Lack of microsatellite instability in gastrointestinal stromal tumors

The microsatellite instability (MSI) phenotype may constitute an important biomarker for patient response to immunotherapy, particularly to anti-programmed death-1 inhibitors. MSI is a type of genomic instability caused by a defect in DNA mismatch repair (MMR) proteins, which is present mainly in colorectal cancer and its hereditary form, hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer. Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) development is associated with activating mutations of KIT proto-oncogene receptor tyrosine kinase (KIT) or platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRA), which are oncogenes that predict the response to imatinib mesylate. In addition to KIT/PDGFRA mutations, other molecular alterations are important in GIST development. In GISTs, the characterization of the MSI phenotype is scarce and the results are not consensual. The present study aimed to assess MSI in a series of 79 GISTs. The evaluation of MSI was performed by pentaplex polymerase chain reaction comprising five markers, followed by capillary electrophoresis. The expression of MMR proteins was evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Regarding the KIT/PDGFRA/B-Raf proto-oncogene, serine/threonine kinase molecular profile of the 79 GISTs, 83.6% of the tumors possessed KIT mutations, 10.1% had PDGFRA mutations and 6.3% were triple wild-type. The mutated-PDGFRA cases were associated with gastric location and a lower mitotic index compared with KIT-mutated and wild-types, and these patients were more likely to be alive and without cancer. MSI analysis identified 4 cases with instability in one marker, however, additional evaluation of normal tissue and immunohistochemical staining of MMR proteins confirmed their microsatellite-stable nature. The results of the present study indicated that MSI is not involved in GIST tumorigenesis and, therefore, cannot serve as a biomarker to immunotherapy response in GIST.The present study was supported by The Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (grant no. 476192/2013-7) and the São Paulo Research Foundation Doctoral Fellowship (grant no. 2013/25787-3).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Low frequency of TERT promoter mutations in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs).

Somatic mutations in the promoter region of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene, mainly at positions c. − 124 and c. − 146 bp, are frequent in several human cancers; yet its presence in gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) has not been reported to date. Herein, we searched for the presence and clinicopathological association of TERT promoter mutations in genomic DNA from 130 bona fide GISTs. We found TERT promoter mutations in 3.8% (5/130) of GISTs. The c. − 124C4T mutation was the most common event, present in 2.3% (3/130), and the c. − 146C4T mutation in 1.5% (2/130) of GISTs. No significant association was observed between TERT promoter mutation and patient’s clinicopathological features. The present study establishes the low frequency (4%) of TERT promoter mutations in GISTs. Further studies are required to confirm our findings and to elucidate the hypothetical biological and clinical impact of TERT promoter mutation in GIST pathogenesis.This project was partially supported by Barretos Cancer Hospital internal research funds (PAIP) and CNPq Universal Grant (476192/2013-7) to RMR. NCC is a recipient of an FAPESP Doctoral Fellowship (2013/25787-3). Further funding from the project ‘Microenvironment, metabolism and cancer’ that was partially supported by Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2—O Novo Norte) under the Quadro de Referência Estratégico Nacional (QREN) and the Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER). IPATIMUP is an Associate Laboratory of the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education that is partially supported by the FCT

Absence of microsatellite instability in soft tissue sarcomas

Here, we analyze a series of soft tissue sarcomas (STS), which are a heterogeneous group of mesenchymal neoplasms, for the presence and frequency of microsatellite instability (MSI). MSI has been proposed to be clinically relevant for colorectal cancer, yet on STS its role is not consensual, partly due to the limited number of cases analyzed and methodology issues.This project was partially supported by a CNPq Universal Grant (476192/2013-7) to Rui Manuel Reis. Nathália Cristina Campanella is the recipient of an FAPESP Doctoral Fellowship (2013/25787-3)

Optimization of a pentaplex panel for MSI analysis without control DNA in a Brazilian population : correlation with ancestry markers

Microsatellite instability (MSI) testing has been advocated for all newly diagnosed colorectal cancer patients. One of the most common tests is composed by a pentaplex panel of mononucleotides markers (NR-27, NR-21, NR-24, BAT-25, and BAT-26), which allows the analysis of MSI in tumors without the need of reference DNA. For that, it is fundamental to establish a quasi-monomorphic variation range (QMVR) for each marker. Herein, we aimed to establish the QMVR in a Brazilian healthy population, to evaluate the feasibility of MSI determination of tumors, without the matching normal DNA. Furthermore, we intend to assess their ancestry using specific ancestry-informative markers (AIMs) and correlate with QMVR. The QMVR was assessed in 214 individuals, through a pentaplex PCR followed by fragment analysis. The ancestry analysis was done by 46 AIMs in a single multiplex PCR followed by capillary electrophoresis. Following QMVR establishment, we observed 23 individuals with alleles outside the QMVR. Importantly, none of them exhibited more than one marker outside the range. Therefore, individuals with instability at =2 markers would be accurately classified as MSI. The European ancestry proportion was the most frequent (67.5%), followed by the African (19.6%). The comparison of the individuals with alleles within (n=191) and outside (n=23) the QMVR showed statistical difference in the proportions of European and African alleles, confirming the higher polymorphic nature of African ancestry. In conclusion, the present study reports an accurate methodology to assess MSI status without matched-normal DNA and independently of the ethnicity, even in the highly admixed population of Brazil.The present study was partially supported by a MCT/FINEP/CT-INFRA-PROINFRA 02/2010 grant and a CNPq Universal grant (475358/2011-2). Nathalia Cristina Campanella is a recipient of an FAPESP Master Grant (2012/01732-2). IPATIMUP is an Associate Laboratory of the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education and is partially supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). Rui Pereira is a recipient of a postdoctoral fellowship from FCT (SFRH/BPD/81986/2011)

Presence of microsatellite instability in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma associated with chagasic megaesophagus

The molecular pathogenesis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has been increasingly studied, but there is no report on the role of MSI in ESCC development associated with chagasic megaesophagus (CM).Results/methodology: In four ESCC/CM (4/19) we found microsatellite instability (MSI) alterations (21.1%), being three MSI-L (15.8%) and one MSI-H (5.3%). Four out of 35 ESCC cases showed MSI-L (11.4%) and only one out of 26 CM cases presented MSI-L (3.9%). The MSI-H was observed in an ESCC/CM patient that presents lack of MSH6 immunostaining corroborating deficiency in MMR pathway. Interestingly, the MSI-H ESCC/CM case also presented a deletion the HSP110 poly(T)17 gene.This project was supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico (CNPq) (476192/2013-7) for RM Reis. NC Campanella was recipient of the Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisada do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP) Post Doctoral Fellowship (2016/03634-9). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio