High-throughput genomic technologies have identified biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets for ovarian cancer. Comprehensive functional validation studies of the biological and clinical implications of these biomarkers are needed to advance them toward clinical use. Amplification of chromosomal region 5q31–5q35.3 has been used to predict poor prognosis in patients with advanced stage, high-grade serous ovarian cancer. In this study, we further dissected this large amplicon and identified the overexpression of FGF18 as an independent predictive marker for poor clinical outcome in this patient population. Using cell culture and xenograft models, we show that FGF18 signaling promoted tumor progression by modulating the ovarian tumor aggressiveness and microenvironment. FGF18 controlled migration, invasion, and tumorigenicity of ovarian cancer cells through NF-κB activation, which increased the production of oncogenic cytokines and chemokines. This resulted in a tumor microenvironment characterized by enhanced angiogenesis and augmented tumor-associated macrophage infiltration and M2 polarization. Tumors from ovarian cancer patients had increased FGF18 expression levels with microvessel density and M2 macrophage infiltration, confirming our in vitro results. These findings demonstrate that FGF18 is important for a subset of ovarian cancers and may serve as a therapeutic target.
Wei Wei, Samuel C. Mok, Esther Oliva, Sung-hoon Kim, Gayatry Mohapatra, Michael J. Birrer
Progression of premalignant lesions is restrained by oncogene-induced senescence. Oncogenic
Kwan-Hyuck Baek, Dongha Bhang, Alexander Zaslavsky, Liang-Chuan Wang, Anil Vachani, Carla F. Kim, Steven M. Albelda, Gerard I. Evan, Sandra Ryeom
The activating receptor NK cell group 2 member D (NKG2D) mediates antitumor immunity in experimental animal models. However, whether NKG2D ligands contribute to tumor suppression or progression clinically remains controversial. Here, we have described 2 novel lines of “humanized” bi-transgenic (bi-Tg) mice in which native human NKG2D ligand MHC class I polypeptide-related sequence B (MICB) or the engineered membrane-restricted MICB (MICB.A2) was expressed in the prostate of the transgenic adenocarcinoma of the mouse prostate (TRAMP) model of spontaneous carcinogenesis. Bi-Tg TRAMP/MICB mice exhibited a markedly increased incidence of progressed carcinomas and metastasis, whereas TRAMP/MICB.A2 mice enjoyed long-term tumor-free survival conferred by sustained NKG2D-mediated antitumor immunity. Mechanistically, we found that cancer progression in TRAMP/MICB mice was associated with loss of the peripheral NK cell pool owing to high serum levels of tumor-derived soluble MICB (sMICB). Prostate cancer patients also displayed reduction of peripheral NK cells and high sMIC levels. Our study has not only provided direct evidence in “humanized” mouse models that soluble and membrane-restricted NKG2D ligands pose opposite impacts on cancer progression, but also uncovered a mechanism of sMIC-induced impairment of NK cell antitumor immunity. Our findings suggest that the impact of soluble NKG2D ligands should be considered in NK cell–based cancer immunotherapy and that our unique mouse models should be valuable for therapy optimization.
Gang Liu, Shengjun Lu, Xuanjun Wang, Stephanie T. Page, Celestia S. Higano, Stephen R. Plymate, Norman M. Greenberg, Shaoli Sun, Zihai Li, Jennifer D. Wu
Squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) originate in stratified epithelia, with a small subset becoming metastatic. Epithelial stem cells are targets for driver mutations that give rise to SCCs, but it is unknown whether they contribute to oncogenic multipotency and metastasis. We developed a mouse model of SCC by targeting two frequent genetic mutations in human SCCs, oncogene
Ruth A. White, Jill M. Neiman, Anand Reddi, Gangwen Han, Stanca Birlea, Doyel Mitra, Laikuan Dionne, Pam Fernandez, Kazutoshi Murao, Li Bian, Stephen B. Keysar, Nathaniel B. Goldstein, Ningjing Song, Sophia Bornstein, Zheyi Han, Xian Lu, Joshua Wisell, Fulun Li, John Song, Shi-Long Lu, Antonio Jimeno, Dennis R. Roop, Xiao-Jing Wang
The success of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in treating chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) depends on the requirement for BCR-ABL1 kinase activity in CML progenitors. However, CML quiescent HSCs are TKI resistant and represent a BCR-ABL1 kinase–independent disease reservoir. Here we have shown that persistence of leukemic HSCs in BM requires inhibition of the tumor suppressor protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) and expression — but not activity — of the
Paolo Neviani, Jason G. Harb, Joshua J. Oaks, Ramasamy Santhanam, Christopher J. Walker, Justin J. Ellis, Gregory Ferenchak, Adrienne M. Dorrance, Carolyn A. Paisie, Anna M. Eiring, Yihui Ma, Hsiaoyin C. Mao, Bin Zhang, Mark Wunderlich, Philippa C. May, Chaode Sun, Sahar A. Saddoughi, Jacek Bielawski, William Blum, Rebecca B. Klisovic, Janelle A. Solt, John C. Byrd, Stefano Volinia, Jorge Cortes, Claudia S. Huettner, Steffen Koschmieder, Tessa L. Holyoake, Steven Devine, Michael A. Caligiuri, Carlo M. Croce, Ramiro Garzon, Besim Ogretmen, Ralph B. Arlinghaus, Ching-Shih Chen, Robert Bittman, Peter Hokland, Denis-Claude Roy, Dragana Milojkovic, Jane Apperley, John M. Goldman, Alistair Reid, James C. Mulloy, Ravi Bhatia, Guido Marcucci, Danilo Perrotti
Aberrant regulation of the erythroblastosis oncogene B (ErbB) family of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) and their ligands is common in human cancers. ErbB3 is required in luminal mammary epithelial cells (MECs) for growth and survival. Since breast cancer phenotypes may reflect biological traits of the MECs from which they originate, we tested the hypothesis that ErbB3 drives luminal breast cancer growth. We found higher
Meghan M. Morrison, Katherine Hutchinson, Michelle M. Williams, Jamie C. Stanford, Justin M. Balko, Christian Young, Maria G. Kuba, Violeta Sánchez, Andrew J. Williams, Donna J. Hicks, Carlos L. Arteaga, Aleix Prat, Charles M. Perou, H. Shelton Earp, Suleiman Massarweh, Rebecca S. Cook
RUNX1 is generally considered a tumor suppressor in myeloid neoplasms. Inactivating RUNX1 mutations have frequently been found in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia (AML). However, no somatic RUNX1 alteration was found in AMLs with leukemogenic fusion proteins, such as core-binding factor (CBF) leukemia and MLL fusion leukemia, raising the possibility that RUNX1 could actually promote the growth of these leukemia cells. Using normal human cord blood cells and those expressing leukemogenic fusion proteins, we discovered a dual role of RUNX1 in myeloid leukemogenesis. RUNX1 overexpression inhibited the growth of normal cord blood cells by inducing myeloid differentiation, whereas a certain level of RUNX1 activity was required for the growth of AML1-ETO and MLL-AF9 cells. Using a mouse genetic model, we also showed that the combined loss of
Susumu Goyama, Janet Schibler, Lea Cunningham, Yue Zhang, Yalan Rao, Nahoko Nishimoto, Masahiro Nakagawa, Andre Olsson, Mark Wunderlich, Kevin A. Link, Benjamin Mizukawa, H. Leighton Grimes, Mineo Kurokawa, P. Paul Liu, Gang Huang, James C. Mulloy
Patients with ovarian cancer are at high risk of tumor recurrence. Prediction of therapy outcome may provide therapeutic avenues to improve patient outcomes. Using reverse-phase protein arrays, we generated ovarian carcinoma protein expression profiles on 412 cases from TCGA and constructed a PRotein-driven index of OVARian cancer (PROVAR). PROVAR significantly discriminated an independent cohort of 226 high-grade serous ovarian carcinomas into groups of high risk and low risk of tumor recurrence as well as short-term and long-term survivors. Comparison with gene expression–based outcome classification models showed a significantly improved capacity of the protein-based PROVAR to predict tumor progression. Identification of protein markers linked to disease recurrence may yield insights into tumor biology. When combined with features known to be associated with outcome, such as
Ji-Yeon Yang, Kosuke Yoshihara, Kenichi Tanaka, Masayuki Hatae, Hideaki Masuzaki, Hiroaki Itamochi, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network, Masashi Takano, Kimio Ushijima, Janos L. Tanyi, George Coukos, Yiling Lu, Gordon B. Mills, Roel G.W. Verhaak
Many oncology drugs are administered at their maximally tolerated dose without the knowledge of their optimal efficacious dose range. In this study, we describe a multifaceted approach that integrated preclinical and clinical data to identify the optimal dose for an antiangiogenesis agent, anti-EGFL7. EGFL7 is an extracellular matrix–associated protein expressed in activated endothelium. Recombinant EGFL7 protein supported EC adhesion and protected ECs from stress-induced apoptosis. Anti-EGFL7 antibodies inhibited both of these key processes and augmented anti-VEGF–mediated vascular damage in various murine tumor models. In a genetically engineered mouse model of advanced non–small cell lung cancer, we found that anti-EGFL7 enhanced both the progression-free and overall survival benefits derived from anti-VEGF therapy in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, we identified a circulating progenitor cell type that was regulated by EGFL7 and evaluated the response of these cells to anti-EGFL7 treatment in both tumor-bearing mice and cancer patients from a phase I clinical trial. Importantly, these preclinical efficacy and clinical biomarker results enabled rational selection of the anti-EGFL7 dose currently being tested in phase II clinical trials.
Leisa Johnson, Mahrukh Huseni, Tanya Smyczek, Anthony Lima, Stacey Yeung, Jason H. Cheng, Rafael Molina, David Kan, Ann De Mazière, Judith Klumperman, Ian Kasman, Yin Zhang, Mark S. Dennis, Jeffrey Eastham-Anderson, Adrian M. Jubb, Olivia Hwang, Rupal Desai, Maike Schmidt, Michelle A. Nannini, Kai H. Barck, Richard A.D. Carano, William F. Forrest, Qinghua Song, Daniel S. Chen, Louie Naumovski, Mallika Singh, Weilan Ye, Priti S. Hegde
Cancers subvert the host immune system to facilitate disease progression. These evolved immunosuppressive mechanisms are also implicated in circumventing immunotherapeutic strategies. Emerging data indicate that local tumor-associated DC populations exhibit tolerogenic features by promoting Treg development; however, the mechanisms by which tumors manipulate DC and Treg function in the tumor microenvironment remain unclear. Type III TGF-β receptor (TGFBR3) and its shed extracellular domain (sTGFBR3) regulate TGF-β signaling and maintain epithelial homeostasis, with loss of TGFBR3 expression promoting progression early in breast cancer development. Using murine models of breast cancer and melanoma, we elucidated a tumor immunoevasion mechanism whereby loss of tumor-expressed TGFBR3/sTGFBR3 enhanced TGF-β signaling within locoregional DC populations and upregulated both the immunoregulatory enzyme indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) in plasmacytoid DCs and the CCL22 chemokine in myeloid DCs. Alterations in these DC populations mediated Treg infiltration and the suppression of antitumor immunity. Our findings provide mechanistic support for using TGF-β inhibitors to enhance the efficacy of tumor immunotherapy, indicate that sTGFBR3 levels could serve as a predictive immunotherapy biomarker, and expand the mechanisms by which TGFBR3 suppresses cancer progression to include effects on the tumor immune microenvironment.
Brent A. Hanks, Alisha Holtzhausen, Katherine S. Evans, Rebekah Jamieson, Petra Gimpel, Olivia M. Campbell, Melissa Hector-Greene, Lihong Sun, Alok Tewari, Amanda George, Mark Starr, Andrew Nixon, Christi Augustine, Georgia Beasley, Douglas S. Tyler, Takayu Osada, Michael A. Morse, Leona Ling, H. Kim Lyerly, Gerard C. Blobe