Maria Cecília de Paula Silva

Prostate Cancer Prognosis Defined by the Combined Analysis of 8q, PTEN and ERG

Overtreatment is a major concern in men diagnosed with prostate cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the combined prognostic role of three frequent molecular alterations in prostate cancer, namely relative 8q gain, ERG overexpression, and loss of PTEN expression, in a series of 136 patients with prostate cancer treated with prostatectomy and with a long follow-up. Fluorescent in situ hybridization was used to detect the relative copy number of 8q and immunohistochemistry was used for quantitative assessment of ERG and PTEN expression. During a median follow-up period of 117.8 months, 66 (49%) patients had disease recurrence. Relative 8q gain, ERG overexpression, and loss of PTEN expression were observed in 18%, 56%, and 33% of the cases, respectively. No association with patient recurrence-free survival was found for relative 8q gain or ERG overexpression on their own, whereas loss of PTEN expression was associated with worse recurrence-free survival (P = .006). Interestingly, in the subgroup of patients with normal PTEN expression, we found that the combined relative 8q gain/ERG overexpression is associated with high risk of recurrence (P = .008), suggesting that alternative mechanisms exist for progression into clinically aggressive disease. Additionally, in intermediate-risk patients with normal PTEN expression in their tumors, the combination of 8q gain/ERG overexpression was associated with a poor recurrence-free survival (P < .001), thus indicating independent prognostic value. This study shows that the combined analysis of 8q, ERG and PTEN contributes to an improved clinical outcome stratification of prostate cancer patients treated with radical prostatectomy.

NCOA2 is a candidate target gene of 8q gain associated with clinically aggressive prostate cancer

Prostate carcinomas harboring 8q gains are associated with poor clinical outcome, but the target genes of this genomic alteration remain to be unveiled. In this study, we aimed to identify potential 8q target genes associated with clinically aggressive prostate cancer (PCa) using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), genome‐wide mRNA expression, and protein expression analyses. Using FISH, we first characterized the relative copy number of 8q (assessed with MYC flanking probes) of a series of 50 radical prostatectomy specimens, with available global gene expression data and typed for E26 transformation specific (ETS) rearrangements, and then compared the gene expression profile of PCa subsets with and without 8q24 gain using Significance Analysis of Microarrays. In the subset of tumors with ERG fusion genes (ERG+), five genes were identified as significantly overexpressed (false discovery rate [FDR], ≤5%) in tumors with relative 8q24 gain, namely VN1R1, ZNF417, CDON, IKZF2, and NCOA2. Of these, only NCOA2 is located in 8q (8q13.3), showing a statistically higher mRNA expression in the subgroup with relative 8q gain, both in the ERG+ subgroup and in the whole series (P = 0.000152 and P = 0.008, respectively). Combining all the cases with NCOA2 overexpression, either at the mRNA or at the protein level, we identified a group of tumors with NCOA2 copy‐number increase, independently of ETS status and relative 8q24 gain. Furthermore, for the first time, we detected a structural rearrangement involving NCOA2 in PCa. These findings warrant further studies with larger series to evaluate if NCOA2 relative copy‐number gain presents prognostic value independently of the well‐established poor prognosis associated with MYC relative copy‐number gain.

RELAÇÕES DE GÊNERO NO ESPORTE: “O BELO SEXO” NA COMPETIÇÃO DE NATAÇÃO EM MAR ABERTO - TRAVESSIA MAR GRANDE-SALVADOR, BAHIA, BRASIL

O artigo objetiva discutira educacao de mulheres no esporte, com destaque para as representacoes e papeis sociais que lhes sao tradicionalmente concedidos, a partir da participacao na Travessia Mar Grande-Salvador, Bahia, Brasil, prova de natacao em mar aberto na Baia de Todos os Santos. Pesquisa historica, que privilegia a Historia Oral tematica e fontes documentais. A analise de conteudo nos permitiu interpretar os sentidos produzidos. Dos resultados encontrados apontamos que desde 1956 (quando se inicia essa competicao esportiva) ate os dias atuais as participantes sao mulheres da elite soteropolitana, escolarizadas. Apesar dos avancos, as resistencias a pratica esportiva em mar aberto permanecem. Concluimos que a participacao das mulheres nessa prova contribuiu e contribui para romper velhos padroes, a exemplo da educacao que sugere papeis diferenciados e submissos para as mulheres, mudando logicas de dominacao e abrindo novos caminhos.

EDUCAR PARA SUPERAR: UMA REFLEXÃO SOBRE A EDUCAÇÃO FÍSICA ESCOLAR

This article comments on a syllabus directive for physical education in schools and its relations with our current historical moment. We consider social dynamics and local policies, the relationship between work and education, and the production of knowledge to be the criteria for analysis. We understand body culture to be the object of study and physical education to be a school subject. The proposition points to the urgent and continuous need for standing for quality public education and for a society that is different from the current one, with economic and social justice. KEY-WORDS: school education – political – pedagogical propositon – public policies.