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Clinical Cancer Research : An Official... Sep 2022Placental growth factor (PlGF) and its receptor neuropilin 1 are elevated in malignant embryonal tumors and mediate tumor progression by promoting cell proliferation,...
PURPOSE
Placental growth factor (PlGF) and its receptor neuropilin 1 are elevated in malignant embryonal tumors and mediate tumor progression by promoting cell proliferation, survival, and metastasis. TB-403 is a blocking monoclonal antibody against PlGF that inhibits tumor growth and increases survival in orthotopic medulloblastoma models.
PATIENTS AND METHODS
We conducted a phase I, open-label, multicenter, dose-escalation study of TB-403 in pediatric subjects with relapsed or refractory cancers. The study involved four dose levels (20 mg/kg, 50 mg/kg, 100 mg/kg, 175 mg/kg) using a 3 + 3 dose-escalation scheme. Subjects received two doses of TB-403 (days 1 and 15) per cycle. After cycle 1, temozolomide or etoposide could be added. The primary objective was to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of TB-403 monotherapy during a dose-limiting toxicity assessment period. The secondary and exploratory objectives included efficacy, drug pharmacokinetics, and detection of pharmacodynamic biomarkers.
RESULTS
Fifteen subjects were treated in four dose levels. All subjects received two doses of TB-403 in cycle 1. Five serious treatment-emergent adverse events were reported in 3 subjects, but MTD was not reached. While no complete nor partial responses were observed, 7 of 11 relapsed subjects with medulloblastoma experienced stable disease, which persisted for more than 100 days in 4 of 7 subjects.
CONCLUSIONS
TB-403 was safe and well tolerated at all dose levels. No MTD was reached. The results look encouraging and therefore warrant further evaluation of efficacy in pediatric subjects with medulloblastoma.
Topics: Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; Brain Neoplasms; Cerebellar Neoplasms; Child; Female; Humans; Maximum Tolerated Dose; Medulloblastoma; Neuroblastoma; Placenta Growth Factor; Rhabdomyosarcoma, Alveolar; Sarcoma, Ewing
PubMed: 35833850
DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-22-1169 -
Disease Models & Mechanisms Sep 2017Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (aRMS) is a pediatric soft tissue cancer commonly associated with a chromosomal translocation that leads to the expression of a Pax3:Foxo1 or...
Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (aRMS) is a pediatric soft tissue cancer commonly associated with a chromosomal translocation that leads to the expression of a Pax3:Foxo1 or Pax7:Foxo1 fusion protein, the developmental underpinnings of which may give clues to its therapeutic approaches. In aRMS, the NFκB-YY1-miR-29 regulatory circuit is dysregulated, resulting in repression of and loss of the associated tumor suppressor activity. To further elucidate the role of NFκB in aRMS, we first tested 55 unique sarcoma cell lines and primary cell cultures in a large-scale chemical screen targeting diverse molecular pathways. We found that pharmacological inhibition of NFκB activity resulted in decreased cell proliferation of many of the aRMS tumor cultures. Surprisingly, mice that were orthotopically allografted with aRMS tumor cells exhibited no difference in tumor growth when administered an NFκB inhibitor, compared to control. Furthermore, inhibition of NFκB by genetically ablating its activating kinase inhibitor, , by conditional deletion in a mouse model harboring the chimeric oncogene failed to abrogate spontaneous tumor growth. Genetically engineered mice with conditionally deleted exhibited a paradoxical decrease in tumor latency compared with those with active NFκB. However, using a synthetic-lethal approach, primary cell cultures derived from tumors with inactivated NFκB showed sensitivity to the BCL-2 inhibitor navitoclax. When used in combination with an NFκB inhibitor, navitoclax was synergistic in decreasing the growth of both human and wild-type mouse aRMS cells, indicating that inactivation of NFκB alone may not be sufficient for reducing tumor growth, but, when combined with another targeted therapeutic, may be clinically beneficial.
Topics: Allografts; Animals; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Proliferation; Dogs; Female; Gene Deletion; Genetic Complementation Test; Humans; I-kappa B Kinase; Mice, SCID; NF-kappa B; Peptides; Phenotype; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; Rhabdomyosarcoma, Alveolar; Signal Transduction
PubMed: 28883017
DOI: 10.1242/dmm.030882 -
International Journal of Molecular... Jan 2023Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue sarcoma in children. The prognosis for patients with high-grade and metastatic disease is still very poor, and...
Surfaceome Profiling of Cell Lines and Patient-Derived Xenografts Confirm FGFR4, NCAM1, CD276, and Highlight AGRL2, JAM3, and L1CAM as Surface Targets for Rhabdomyosarcoma.
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue sarcoma in children. The prognosis for patients with high-grade and metastatic disease is still very poor, and survivors are burdened with long-lasting side effects. Therefore, more effective and less toxic therapies are needed. Surface proteins are ideal targets for antibody-based therapies, like bispecific antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates, or chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells. Specific surface targets for RMS are scarce. Here, we performed a surfaceome profiling based on differential centrifugation enrichment of surface/membrane proteins and detection by LC-MS on six fusion-positive (FP) RMS cell lines, five fusion-negative (FN) RMS cell lines, and three RMS patient-derived xenografts (PDXs). A total of 699 proteins were detected in the three RMS groups. Ranking based on expression levels and comparison to expression in normal MRC-5 fibroblasts and myoblasts, followed by statistical analysis, highlighted known RMS targets such as FGFR4, NCAM1, and CD276/B7-H3, and revealed AGRL2, JAM3, MEGF10, GPC4, CADM2, as potential targets for immunotherapies of RMS. L1CAM expression was investigated in RMS tissues, and strong L1CAM expression was observed in more than 80% of alveolar RMS tumors, making it a practicable target for antibody-based therapies of alveolar RMS.
Topics: Child; Animals; Humans; Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule L1; Heterografts; Rhabdomyosarcoma; Cell Line; Transcription Factors; Disease Models, Animal; Neural Cell Adhesion Molecules; Cell Line, Tumor; B7 Antigens; Cell Adhesion Molecules; Receptor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Type 4
PubMed: 36768928
DOI: 10.3390/ijms24032601 -
Cureus Feb 2022Rhabdomyosarcoma is a highly aggressive cancer that is generally considered a disease of childhood. A vast majority of cases occur in those below the age of 20....
Rhabdomyosarcoma is a highly aggressive cancer that is generally considered a disease of childhood. A vast majority of cases occur in those below the age of 20. Rhabdomyosarcoma can occur in any soft tissue in the body but is primarily found in the head, neck, orbit, genitourinary tract, genitals, and extremities. Prognosis is closely tied to the location of the primary tumor and the extent of metastatic spread. As with most sarcomas, rhabdomyosarcoma has a pattern of hematogenous spread which favors metastasis to the lungs. Other common areas include bone marrows, liver, breasts, and brain. One unusual pattern is the presence of diffuse bone marrow metastases in absence of significant soft tissue disease other than primary (no distant nodal disease, absence of visceral disease in chest and abdomen). Frequently in such cases, patients may have initial presentation similar to hematologic malignancy especially when the primary tumor is not evident. This pattern has been rarely described in the radiology literature. This pattern appears to be well documented in pathology literature. Even more rarely, in some cases, the primary tumor site may not be found after imaging and may remain undetermined even postmortem - only diagnosed by bone marrow aspiration. Awareness of this unique pattern is clearly important for radiologists, especially pediatric radiologists, as misdiagnosis can lead to delay in appropriate treatment that ultimately results in increased mortality. We present a case of rhabdomyosarcoma with this unique pattern of bone marrow metastases in which initial differential diagnosis favored a leukemic picture. This paper will go over the diagnostic techniques utilized throughout our patient's disease course as well as treatment.
PubMed: 35265406
DOI: 10.7759/cureus.21863 -
Scientific Reports Jun 2023Although a rare disease, rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is one of the most common cancers in children the more aggressive and metastatic subtype is the alveolar RMS (ARMS)....
Although a rare disease, rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is one of the most common cancers in children the more aggressive and metastatic subtype is the alveolar RMS (ARMS). Survival outcomes with metastatic disease remain dismal and the need for new models that recapitulate key pathological features, including cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions, is warranted. Here, we report an organotypic model that captures cellular and molecular determinants of invasive ARMS. We cultured the ARMS cell line RH30 on a collagen sponge in a perfusion-based bioreactor (U-CUP), obtaining after 7 days a 3D construct with homogeneous cell distribution. Compared to static culture, perfusion flow induced higher cell proliferation rates (20% vs. 5%), enhanced secretion of active MMP-2, and upregulation of the Rho pathway, associated with cancer cell dissemination. Consistently, the ECM genes LAMA1 and LAMA2, the antiapoptotic gene HSP90, identified in patient databases as hallmarks of invasive ARMS, were higher under perfusion flow at mRNA and protein level. Our advanced ARMS organotypic model mimics (1) the interactions cells-ECM, (2) the cell growth maintenance, and (3) the expression of proteins that characterize tumor expansion and aggressiveness. In the future, the perfusion-based model could be used with primary patient-derived cell subtypes to create a personalized ARMS chemotherapy screening system.
Topics: Child; Humans; Rhabdomyosarcoma, Alveolar; Rhabdomyosarcoma; Cell Line; Perfusion; Cell Culture Techniques, Three Dimensional; Cell Line, Tumor
PubMed: 37296184
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-36210-4 -
Indian Journal of Pathology &... 2022Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue sarcoma in children. Anaplasia is a rare phenomenon seen in childhood RMS. The most common histologic subtype was...
BACKGROUND
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue sarcoma in children. Anaplasia is a rare phenomenon seen in childhood RMS. The most common histologic subtype was Embryonal followed by Alveolar and spindle subtype.
DESIGN
A total of 11 cases of pediatric RMS were selected from January 2017 to June 2019 presenting at various sites. Out of 11 cases, 2 were further diagnosed as Embryonal, 2 as Alveolar, 2 as Pleomorphic, 1 as Spindle subtype and rest 4 as RMS-NOS based on morphology. All cases were positive for Desmin. The presence of cells with lobated, hyperchromatic nuclei at least three times larger than the tumor cell (anaplastic cells) was selected as the main criterion to diagnose Anaplasia.
RESULTS
Out of the total 11 cases, anaplasia was seen in 7 cases. Out of these seven, five cases showed Focal Anaplasia (FA) (71.4%) and 2 cases showed Diffuse Anaplasia (DA) (28.6%). Out of 2 cases of Embryonal RMS one exhibited focal anaplasia (50%). One case of Spindle RMS showed diffuse anaplasia, 2 cases of pleomorphic RMS showed focal anaplasia. Out of 3 cases of RMS- NOS, 2 exhibited focal anaplaisa and one displayed Diffuse anaplasia. Both Alveolar RMS had no features of anaplasia.
CONCLUSION
Presence of Anaplasia is a frequent observation in pediatric RMS. Anaplasia is often under reported in pediatric RMS. Pathologist should be more aware of this rare phenomenon.
Topics: Child; Humans; Anaplasia; Rhabdomyosarcoma; Sarcoma; Soft Tissue Neoplasms; Rhabdomyosarcoma, Alveolar
PubMed: 36308195
DOI: 10.4103/ijpm.ijpm_178_21 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Oct 2018Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a family of soft tissue cancers that are related to the skeletal muscle lineage and predominantly occur in children and young adults. A... (Review)
Review
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a family of soft tissue cancers that are related to the skeletal muscle lineage and predominantly occur in children and young adults. A specific chromosomal translocation t(2;13)(q35;q14) that gives rise to the chimeric oncogenic transcription factor PAX3-FOXO1 has been identified as a hallmark of the aggressive alveolar subtype of RMS. PAX3-FOXO1 cooperates with additional molecular changes to promote oncogenic transformation and tumorigenesis in various human and murine models. Its expression is generally restricted to RMS tumor cells, thus providing a very specific target for therapeutic approaches for these RMS tumors. In this article, we review the recent understanding of PAX3-FOXO1 as a transcription factor in the pathogenesis of this cancer and discuss recent developments to target this oncoprotein for treatment of RMS.
Topics: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; Combined Modality Therapy; Drug Discovery; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Humans; Molecular Targeted Therapy; Oncogene Proteins, Fusion; Paired Box Transcription Factors; Rhabdomyosarcoma; Signal Transduction
PubMed: 30373318
DOI: 10.3390/molecules23112798 -
Clinical Cancer Research : An Official... Jan 2023Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is an aggressive soft-tissue sarcoma, which primarily occurs in children and young adults. We previously reported specific genomic alterations in...
PURPOSE
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is an aggressive soft-tissue sarcoma, which primarily occurs in children and young adults. We previously reported specific genomic alterations in RMS, which strongly correlated with survival; however, predicting these mutations or high-risk disease at diagnosis remains a significant challenge. In this study, we utilized convolutional neural networks (CNN) to learn histologic features associated with driver mutations and outcome using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) images of RMS.
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
Digital whole slide H&E images were collected from clinically annotated diagnostic tumor samples from 321 patients with RMS enrolled in Children's Oncology Group (COG) trials (1998-2017). Patches were extracted and fed into deep learning CNNs to learn features associated with mutations and relative event-free survival risk. The performance of the trained models was evaluated against independent test sample data (n = 136) or holdout test data.
RESULTS
The trained CNN could accurately classify alveolar RMS, a high-risk subtype associated with PAX3/7-FOXO1 fusion genes, with an ROC of 0.85 on an independent test dataset. CNN models trained on mutationally-annotated samples identified tumors with RAS pathway with a ROC of 0.67, and high-risk mutations in MYOD1 or TP53 with a ROC of 0.97 and 0.63, respectively. Remarkably, CNN models were superior in predicting event-free and overall survival compared with current molecular-clinical risk stratification.
CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrates that high-risk features, including those associated with certain mutations, can be readily identified at diagnosis using deep learning. CNNs are a powerful tool for diagnostic and prognostic prediction of rhabdomyosarcoma, which will be tested in prospective COG clinical trials.
Topics: Child; Humans; Young Adult; Deep Learning; Eosine Yellowish-(YS); Hematoxylin; Paired Box Transcription Factors; Prospective Studies; Rhabdomyosarcoma; Rhabdomyosarcoma, Alveolar
PubMed: 36346688
DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-22-1663 -
Oncoimmunology 2022Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is an aggressive pediatric soft tissue sarcoma characterized by a very poor prognosis when relapses occur after front-line therapy. Therefore, a...
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is an aggressive pediatric soft tissue sarcoma characterized by a very poor prognosis when relapses occur after front-line therapy. Therefore, a major challenge for patients' management remains the identification of markers associated with refractory and progressive disease. In this context, cancer autoantibodies are natural markers of disease onset and progression, useful to unveil novel therapeutic targets. Herein, we matched autoantibody profiling of alveolar RMS (ARMS) patients with genes under regulatory control of PAX3-FOXO1 transcription factor and revealed fibroblast growth factor 8 (FGF8) as a novel ARMS tumor antigen of diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic potential. We demonstrated that high levels of FGF8 autoantibodies distinguished ARMS patients from healthy subjects and represented an independent prognostic factor of better event-free survival. FGF8 was overexpressed in ARMS tumors compared to other types of pediatric soft tissue sarcomas, acting as a positive regulator of cell signaling. Indeed, FGF8 was capable of stimulating ARMS cells migration and expression of pro-angiogenic and metastasis-related factors, throughout MAPK signaling activation. Of note, FGF8 was found to increase in recurrent tumors, independently of PAX3-FOXO1 expression dynamics. Risk of recurrence correlated positively with FGF8 expression levels at diagnosis and reduced FGF8 autoantibodies titer, almost as if to suggest a failure of the immune response to control tumor growth in recurring patients. This study provides evidence about the crucial role of FGF8 in ARMS and the protective function of natural autoantibodies, giving new insights into ARMS biology and laying the foundations for the development of new therapeutic strategies.
Topics: Autoantibodies; Fibroblast Growth Factor 8; Humans; Immunity; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; PAX3 Transcription Factor; Paired Box Transcription Factors; Rhabdomyosarcoma, Alveolar; Rhabdomyosarcoma, Embryonal
PubMed: 35813575
DOI: 10.1080/2162402X.2022.2096349 -
Academic Radiology Jun 2024We evaluate the role of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) histogram metrics in stratifying pediatric and young adult rhabdomyosarcomas.
INTRODUCTION
We evaluate the role of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) histogram metrics in stratifying pediatric and young adult rhabdomyosarcomas.
METHODS
We retrospectively evaluated baseline diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) from 38 patients with rhabdomyosarcomas (Not otherwise specified: 2; Embryonal: 21; Spindle Cell: 2; Alveolar: 13, mean ± std dev age: 8.1 ± 7.76 years). The diffusion images were obtained on a wide range of 1.5 T and 3 T scanners at multiple sites. FOXO1 fusion status was available for 35 patients, nine of whom harbored the fusion. 13 patients were TNM stage 1, eight had stage 2 disease, nine were stage 3, and eight had stage 4 disease. 23 patients belonged to Clinical Group III and seven to Group IV, while two and five were CG I and II, respectively. Nine patients were classified as low risk, while 21 and five were classified as intermediate and high risk respectively. Histogram parameters of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) map from the entire tumor were obtained based on manual tumor contouring. A two-tailed Mann-Whitney U test was used for all two-group, and the Kruskal-Wallis's test was used for multiple-group comparisons. Bootstrapped receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and areas under the curve (AUC) were generated for the statistically significant histogram parameters to differentiate genotypic and phenotypic parameters.
RESULTS
Alveolar rhabdomyosarcomas had a statistically significant lower 10th Percentile (586.54 ± 164.52, mean ± std dev, values are in ×10-6mm/s) than embryonal rhabdomyosarcomas (966.51 ± 481.33) with an AUC of 0.85 (95%CI. 0.73-0.95) for differentiating the two. The 10th percentile was also significantly different between FOXO1 fusion-positive (553.87 ± 187.64) and negative (898.07 ± 449.38) rhabdomyosarcomas with an AUC of 0.83 (95% CI 0.71-0.94). Alveolar rhabdomyosarcomas also had statistically significant lower Mean, Median, and Root Mean Squared ADC histogram values than embryonal rhabdomyosarcomas. Four, five, and seven of the 18 histogram parameters evaluated demonstrated a statistically significant increase with higher TNM stage, clinical group, assignment, and pretreatment risk stratification, respectively. For example, Entropy had an AUC of 0.8 (95% CI. 0.67-0.92) for differentiating TNM stage 1 from ≥ stage 2 and 0.9 (95% CI. 0.8-0.98) for differentiating low from intermediate or high-risk stratification.
CONCLUSION
Our findings demonstrate the potential of ADC histogram metrics to predict clinically relevant variables for rhabdomyosarcoma, including FOXO1 fusion status, histopathology, Clinical Group, TNM staging, and risk stratification.
Topics: Humans; Child; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Female; Adolescent; Retrospective Studies; Young Adult; Rhabdomyosarcoma; Child, Preschool; Phenotype; Adult; Genotype; Infant; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; Forkhead Box Protein O1
PubMed: 38296742
DOI: 10.1016/j.acra.2024.01.011