph nodes which are amenable to fine needle aspiration (FNA). The most common method of HPV status determination is p16 immunohistochemistry (IHC). The literature suggests that a lower threshold is needed for p16 positivity on cell block. We examined and quantified p16 IHC staining on cell block and used ROC curve analysis to determine an optimal cut off value with high sensitivity and specificity.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a ubiquitous γ-herpesvirus with latent and lytic cycles. EBV replicates in the stratified epithelium but the nasopharynx is also composed of pseudostratified epithelium with distinct cell types. Latent infection is associated with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Here, we show with nasopharyngeal conditionally reprogrammed cells cultured at the air-liquid interface that pseudostratified epithelial cells are susceptible to EBV infection.

Neuroblastoma is a pediatric tumor of the developing sympathetic nervous system. However, the cellular origin of neuroblastoma has yet to be defined. Here we studied the single-cell transcriptomes of neuroblastomas and normal human developing adrenal glands at various stages of embryonic and fetal development. We defined normal differentiation trajectories from Schwann cell precursors over intermediate states to neuroblasts or chromaffin cells and showed that neuroblastomas transcriptionally resemble normal fetal adrenal neuroblasts.

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play an important role in tumor immunity and comprise of subsets that have distinct phenotype, function, and ontology. Transcriptomic analyses of human medulloblastoma, the most common malignant pediatric brain cancer, showed that medulloblastomas (MBs) with activated sonic hedgehog signaling (SHH-MB) have significantly more TAMs than other MB subtypes.