Objective: To explore the heterogeneity and growth factor regulatory network of dermal fibroblasts (dFbs) in mouse full-thickness skin defect wounds based on single-cell RNA sequencing. Methods: The experimental research methods were adopted. The normal skin tissue from 5 healthy 8-week-old male C57BL/6 mice (the same mouse age, sex, and strain below) was harvested, and the wound tissue of another 5 mice with full-thickness skin defect on the back was harvested on post injury day (PID) 7. The cell suspension was obtained by digesting the tissue with collagenase D and DNase Ⅰ, sequencing library was constructed using 10x Genomics platform, and single-cell RNA sequencing was performed by Illumina Novaseq6000 sequencer. The gene expression matrices of cells in the two kinds of tissue were obtained by analysis of Seurat 3.0 program of software R4.1.1, and two-dimensional tSNE plots classified by cell group, cell source, and gene labeling of major cells in skin were used for visual display. According to the existing literature and the CellMarker database searching, the expression of marker genes in the gene expression matrices of cells in the two kinds of tissue was analyzed, and each cell group was numbered and defined. The gene expression matrices and cell clustering information were introduced into CellChat 1.1.3 program of software R4.1.1 to analyze the intercellular communication in the two kinds of tissue and the intercellular communication involving vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), epidermal growth factor (EGF), and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signal pathways in the wound tissue, the relative contribution of each pair of FGF subtypes and FGF receptor (FGFR) subtypes (hereinafter referred to as FGF ligand receptor pairs) to FGF signal network in the two kinds of tissue, and the intercellular communication in the signal pathway of FGF ligand receptor pairs with the top 2 relative contributions in the two kinds of tissue. The normal skin tissue from one healthy mouse was harvested, and the wound tissue of one mouse with full-thickness skin defect on the back was harvested on PID 7. The multiple immunofluorescence staining was performed to detect the expression and distribution of FGF7 protein and its co-localized expression with dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4), stem cell antigen 1 (SCA1), smooth muscle actin (SMA), and PDGF receptor α (PDGFRα) protein. Results: Both the normal skin tissue of healthy mice and the wound tissue of full-thickness skin defected mice on PID 7 contained 25 cell groups, but the numbers of cells in each cell group between the two kinds of tissue were different. Genes PDGFRα, platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1, lymphatic endothelial hyaluronic acid receptor 1, receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase C, keratin 10, and keratin 79 all had distinct distributions on two-dimensional tSNE plots, indicating specific cell groups respectively. The 25 cell groups were numbered by C0-C24 and divided into 9 dFb subgroups and 16 non-dFb groups. dFb subgroups included C0 as interstitial progenitor cells, C5 as adipose precursor cells, and C13 as contractile muscle cells related fibroblasts, etc. Non-dFb group included C3 as neutrophils, C8 as T cells, and C18 as erythrocytes, etc. Compared with that of the normal skin tissue of healthy mice, the intercellular communication in the wound tissue of full-thickness skin defected mice on PID 7 was more and denser, and the top 3 cell groups in intercellular communication intensity were dFb subgroups C0, C1, and C2, of which all communicated with other cell groups in the wound tissue. In the wound tissue of full-thickness skin defected mice on PID 7, VEGF signals were mainly sent by the dFb subgroup C0 and received by vascular related cell groups C19 and C21, PDGF signals were mainly sent by peripheral cells C14 and received by multiple dFb subgroups, EGF signals were mainly sent by keratinocyte subgroups C9 and C11 and received by the dFb subgroup C0, and the main sender and receiver of FGF signals were the dFb subgroup C6. In the relative contribution rank of FGF ligand receptor pairs to FGF signal network in the normal skin tissue of healthy mice and the wound tissue of full-thickness skin defected mice on PID 7, FGF7-FGFR1 was the top 1, and FGF7-FGFR2 or FGF10-FGFR1 was in the second place, respectively; compared with those in the normal skin tissue, there was more intercellular communication in FGF7-FGFR1 signal pathway, while the intercellular communication in FGF7-FGFR2 and FGF10-FGFR1 signal pathways decreased slightly or did not change significantly in the wound tissue; the intercellular communication in FGF7-FGFR1 signal pathway in the wound tissue was stronger than that in FGF7-FGFR2 or FGF10-FGFR1 signal pathway; in the two kinds of tissue, FGF7 signal was mainly sent by dFb subgroups C0, C1, and C2, and received by dFb subgroups C6 and C7. Compared with that in the normal skin tissue of healthy mouse, the expression of FGF7 protein was higher in the wound tissue of full-thickness skin defected mouse on PID 7; in the normal skin tissue, FGF7 protein was mainly expressed in the skin interstitium and also expressed in the white adipose tissue near the dermis layer; in the two kinds of tissue, FGF7 protein was co-localized with DPP4 and SCA1 proteins and expressed in the skin interstitium, co-localized with PDGFRα protein and expressed in dFbs, but was not co-localized with SMA protein, with more co-localized expression of FGF7 in the wound tissue than that in the normal skin tissue. Conclusions: In the process of wound healing of mouse full-thickness skin defect wound, dFbs are highly heterogeneous, act as potential major secretory or receiving cell populations of a variety of growth factors, and have a close and complex relationship with the growth factor signal pathways. FGF7-FGFR1 signal pathway is the main FGF signal pathway in the process of wound healing, which targets and regulates multiple dFb subgroups.
Animals ; Dipeptidyl Peptidase 4 ; Epidermal Growth Factor ; Fibroblasts ; Imidazoles ; Ligands ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Receptor, Platelet-Derived Growth Factor alpha ; Sequence Analysis, RNA ; Skin Abnormalities ; Soft Tissue Injuries ; Spinocerebellar Ataxias ; Sulfonamides ; Thiophenes ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A

receptor status, negative progesterone receptor status, positive human epidermal growth factor receptor status, and aggressive molecular subtypes showed higher SWV(mean) + QM (all p < 0.05), while only lymphovascular involvement showed higher SWV(mean) − QM (p = 0.036).CONCLUSION: The use of QM in SWE might improve the diagnostic performance for breast lesions and facilitate prediction of the biological characteristics of invasive breast cancers.]]>
Area Under Curve ; Breast Neoplasms ; Breast ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Elasticity Imaging Techniques ; Estrogens ; Female ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Population Characteristics ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; Receptors, Progesterone ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Ultrasonography

epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)–tyrosine kinase domain mutation.METHODS: The results of 230 patients who were pathologically confirmed as having NSCLC; tested using PD-L1 IHC 22C3, SP263, and SP142 methods; and evaluated via the peptide nucleic acid clamping method to confirm EGFR mutation, were analyzed in this study.RESULTS: 164 patients underwent both the SP263 and 22C3 tests. There was a significant positive correlation between the outcomes of the two tests (Spearman correlation coefficient=0.912, p<0.001), with a derived regression equation as follows: 22C3=15.2+0.884×SP263 (R2=0.792, p<0.001). There was no relationship between the expression of PD-L1 and clinical parameters, including EGFR–tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) mutation. The PD-L1 expression in patients treated with EGFR-TKI yielded a 2-month-shorter progression period than that in the PD-L1–negative group. However, this did not reach statistical significance (PD-L1<1% vs. PD-L1≥1%, 10 months vs. 8 months).CONCLUSION: The results of the 22C3 and those of SP263 methods were in good correlation with one another. Since the PD-L1 expression is not influenced by the EGFR mutation, it is necessary to perform a PD-L1 test to set the treatment direction in the patients with EGFR-mutant NSCLC.]]>
Adenocarcinoma ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; Constriction ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Lung ; Methods ; Phosphotransferases ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor

epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors and anaplastic lymphoma kinase inhibitors, new therapeutic strategies are needed to improve clinical outcomes. Immunotherapy through the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors has provided one of the most important breakthroughs in the management of solid tumors, including lung cancers, and has shown promising results in numerous clinical trials. This review will present the current status of immunotherapy for lung cancer and future perspectives on these treatments.]]>
Immunotherapy ; Lung Neoplasms ; Lung ; Lymphoma ; Phosphotransferases ; Prognosis ; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor

OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship between contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) parameters and perfusion CT (PCT) parameters of gastric cancers and their correlation with histologic features. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective study was approved by our Institutional Review Board. We included 43 patients with pathologically-proven gastric cancers undergoing CEUS using SonoVue® (Bracco) and PCT on the same day. Correlation between the CEUS parameters (peak intensity [PI], area under the curve [AUC], rise time [RT] from 10% to 90% of PI, time to peak [TTPUS], and mean transit time [MTTUS]) and PCT parameters (blood flow, blood volume, TTPCT, MTTCT, and permeability surface product) of gastric cancers were analyzed using Spearman's rank correlation test. In cases of surgical resection, the CEUS and PCT parameters were compared according to histologic features using Mann-Whitney test. RESULTS: CEUS studies were of diagnostic quality in 88.4% (38/43) of patients. Among the CEUS parameters of gastric cancers, RT and TTPUS showed significant positive correlations with TTPCT (rho = 0.327 and 0.374, p = 0.045 and 0.021, respectively); PI and AUC were significantly higher in well-differentiated or moderately-differentiated tumors (n = 4) than poorly-differentiated tumors (n = 18) (p = 0.026 and 0.033, respectively), whereas MTTCT showed significant differences according to histologic types (poorly cohesive carcinoma [PCC] vs. non-PCC), T-staging (≤ T2 vs. ≥ T3), N-staging (N0 vs. N-positive), and epidermal growth factor receptor expression (≤ faint vs. ≥ moderate staining) (p values < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In patients with gastric cancers, CEUS is technically feasible for the quantification of tumor perfusion and may provide correlative and complementary information to that of PCT, which may allow prediction of histologic features.
Area Under Curve ; Blood Volume ; Ethics Committees, Research ; Humans ; Perfusion Imaging ; Perfusion ; Permeability ; Prospective Studies ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Ultrasonography

In metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the role of radiotherapy (RT) has been limited to palliation to alleviate the symptoms. However, with the development of advanced RT techniques, recent advances in immuno-oncology therapy targeting programmed death 1 (PD-1) and programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and targeted agents for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation or anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) translocation allowed new roles of RT in these patients. Within this metastatic population, there is a subset of patients with a limited number of sites of metastatic disease, termed as oligometastasis that can achieve long-term survival from aggressive local management. There is no consensus on the definition of oligometastasis; however, most clinical trials define oligometastasis as having 3 to 5 metastatic lesions. Recent phase II randomized clinical trials have shown that ablative RT, including stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR) and hypofractionated RT, to primary and metastatic sites improved progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with oligometastatic NSCLC. The PEMBRO-RT study, a randomized phase II study comparing SABR prior to pembrolizumab therapy and pembrolizumab therapy alone, revealed that the addition of SABR improved the overall response, PFS, and OS in patients with advanced NSCLC. The efficacy of RT in oligometastatic lung cancer has only been studied in phase II studies; therefore, large-scale phase III studies are needed to confirm the benefit of local ablative RT in patients with oligometastatic NSCLC. Local intensified RT to primary and metastatic lesions is expected to become an important treatment paradigm in the near future in patients with metastatic lung cancer.
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; Consensus ; Disease-Free Survival ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; Lymphoma ; Phosphotransferases ; Radiotherapy ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor

BACKGROUND: Resistance to epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs), such as gefitinib, is a limited factor in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Therefore, ongoing studies are trying to identify EGFR-TKIs-resistant mechanisms and to discover novel therapeutic strategies and targets for NSCLC treatment.METHODS: In the present study, the possibility of overcoming intrinsic gefitinib-resistance was examined by regulating the expression of AXL. A natural product-derived antitumor agent, yuanhuadine (YD) was employed to modulate the expression of AXL in the cells.RESULTS: Treatment with YD effectively downregulated AXL expression in AXL-overexpressed gefitinib-resistant H1299 cells. The combination of gefitinib and YD exhibited a synergistic grwoth-inhibitory activity in H1299 cells by downregulation of AXL expression.CONCLUSIONS: Based on these findings, AXL was found to be a promising therapeutic target to overcome the intrinsic resistance to gefitinib in NSCLC. Furthermore, YD is able to effectively regulate the expression of AXL and thus it may be applicable as a potential lead compound for the treatment of gefitinib-resistant NSCLC.
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; Down-Regulation ; Drug Resistance ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the risk of central nervous system (CNS) failure in Korean patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-enriched breast cancer treated with surgery followed by postoperative radiotherapy (RT). METHODS: A total of 749 patients from eight institutions were enrolled in this study. All of them underwent surgery followed by postoperative RT from 2003 to 2011; 246 (32.8%) received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and 649 (81.7%) received adjuvant chemotherapy. Adjuvant trastuzumab was administered to 386 patients (48.6%). RESULTS: The median follow-up duration was 84 (range, 8–171) months. The 7-year disease-free and overall survival rates were 79.0% and 84.2%, respectively. On multivariate analysis, mastectomy, nodal involvement, and presence of lymphatic invasion were correlated with poor overall survival (p = 0.004, 0.022, and 0.011, respectively), whereas T stage and lymphatic invasion were associated with disease-free survival (p = 0.018 and 0.005, respectively). Regarding CNS failures, 30 brain metastases, 2 leptomeningeal metastases, and 8 brain and leptomeningeal metastases were noted. The 7-year CNS relapse-free survival rates in patients receiving and not receiving trastuzumab were 91.2% and 96.9%, respectively (p = 0.005). On multivariate analysis, the administration of adjuvant trastuzumab was the only prognostic factor in predicting a higher CNS failure rate (hazard ratio, 2.260; 95% confidence interval, 1.076–4.746; p = 0.031). CONCLUSION: Adjuvant trastuzumab was associated with higher CNS failure rate in Korean patients with HER2-enriched breast cancer. Close monitoring and reasonable approaches such as CNS penetrating HER2 blockades combined with the current standard therapy could contribute to improving intracranial tumor control and quality of life in patients with CNS metastasis from HER2-enriched breast cancer.
Brain ; Breast Neoplasms ; Breast ; Central Nervous System Neoplasms ; Central Nervous System ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Disease-Free Survival ; Drug Therapy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Mastectomy ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Quality of Life ; Radiation Oncology ; Radiotherapy ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Trastuzumab

PURPOSE: We investigated the prognostic significance of CD9 expression in tumor cells of patients with invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC). METHODS: CD9 expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry in 113 ILC tissue samples. Correlation of CD9 expression with the patients' clinicopathological parameters and overall survival was assessed. RESULTS: CD9 expression was detected in 48 (42.5%) ILC patients. However, no significant relation could be determined between CD9 expression and the clinicopathological parameters of the patient including tumor size, lymph node metastasis, lymphovascular invasion, histologic grade, expression of hormone receptors, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 status, and Ki-67 labeling index. Patients with CD9 expression had worse overall survival (p = 0.051) and disease-free survival (DFS, p = 0.014) compared to patients without CD9 expression. Multivariate analysis revealed that CD9 expression was an independent prognostic factor for DFS (p = 0.049). CONCLUSION: CD9 expression in tumor cells could be a significant prognostic marker in patients with ILC.
Breast Neoplasms ; Carcinoma, Lobular ; Disease-Free Survival ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Lymph Nodes ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor

PURPOSE: The Z0011 trial showed that axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) can be safely avoided in breast cancer patients with low nodal burden (LNB). ALND can be performed in patients with high nodal burden (HNB). We aimed to determine whether HNB in early breast cancer patients can be predicted preoperatively to avoid sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB). METHODS: Early invasive breast cancer patients (cT1-2cN0) were retrospectively reviewed. We excluded patients with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and incomplete data. The patients were divided into the following groups based on surgical histology: no positive (N0), LNB, and HNB, defined as 0, 1–2, and ≥ 3 metastatic lymph nodes (LNs), respectively. Of the patients with metastatic nodal disease, only those with ALND were included in the analysis. Clinical, radiological, and histological parameters were evaluated using logistic regression analysis as predictors of HNB versus LNB and N0 combined. RESULTS: Of the 1,298 included patients, 832 (64.1%), 286 (22.0%), and 180 (13.9%) had N0, LNB, and HNB, respectively. Univariate logistic regression analysis revealed that sonographic features of breast tumor size (p < 0.0001), number of abnormal LNs (p < 0.0001), cortical thickness (p = 0.0002), effacement of the fatty hilum (p < 0.0001), and needle biopsy being performed (p < 0.0001) were indicators of HNB. Breast tumor grade (p = 0.0001) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 status (p = 0.0262) were also statistically significant. Among these significant features, multivariable stepwise logistic regression showed that the number of abnormal LNs is the sole independent predictor of HNB (p < 0.0001, area under the curve = 0.774). The positive predictive value of HNB in patients with ≥ 4 abnormal LNs was 92.9%. CONCLUSION: The detection of ≥ 4 abnormal LNs on ultrasound can help to identify HNB patients who require upfront ALND and thus avoid SLNB.
Biopsy, Needle ; Breast Neoplasms ; Breast ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymph Nodes ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; Retrospective Studies ; Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy ; Ultrasonography