Sun Young Kong

Prognostic Implications of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Association With Programmed Death Ligand 1 Expression in Early-Stage Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND The immune system might influence breast cancer (BC) prognosis. However, the relationship between programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) profiles remains unclear with respect to BC subtypes. PATIENTS AND METHODS We investigated the relationship between TIL profiles for CD8+ and forkhead box P3-positive (FOXP3+) and PD-L1 expression in primary tumor tissue using immunohistochemistry and the clinical outcomes in 2 patient cohorts at the National Cancer Center: 256 patients diagnosed with early-stage BC from January 2001 to December 2005 and 77 hormone receptor (HR)-negative BC patients diagnosed from January 2006 to December 2008. Clinical data were collected, including HR status, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 expression, disease-free survival, and overall survival (OS). RESULTS The median patient age was 47 years (range, 28-78), and the median follow-up period was 9.8 years. Of the 333 patients, 186 (55.9%) had HR-positive and 125 (37.5%) had node-positive BC. We found a strong positive correlation between CD8+ TILs and FOXP3+ TILs (P < .001). CD8+ TILs were more abundant in tumors with low PD-L1 expression (P < .001), although no association was found between FOXP3+ TILs and PD-L1 expression. More CD8+ TILs were present in HR-negative than in HR-positive BC (P < .001), and PD-L1 expression was more frequent in HR-positive BC (P < .001). A greater number of CD8+ TILs (increase in quartile) was strongly associated with OS (hazard ratio, 0.61; 95% confidence interval, 0.39-0.95; P = .03) only in HR-negative BC when adjusted for various clinical factors. PD-L1 expression and FOXP3+ TILs did not exhibit such associations. CONCLUSION Higher CD8+ lymphocyte infiltration was related to lower PD-L1 expression and higher FOXP3+ TIL infiltration in BC. Higher CD8+ TIL expression was associated with prolonged survival only in those with HR-negative BC.

Adverse Prognostic Impact of Bone Marrow Microvessel Density in Multiple Myeloma

Background Angiogenesis is important for the proliferation and survival of multiple myeloma (MM) cells. Bone marrow (BM) microvessel density (MVD) is a useful marker of angiogenesis and is determined by immunohistochemical staining with anti-CD34 antibody. This study investigated the prognostic impact of MVD and demonstrated the relationship between MVD and previously mentioned prognostic factors in patients with MM. Methods The study included 107 patients with MM. MVD was assessed at initial diagnosis in a blinded manner by two hematopathologists who examined three CD34-positive hot spots per patient and counted the number of vessels in BM samples. Patients were divided into three groups according to MVD tertiles. Cumulative progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) curves, calculated by using Kaplan-Meier method, were compared among the three groups. Prognostic impact of MVD was assessed by calculating Cox proportional hazard ratio (HR). Results Median MVDs in the three groups were 16.8, 33.9, and 54.7. MVDs were correlated with other prognostic factors, including β2-microglobulin concentration, plasma cell percentage in the BM, and cancer stage according to the International Staging System. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that high MVD was an independent predictor of PFS (HR=2.57; 95% confidence interval, 1.22-5.42; P=0.013). PFS was significantly lower in the high MVD group than in the low MVD group (P=0.025). However, no difference was observed in the OS (P=0.428). Conclusions Increased BM MVD is a marker of poor prognosis in patients newly diagnosed with MM. BM MVD should be assessed at the initial diagnosis of MM.

Clinically Significant Unclassified Variants in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes among Korean Breast Cancer Patients

Purpose Unclassified variants (UVs) of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are not defined as pathogenic for breast cancer, and their clinical significance currently remains undefined. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify potentially pathogenic UVs by comparing their prevalence between breast cancer patients and controls. Materials and Methods A total of 328 breast cancer patients underwent BRCA1/2 genetic screening at the National Cancer Center of Korea. Genetic variants of BRCA genes that were categorized as unclassified according to the Breast Cancer Information Core database were selected based on allelic frequency, after which candidate variants were genotyped in 421 healthy controls. We also examined family members of the study participants. Finally, the effects of amino acid substitutions on protein structure and function were predicted in silico. Results Genetic tests revealed 33 UVs in BRCA1 and 47 in BRCA2. Among 15 candidates genotyped in healthy controls, c.5339T>C in BRCA1 and c.6029T>G, c.7522G>A in BRCA2 were not detected. Moreover, the c.5339T>C variant in the BRCA1 gene was detected in four patients with a family history of breast cancer. This nonsynonymous variant (Leu1780Pro) in the BRCA1 C-terminal domain was predicted to have an effect on BRCA1 protein structure/function. Conclusion This study showed that comparison of genotype frequency between cases and controls could help identify UVs of BRCA genes that are potentially pathogenic. Moreover, ourfindings suggest that c.5339T>C in BRCA1 might be a pathogenic variant for patients and their families.

Nucleotide Excision Repair Gene ERCC2 and ERCC5 Variants Increase Risk of Uterine Cervical Cancer.

Purpose Defects in the DNA damage repair process can cause genomic instability and play an important role in cervical carcinogenesis. The purpose of this study was to analyze the association of 29 candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes in the DNA repair pathway, TP53, and TP53BP1 with the risk of cervical cancer. Materials and Methods Twenty-nine SNPs in four genes in the DNA repair pathway (ERCC2, ERCC5, NBS1, and XRCC1), TP53, and TP53BP1 were genotyped for 478 cervical cancer patients and 922 healthy control subjects, and their effects on cervical carcinogenesis were analyzed. Results The most significant association was found for rs17655 in ERCC5, with an age-adjusted p-value < 0.0001, for which a strong additive effect of the risk allele C was observed (odds ratio, 2.01 for CC to GG). On the other hand, another significant polymorphism rs454421 in ERCC2 showed a dominant effect (odds ratio, 1.68 for GA+AA to GG) with an age-adjusted p-value of 0.0009. The association of these polymorphisms remained significant regardless of the age of onset. The significant result for rs17655 was also consistent for subgroups of patients defined by histology and human papillomavirus (HPV) types. However, for rs454421, the association was observed only in patients with squamous cell carcinoma and non-HPV 18 type. Conclusion The results of this study show a novel association of cervical cancer and the genes involved in the nucleotide excision pathway in the Korean population.

A Case of Locally Advanced Breast Cancer Complicated by Pulmonary Tumor Thrombotic Microangiopathy.

Pulmonary tumor thrombotic microangiopathy (PTTM) is a rare, malignancy-related complication that causes marked pulmonary hypertension, right heart failure, and death. We report on a patient with locally advanced breast cancer whose course was complicated by fatal PTTM based on clinical and laboratory findings.