Project description:Bone metastases can disseminate to secondary sites and promote breast cancer progression creating additional clinical challenges. The mechanisms contributing to secondary metastasis are barely understood. Here, we evaluate the prediction power of Her2+ circulating tumor cells (CTCs) after analyzing over 13,000 CTCs from a cohort of 137 metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients with initial HR+/Her2- status and employed preclinical models of bone metastasis (BM) to validate the role of Her2+ CTCs in multi-organ metastases. While Her2+ expression was higher in patients with bone metastasis, experimental analyses revealed that a majority of these Her2+ CTCs derived from bone lesions were more dependent on Her2 activity and more susceptible to anti-Her2 treatment. Targeting the bone-mediated Her2 induction reduces CTC detection and abrogates secondary metastasis from bone. Overall, we elucidate that Her2+ CTCs can serve as a non-invasive biomarker for BM formation with high therapeutic benefit for HR+ MBC patients.
Project description:Most triple negative breast cancers (TNBCs) are aggressively metastatic with a high degree of intratumoral heterogeneity. We employed patient-derived xenograft models established from the breast tumors of patients with treatment-naïve metastatic TNBC to study clonal dynamics during metastasis. Genomic sequencing coupled with high-complexity barcode-mediated clonal tracking revealed robust alterations in clonal architecture between primary tumors and corresponding metastases that were deterministic rather than stochastic. The presence of numerous rare subclones in each metastatic lesion demonstrated that polyclonal seeding occurred and that heterogeneous populations of low-abundance clones were maintained in metastases. An identical population of subclones was enriched in lung, liver, and brain metastases, demonstrating that primary tumor clones harbor properties enabling them to seed and thrive in multiple organ sites. Further, clones that dominated multi-organ metastases shared a genomic lineage. Thus, intrinsic properties of rare primary tumor subclones enable the seeding and colonization of metastases in multiple organ sites.
Project description:The purpose of this study is to compare overall survival rates of colorectal cancer patients with multi-organ metastases with an indication for first line systemic treatment randomized for treatment with combination chemotherapy or treatment with combination chemotherapy and additional maximal tumor debulking including surgical tumor resection, RFA, (DEBIRI-)TACE and SBRT, depending on best clinical judgement according to a standardized treatment algorithm. Our hypothesis is that maximal tumor debulking in addition to systemic treatment with chemotherapy and biologicals will provide an improvement in progression free and overall survival in this patient group.
Project description:The seed-and-soil hypothesis was described over a century ago to describe why cancer cells (seeds) grow in certain organs (soil). Since then, the genetic properties that define the cancer cells have been heavily investigated, however, the genetic mediators within the organ microenvironment that mediate successful metastatic growth are less understood. In these studies, a set of human breast cancer patient-derived xenograft (PDX) metastasis models were utilized. Mammary tumors and metastases to the liver, lung, and brain were RNA-sequenced with the goal of identifying complementary cancer and organ-specific genetic properties that mediate metastatic growth. During metastatic growth of PDXs, the genetic changes that occurred in the liver and lung microenvironment were more consistent and higher in magnitude than the cancer cell transcriptomes . Integration of the liver microenvironment gene signature into genetic data from liver metastasis autopsy samples or fine-needle aspirates revealed the contribution of the microenvironment to the metastatic transcriptome. These insights identify cancer and organ-specific genetic drivers of metastasis.
Project description:We report mRNA profiles of human breast cancer cell lines, MCF7 parental, and MCF7-derived tamoxifen resistant cell lines MCF7-TR1 and MCF7-TR2.
Project description:Cellular senescence is associated with aging but also impacts various physiological and pathological processes such as embryonic development and wound healing. Factors secreted by senescent cells can affect their microenvironment, including local spreading of senescence. Acute severe liver disease is associated with hepatocyte senescence and frequently progresses to multi-organ failure. Why the latter occurs is poorly understood however, the presence of hepatic senescence is associated with poor prognosis and extrahepatic organ failure in acute liver disease. Here, using genetic mouse models of hepatocyte-specific senescence, we demonstrate senescence development in extrahepatic organs and associated organ dysfunction in response to liver senescence. In patients with acute indeterminate hepatitis, the extent of hepatocellular senescence predicts the occurrence of extrahepatic dysfunction, need for liver transplantation and mortality. We identify the Transforming Growth Factor Beta (TGFbeta) pathway as a critical mediator of systemic spread of senescence and TGFbeta inhibition blocks senescence transmission to other organs preventing renal dysfunction. Our results highlight the systemic consequences of organ-specific senescence which, independent of aging, contributes to multi-organ dysfunction.
Project description:Cellular senescence is associated with aging but also impacts various physiological and pathological processes such as embryonic development and wound healing. Factors secreted by senescent cells can affect their microenvironment, including local spreading of senescence. Acute severe liver disease is associated with hepatocyte senescence and frequently progresses to multi-organ failure. Why the latter occurs is poorly understood however, the presence of hepatic senescence is associated with poor prognosis and extrahepatic organ failure in acute liver disease. Here, using genetic mouse models of hepatocyte-specific senescence, we demonstrate senescence development in extrahepatic organs and associated organ dysfunction in response to liver senescence. In patients with acute indeterminate hepatitis, the extent of hepatocellular senescence predicts the occurrence of extrahepatic dysfunction, need for liver transplantation and mortality. We identify the Transforming Growth Factor β (TGFβ) pathway as a critical mediator of systemic spread of senescence and TGFβ inhibition blocks senescence transmission to other organs preventing renal dysfunction. Our results highlight the systemic consequences of organ-specific senescence which, independent of aging, contributes to multi-organ dysfunction.
Project description:Ewing sarcoma (ES) is the second most common bone tumor affecting children and young adults, with dismal outcomes for patients with metastases at diagnosis. Mechanisms leading to metastasis remain poorly understood. To deepen our knowledge on ES progression, we have profiled 3 tumors and 5 metastases from our spontaneous metastasis ES mouse model using a multi-omics approach. Combining transcriptomics, proteomics and methylomics analyses, we identified signaling cascades and targets enriched in metastases that could be modulating aggressiveness in ES.