Browsing by Author "Carvajal-Hausdorf, Daniel"
Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Association of B7-H4, PD-L1, and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes with outcomes in breast cancer(2018) Altan, Mehmet; Kidwell, Kelley M.; Pelekanou, Vasiliki; Schalper, Kurt A.; Toki, María I.; Thomas, Dafydd G.; Sabel, Michael S.; Hayes, Daniel F.; Rimm, David L.; Carvajal-Hausdorf, DanielB7-H4 (VTCN1) is a member of the CD28/B7 family of immune co-inhibitory molecules. The relationship of tumor and stromal B7-H4 protein expression with PD-L1, tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and its association with clinico-pathological variables are not well defined. Herein, we explore the expression level of B7-H4 protein in breast cancer and evaluate its association with TILs, levels of PD-L1 expression, and clinico-pathological characteristics in two independent populations. In this study, we used multiplexed automated quantitative immunofluorescence (QIF) to measure the levels of B7-H4 and PD-L1 protein and determined TILs through pathologist assessment of H&E-stained preparations in over a thousand breast cancer cases from two institutions represented in tissue microarray format. Associations between the marker levels, major clinico-pathological variables, and survival were analyzed. We detected B7-H4 protein was highly expressed in both breast cancer and stromal cells. Its expression was independent of breast cancer intrinsic subtypes. PD-L1 expression was higher in triple negative breast cancers. Neither B7-H4 nor PD-L1 were associated with survival in breast cancer. Our study shows there is a mutually exclusive pattern of B7-H4 with both tumor PD-L1 expression and TILs in all breast cancers, independent of breast cancer intrinsic subtype. This exclusive pattern suggests that some breast tumors may preferentially use one B7-related immune evasion mechanism/pathway. This could explain the clinical benefit that is seen only in a fraction of patients with immune checkpoint inhibitors directed exclusively towards PD-L1 in breast cancer.Publication Development and internal validation of a multifactorial riskprediction model for gallbladder cancer in a high-incidencecountry(2023) Boekstegers, Felix; Scherer, Dominique; Barahona, Carol; Marcelain, Katherine; Gárate, Valentina; Waldenberge, Melanie; Morales, Erik; Rojas, Armando; Munoz, César; Retamales, Javier; De Toro, Gonzalo; Barajas, Olga; Rivera, María; Cortés, Analía; Loader, Denisse; Saavedra, Javiera; Gutiérrez, Lorena; Ortega, Alejandro; Bertrán, Maria; Bartolotti, Leonardo; Gabler, Fernando; Campos, Monica; Alvarado, Juan; Moisán, Fabricio; Spencer, Loreto; Nervi, Bruno; Carvajal-Hausdorf, Daniel; Losada, Héctor; Almau, Mauricio; Fernández, Plinio; Olloquequi, Jordi; Fuentes, Macarena; Gonzalez, Rolando; Bortolin, Maria; Acuña, Victor; Gallo, Carla; Ruiz, Andres; Rothhamme, Francisco; Bermejo, JustoSince 2006, Chile has been implementing a gallbladder cancer (GBC) prevention program based on prophylactic cholecystectomy for gallstone patients aged 35 to 49 years. The effectiveness of this prevention program has not yet been comprehensively evaluated. We conducted a retrospective study of 473 Chilean GBC patients and 2137 population-based controls to develop and internally validate three GBC risk prediction models. The Baseline Model accounted for gallstones while adjusting for sex and birth year. Enhanced Model I also included the non-genetic risk factors: body mass index, educational level, Mapuche surnames, number of children and family history of GBC. Enhanced Model II further included Mapuche ancestry and the genotype for rs17209837. Multiple Cox regression was applied to assess the predictive performance, quantified by the area under the precision-recall curve (AUC-PRC) and the number of cholecystectomies needed (NCN) to prevent one case of GBC at age 70 years. The AUC-PRC for the Baseline Model (0.44%, 95%CI 0.42-0.46) increased by 0.22 (95%CI 0.15-0.29) when non-genetic factors were included, and by 0.25 (95%CI 0.20-0.30) when incorporating non-genetic and genetic factors. The overall NCN for Chileans with gallstones (115, 95%CI 104-131) decreased to 92 (95%CI 60-128) for Chileans with a higher risk than the median according to Enhanced Model I, and to 80 (95%CI 59-110) according to Enhanced Model II. In conclusion, age, sex and gallstones are strong risk factors for GBC, but consideration of other non-genetic factors and individual genotype data improves risk prediction and may optimize allocation of financial resources and surgical capacity.Item Expression and clinical significance of PD-L1, B7-H3, B7-H4 and TILs in human small cell lung Cancer (SCLC)(Springer Nature, 2019-03) Carvajal-Hausdorf, Daniel; Altan, Mehmet; Velcheti, Vamsidhar; Gettinger, Scott; Herbst, Roy; Rimm, David; Schalper, KurtBackground Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for 10–15% of all lung malignancies and its prognosis is dismal. Although early studies have shown promising clinical activity of immune checkpoint blockers, the immune composition and expression of potentially actionable immunostimulatory targets in this malignancy are poorly understood. Methods Using multiplexed quantitative immunofluorescence (QIF), we measured the levels of 3 different B7 family ligands PD-L1, B7-H3, B7-H4 and major tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) subsets in 90 SCLC samples represented in tissue microarray format. Associations between the marker levels, clinicopathological variables and survival were studied. Results PD-L1 protein was detected in 7.3%, B7-H3 in 64.9% and B7-H4 in 2.6% of SCLC cases. The markers showed limited co-expression and were not associated with the level of TILs, age, gender and stage. Elevated B7-H4 was associated with shorter 5-year overall survival. The levels of CD3+, CD8+ and CD20+ TILs and the ratio of total/effector T-cells were significantly lower in SCLC than in non-small cell lung cancer. High levels of CD3+, but not CD8+ or CD20+ TILs were significantly associated with longer survival. Conclusions Taken together, our study indicate variable expression and clinical role of B7-family ligands in SCLC with predominant expression of the candidate target B7-H3 and the presence of a limited cytotoxic anti-tumor immune response. These results support the evaluation of B7-H3 blockers and/or pro-inflammatory therapies in SCLC.Publication Gallbladder Cancer Risk and Indigenous South American Mapuche Ancestry: Instrumental Variable Analysis Using Ancestry-Informative Markers(2023) Zollner, Linda; Boekstegers, Felix; Barahona, Carol; Scherer, Dominique; Marcelain, Katherine; Gárate, Valentina; Waldenberger, Melanie; Morales, Erik; Rojas, Armando; Munoz, César; Retamales, Javier; De Toro, Gonzalo; Vera, Allan; Barajas, Olga; Rivera, María; Cortés, Analía; Loader, Denisse; Saavedra, Javiera; Gutiérrez, Lorena; Ortega, Alejandro; Bertrán, Maria; Bartolotti, Leonardo; Gabler, Fernando; Campos, Mónica; Alvarado, Juan; Moisán, Fabricio; Spencer, Loreto; Nervi, Bruno; Carvajal-Hausdorf, Daniel; Losada, Héctor; Almau, Mauricio; Fernández, Plinio; Olloquequi, Jordi; Carter, Alice; Miquel, Juan; Bustos, Bernabe; Fuentes, Macarena; Gonzalez, Rolando; Bortolini, Maria; Acuña, Victor; Gallo, Carla; Ruiz, Andres; Rothhammer, Francisco; Bermejo, JustoA strong association between the proportion of indigenous South American Mapuche ancestry and the risk of gallbladder cancer (GBC) has been reported in observational studies. Chileans show the highest incidence of GBC worldwide, and the Mapuche are the largest indigenous people in Chile. We set out to assess the confounding-free effect of the individual proportion of Mapuche ancestry on GBC risk and to investigate the mediating effects of gallstone disease and body mass index (BMI) on this association. Genetic markers of Mapuche ancestry were selected based on the informativeness for assignment measure, and then used as instrumental variables in two-sample Mendelian randomization analyses and complementary sensitivity analyses. Results suggested a putatively causal effect of Mapuche ancestry on GBC risk (inverse variance-weighted (IVW) risk increase of 0.8% per 1% increase in Mapuche ancestry proportion, 95% CI 0.4% to 1.2%, p = 6.7 × 10-5) and also on gallstone disease (3.6% IVW risk increase, 95% CI 3.1% to 4.0%), pointing to a mediating effect of gallstones on the association between Mapuche ancestry and GBC. In contrast, the proportion of Mapuche ancestry showed a negative effect on BMI (IVW estimate -0.006 kg/m2, 95% CI -0.009 to -0.003). The results presented here may have significant implications for GBC prevention and are important for future admixture mapping studies. Given that the association between the individual proportion of Mapuche ancestry and GBC risk previously noted in observational studies appears to be free of confounding, primary and secondary prevention strategies that consider genetic ancestry could be particularly efficient.Publication Identification of Circulating lncRNAs Associated with Gallbladder Cancer Risk by Tissue-Based Preselection, Cis-eQTL Validation, and Analysis of Association with Genotype-Based Expression(2022) Blandino, Alice; Scherer, Dominique; Rounge, Trine B.; Umu, Sinan U.; Boekstegers, Felix; Barahona Ponce, Carol; Marcelain, Katherine; Gárate-Calderón, Valentina; Waldenberger, Melanie; Morales, Erik; Rojas, Armando; Muñoz, César; Retamales, Javier; Toro, Gonzalo de; Barajas, Olga; Rivera, María Teresa; Cortés, Analía; Loader, Denisse; Saavedra, Javiera; Gutiérrez, Lorena; Ortega, Alejandro; Bertrán, María Enriqueta; Gabler, Fernando; Campos, Mónica; Alvarado, Juan; Fabrizio Moisán 18, Loreto Spencer 18, Bruno Nervi 19, Daniel E Carvajal-Hausdorf; Spencer, Loreto; Nervi, Bruno; Carvajal-Hausdorf, Daniel; Losada, Héctor; Almau, Mauricio; Fernández, Plinio; Gallegos, Iván; Olloquequi, Jordi; Fuentes-Guajardo, Macarena; González -Jose, Rolando; Bortolini, María Cátira; Gallo, Carla; Ruíz Linares, Andrés; Rothhammer, Francisco; Bermejo, Justo LorenzoLong noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play key roles in cell processes and are good candidates for cancer risk prediction. Few studies have investigated the association between individual genotypes and lncRNA expression. Here we integrate three separate datasets with information on lncRNA expression only, both lncRNA expression and genotype, and genotype information only to identify circulating lncRNAs associated with the risk of gallbladder cancer (GBC) using robust linear and logistic regression techniques. In the first dataset, we preselect lncRNAs based on expression changes along the sequence "gallstones → dysplasia → GBC". In the second dataset, we validate associations between genetic variants and serum expression levels of the preselected lncRNAs (cis-lncRNA-eQTLs) and build lncRNA expression prediction models. In the third dataset, we predict serum lncRNA expression based on individual genotypes and assess the association between genotype-based expression and GBC risk. AC084082.3 and LINC00662 showed increasing expression levels (p-value = 0.009), while C22orf34 expression decreased in the sequence from gallstones to GBC (p-value = 0.04). We identified and validated two cis-LINC00662-eQTLs (r2 = 0.26) and three cis-C22orf34-eQTLs (r2 = 0.24). Only LINC00662 showed a genotyped-based serum expression associated with GBC risk (OR = 1.25 per log2 expression unit, 95% CI 1.04-1.52, p-value = 0.02). Our results suggest that preselection of lncRNAs based on tissue samples and exploitation of cis-lncRNA-eQTLs may facilitate the identification of circulating noncoding RNAs linked to cancer risk.Item Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor-Associated Pericarditis(Elsevier Inc., 2019-06) Altan, Mehmet; Toki, Maria; Gettinger, Scott; Carvajal-Hausdorf, Daniel; Zugazagoitia, Jon; Sinard, John; Herbst, Roy; Rimm, DavidSide effects of immune checkpoint inhibitors, termed immune-related adverse events, are relatively common, but immune checkpoint inhibitor-mediated cardiotoxicities are rare; however, they can be serious and potentially fatal. Pericarditis is an infrequent cardiac toxicity of immunotherapy and predisposing factors remain unknown. Here we report three patients with NSCLC who developed pericarditis during therapy with programmed death 1/programmed death ligand 1+/- CTLA-4 inhibitors. We review the clinical presentation of these three cases and histopathologic findings from autopsies from the first two patients and a pericardial sampling that has been obtained from a pericardial window procedure in the third patient who recovered from the pericarditis episode. We also discuss the potential mechanisms, as well as what is known about pericarditis secondary to immune-related adverse events.Publication Metastasis-resident bacteria in advanced hormone receptor-positive breast cancer are related to primary tumormicrobiota and show distinct composition(2022) Araya, C.; Contreras, S.; Mino, B.; Perez, F.; Martin, A.; Carvajal-Hausdorf, DanielBackground:Tumor-resident bacteria are an emerging component of the tumormicroenvironment. Recent studies have shown their presence over multiple cancertypes. Lately, mechanistic evidence in a murine breast cancer model indicates thatthese bacteria promote the metastatic process. However, the presence and confor-mation of the microbiome of human metastatic tumors have not been determined.Here, we characterized tumor-resident bacteria in a cohort of metastatic hormonereceptor-positive breast cancer (MHRBC) patients with matched primary tumors. Methods:We performed bacterial 16S rDNA sequencing targeting hypervariable re-gions V2-4 and V6-9 on FFPE tissues from 40 patients with MHRBC and their matchedprimary tumors. Sequence data were processed using high resolution sample infer-ence with DADA2. Controls included normal breast tissue, paraffin from all blocks anda simulated bacterial community, comprising known intra and extracellular bacteria.Taxonomy was assigned using the SILVA database v138. Feature selection was used todetermine amplicon sequences in primary tumors related to their metastasis. Amachine learning classifier was generated to predict the metastatic site from selectedamplicons. Results:a-diversity was similar among sample types, whileb-diversity showedsegregation between metastatic and primary tumors.Alphaproteobacteria,Gam-maproteobacteriaandBacillihad increased relative abundance across metastatic andprimary tumors. Differential abundance ofProteobacteriaandFirmicutesspecies wasidentified in metastatic tumors. A machine learning classifier using the 5 top rankedamplicons in primary tumors was capable of 100% precision and high recall forprediction of bone and liver metastatic site, but not lung metastases. Conclusions:We identified and categorized the tumor-resident bacteria of MHRBC. Toour knowledge, this is thefirst study looking at the composition of metastatic breastcancer microbiome. While insights have been gained on primary tumor microbiota,the role of metastasis-resident bacteria including local immunity and treatmentresistance warrants further studyItem Multiplexed (18-Plex) Measurement of Signaling Targets and Cytotoxic T Cells in Trastuzumab-Treated Patients using Imaging Mass Cytometry(American Association for Cancer Research., 2019-05) Carvajal-Hausdorf, Daniel; Patsenker, Jonathan; Stanton, Kelly; Villarroel-Espindola, Franz; Esch, Amanda; Montgomery, Montgomery; Psyrri, Amanda; Kalogeras, Konstantine; Kotoula, Vassiliki; Foutzilas, George; Schalper, Kurt; Kluger, Yuval; Rimm, DavidPurpose: Imaging mass cytometry (IMC) uses metal-conjugated antibodies to provide multidimensional, objective measurement of protein targets. We used this high-throughput platform to perform an 18-plex assessment of HER2 ICD/ECD, cytotoxic T-cell infiltration and other structural and signaling proteins in a cohort of patients treated with trastuzumab to discover associations with trastuzumab benefit. Experimental design: An antibody panel for detection of 18 targets (pan-cytokeratin, HER2 ICD, HER2 ECD, CD8, vimentin, cytokeratin 7, β-catenin, HER3, MET, EGFR, ERK 1-2, MEK 1-2, PTEN, PI3K p110 α, Akt, mTOR, Ki67, and Histone H3) was used with a selection of trastuzumab-treated patients from the Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group 10/05 trial (n = 180), and identified a case-control series. Results: Patients that recurred after adjuvant treatment with trastuzumab trended toward a decreased fraction of HER2 ECD pixels over threshold compared with cases without recurrence (P = 0.057). After exclusion of the lowest HER2 expressers, 5-year recurrence events were associated with reduced total extracellular domain (ECD)/intracellular domain (ICD) ratio intensity in tumor (P = 0.044). These observations are consistent with our previous work using quantitative immunofluorescence, but represent the proof on identical cell content. We also describe the association of the ECD of HER2 with CD8 T-cell infiltration on the same slide. Conclusions: The proximity of CD8 cells as a function of the expression of the ECD of HER2 provides further evidence for the role of the immune system in the mechanism of action of trastuzumab.Item Possible role of hemichannels in cancer(Frontiers, 2014) Schalper, Kurt; Carvajal-Hausdorf, Daniel; Oyarzo, MauricioIn humans, connexins (Cxs) and pannexins (Panxs) are the building blocks of hemichannels. These proteins are frequently altered in neoplastic cells and have traditionally been considered as tumor suppressors. Alteration of Cxs and Panxs in cancer cells can be due to genetic, epigenetic and post-transcriptional/post-translational events. Activated hemichannels mediate the diffusional membrane transport of ions and small signaling molecules. In the last decade hemichannels have been shown to participate in diverse cell processes including the modulation of cell proliferation and survival. However, their possible role in tumor growth and expansion remains largely unexplored. Herein, we hypothesize about the possible role of hemichannels in carcinogenesis and tumor progression. To support this theory, we summarize the evidence regarding the involvement of hemichannels in cell proliferation and migration, as well as their possible role in the anti-tumor immune responses. In addition, we discuss the evidence linking hemichannels with cancer in diverse models and comment on the current technical limitations for their study.