Alessandra Capodanno - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Alessandra Capodanno

Leukemia Research, 2008

PS-341 (Bortezomib) is a dipeptide boronic acid proteasome inhibitor with antitumor activity that... more PS-341 (Bortezomib) is a dipeptide boronic acid proteasome inhibitor with antitumor activity that induces apoptosis in different human cancer cell lines. We investigated effects of PS-341 (Bortezomib) on cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, induction of apoptosis and differentiation in a megakaryoblastic (MO7-e) cell line. PS-341 was able to retain NF-kappaB in the cytoplasm and inhibit cell growth (IC(50)=22.5 nM), in a dose/time-dependent way. This anti-proliferative activity resulted to be lineage-specific, because other leukemic cell lines (KG1a, K562/R7, HL60/DNR) were unaffected by the PS-341 treatment. Moreover, PS-341 in MO7-e induced a significant pro-apoptotic effect from 10 nM concentration (40% versus 12% in the control, p<0.05). On the other hand, at lower concentration (5 nM), Bortezomib blocked cell cycle in the G2 phase. Finally, this compound was able to down-regulate WT1 expression. No significant effects on cell differentiation were found. Because a spontaneous NF-kappaB activation has been reported in megakaryocytes from patients affected by myeloproliferative disorders, Bortezomib would so be an attractive therapeutic tool for these malignancies, including essential thrombocythemia or idiopathic myelofibrosis. Preliminary data show an inhibiting activity of Bortezomib in the megakaryocytic colonies formation. Finally, also down-regulation of the WT1 gene Bortezomib-driven could be relevant, because of the role that this gene would play in the pathogenesis of acute and chronic myeloproliferative disorders.

Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine, 2011

Bronchopulmonary neuroendocrine tumors (BP-NETs) are separated into four subgroups: typical carci... more Bronchopulmonary neuroendocrine tumors (BP-NETs) are separated into four subgroups: typical carcinoid tumor (TC), atypical carcinoid tumor (AC), large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) and small-cell lung carcinoma (SCLC). The signaling pathway involving AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is crucial to the regulation of cell growth, proliferation and survival, and is frequently activated in human cancers. Consequently, mTOR is considered an attractive target for anticancer agents. The present study aimed to evaluate the expression of phosphorylated AKT and mTOR in a series of BP-NETs, and to analyze the correlations with clinicopathological parameters. p-AKT and p-mTOR levels were determined by immunohistochemistry in a series of 210 BP-NETs, including 85 SCLCs, 17 LCNECs, 26 ACs, 75 TCs and 7 tumorlets. Higher p-AKT and p-mTOR expression levels were identified in the majority of tumorlets and carcinoids in comparison to the LCNECs (P=0.0001) and SCLCs (P=0.0002). Furthermore, a significant association was observed between p-mTOR expression and tumor size (T) in SCLCs (P=0.04) and LCNECs (P=0.03): T3-T4 tumors exhibited significantly lower p-mTOR expression compared to T1-T2 tumors. In conclusion, most of the BP-NETs examined in this study expressed p-AKT and p-mTOR, suggesting that the AKT/mTOR pathway plays an important role in these tumors. Additionally, our results confirm that low- to intermediate-grade tumors are more closely associated to each other than to high-grade tumors, despite sharing common classification and a common origin from neuroendocrine cells. These findings improve our knowledge of the biological characterization of these tumors and indicate new therapeutic opportunities for the treatment of BP-NETs.

International Journal of Oncology, 2013

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a key role in cancer pathogenesis and are involved in several human cance... more MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a key role in cancer pathogenesis and are involved in several human cancers, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study evaluated Let-7g and miR-21 expression by quantitative real-time PCR in 80 NSCLC patients and correlated the results with their main clinicopathological and molecular features. MiR-21 expression was significantly higher in NSCLC tissues compared to non-cancer lung tissues (p<0.0001), while no significant changes in Let-7g expression were observed between the tumor and normal lung tissues. Target prediction analysis led to the identification of 26 miR-21 and 24 Let-7g putative target genes that play important roles in cancer pathogenesis and progression. No significant association was observed between the analysed miRNAs and the main clinicopathological or molecular characteristics of the NSCLC patients, although both miRNAs were downregulated in squamous cell carcinomas compared to adenocarcinomas. Noteworthy, we observed a significant association between low Let-7g expression and metastatic lymph nodes at diagnosis (p=0.046), as well as between high miR-21 expression and K-Ras mutations (p=0.0003). Survival analysis did not show any significant correlation between prognosis and the analysed miRNAs, although the patients with a high Let-7g and miR-21 expression showed a significantly lower short-term progression-free survival (p=0.01 and p=0.0003, respectively) and overall survival (p=0.023 and p=0.0045, respectively). In conclusion, we showed that Let-7g and miR-21 expression was deregulated in NSCLC and we demonstrated a strong relationship between miR-21 overexpression and K-Ras mutations. Our data indicate that Let-7g and miR-21 profiling combined with the determination of K-Ras mutational status may be considered a useful biomarker for a more effective molecular characterization and clinical management of NSCLC patients.

Thyroid : official journal of the American Thyroid Association, 2007

Loss-of-function mutations of the thyrotropin receptor (TSHr) may be responsible for congenital h... more Loss-of-function mutations of the thyrotropin receptor (TSHr) may be responsible for congenital hypothyroidism or isolated hyperthyreotropinemia. To study cell surface expression of inactivating TSHr mutations detected in patients with isolated hyperthyreotropinemia (L252P, Q8fsX62, P27T, E34K, R46P, D403N, W488R, and M527T), we used the Agilent 2100 bioanalyzer to perform microchip flow cytometry analysis. The previously described TSHr inactivating mutation T477I was used as control. The level of receptor expression in COS-7 cells transfected with the T477I measured by binding assay was four times lower with respect to the wild-type TSHr. The very low expression of T477I was confirmed by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis and by microchip flow cytometry analysis, suggesting that this method can be a reliable system to measure receptor cell surface expression. Other inactivating TSHr mutations were expressed in COS-7 cells for binding studies, FACS analysis, and mic...

Clinical Colorectal Cancer, 2014

This study evaluated micro-RNAs expression and outcome in two different cohorts of metastatic col... more This study evaluated micro-RNAs expression and outcome in two different cohorts of metastatic colorectal cancer patients treated with cetuximab or panitumumab. High intensity levels of the signature MiR-99a/Let-7c/ miR-125b associated with significant longer progression-free survival and overall survival in the whole population and in KRAS wild-type patients. MiR-99a/Let-7c/miR-125b signature may improve the selection of KRAS wild-type patients for anti-EGFR therapy. Background: To investigate whether microRNAs are predictive of sensitivity to antieepidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) monoclonal antibodies in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Methods: A total of 183 mCRC cases from 2 independent cohorts (cohort 1: 74 cases; validation cohort: 109 cases) treated with cetuximab or panitumumab were included in the study. MiRNA arrays were analyzed using Agilent's miRNA platform. Results: The study identified the cluster Let-7c/miR-99a/miR-125b as a signature associated with an outcome different from that of anti-EGFR therapies. In the first cohort, patients with high-intensity signatures had a significantly longer progressionfree survival (PFS) (6.1 vs. 2.3 mo; P ¼ .02) and longer overall survival (OS) ( 29.8 vs. 7.0 mo, P ¼ .08) than patients with low-intensity signatures. In the validation cohort, patients with high signature had significantly longer PFS and OS than individuals with low-intensity signatures (PFS 7.8 vs. 4.3 mo, P ¼ .02; OS 12.8 vs. 7.5 mo, P ¼ .02). In the KRAS wildtype population (n ¼ 120), high-intensity signature patients had a significantly longer PFS (7.8 vs. 4.6 mo, P ¼ .016) and longer OS (16.1 vs. 10.9 mo, P ¼ .09) than low-signature individuals, with no difference in KRAS mutated patients. Conclusion: The MiR-99a/Let-7c/miR-125b signature may improve the selection of patients with KRAS wild-type mCRC as good candidates for anti-EGFR therapy.

Thyroid, 2007

Loss-of-function mutations of the thyrotropin receptor (TSHr) may be responsible for congenital h... more Loss-of-function mutations of the thyrotropin receptor (TSHr) may be responsible for congenital hypothyroidism or isolated hyperthyreotropinemia. To study cell surface expression of inactivating TSHr mutations detected in patients with isolated hyperthyreotropinemia (L252P, Q8fsX62, P27T, E34K, R46P, D403N, W488R, and M527T), we used the Agilent 2100 bioanalyzer to perform microchip flow cytometry analysis. The previously described TSHr inactivating mutation T477I was used as control. The level of receptor expression in COS-7 cells transfected with the T477I measured by binding assay was four times lower with respect to the wild-type TSHr. The very low expression of T477I was confirmed by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis and by microchip flow cytometry analysis, suggesting that this method can be a reliable system to measure receptor cell surface expression. Other inactivating TSHr mutations were expressed in COS-7 cells for binding studies, FACS analysis, and microchip flow cytometry analysis. Binding studies showed that L252P, Q8fsX62, P27T, E34K, R46P, D403N, W488R, and M527T mutants had a low expression at the cell surface, as demonstrated by Bmax values. Data obtained by binding studies were in good agreement with data obtained by FACS analysis and microchip flow cytometry analysis. In conclusion, the low number of cells required for analysis and the ease of use make the microchip flow cytometry analysis a very reliable and favorable system to study cell surface expression of TSHr mutations.

Pancreas, 2009

Objectives: Pancreatic cancer still remains a challenge for its biological complexity and lack of... more Objectives: Pancreatic cancer still remains a challenge for its biological complexity and lack of effective therapeutic strategies. Establishing new pancreatic cancer cell lines is therefore of paramount importance to clarify its biology.

Oncology Reports, 2012

Bronchopulmonary neuroendocrine tumours (BP-NETs) comprise a large spectrum of tumours including ... more Bronchopulmonary neuroendocrine tumours (BP-NETs) comprise a large spectrum of tumours including typical carcinoids (TCs), atypical carcinoids (ACs), largecell neuroendocrine carcinomas (LCNECs) and small-cell lung carcinomas (SCLCs) that exhibit considerably different biological aggressiveness and clinical behaviours. The phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase α catalytic subunit (PIK3CA) gene is known to be involved in the pathogenesis of several types of human cancers through gene amplification, deletions or somatic missense mutations within the helical and catalytic domains. However, the PIK3CA gene status in BP-NETs has yet to be explored. This study aimed to investigate the PIK3CA gene status in a large series of BP-NETs by direct gene sequencing and to analyse its correlation with the main clinicopathological parameters. To the best of our knowledge, we demonstrated for the first time a high frequency of somatic missense mutations (23.2%) in the PIK3CA gene in a series of 190 BP-NETs, including 75 TCs, 23 ACs, 17 LCNECs and 75 SCLCs. The frequency of the PIK3CA gene mutation in the kinase domain was higher (17.9%) than that in the helical domain (5.3%). When the mutational status of the PIK3CA gene was compared with the main clinical and pathological characteristics of the BP-NET patients, we found a significant association between PIK3CA gene mutations and BP-NET histology (P=0.011). Interestingly, the frequency of PIK3CA gene mutations increased with the biological aggressiveness of all BP-NETs, except LCNECs. In conclusion, our results suggest that PIK3CA gene mutations may play a key role in tumourigenesis and aggressiveness of BP-NETs. The PIK3CA gene may represent a favourable candidate for an effective therapeutic strategy in the treatment of patients with BP-NETs.

Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology, 2009

We studied cell growth rate, mechanisms of growth inhibition, phenotype redifferentiation, expres... more We studied cell growth rate, mechanisms of growth inhibition, phenotype redifferentiation, expression of RAR  and differentiation thyroid genes before and after combined treatment with 5-Aza-CdR and RA (5-Aza/RA) of human thyroid carcinoma cell lines (FRO, WRO, TT). Furthermore, the activity and localization of the re-expressed sodium-iodide-symporter (NIS) protein was analyzed.

Journal of Endocrinological Investigation, 2008

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2005

Conventional chemoteraphy and radiotherapy are ineffective for the treatment of advanced thyroid ... more Conventional chemoteraphy and radiotherapy are ineffective for the treatment of advanced thyroid tumors like poorly differentiated papillary, anaplastic, and medullary thyroid cancer. In the attempt to evaluate the possibility of using retinoic acid (RA) in the treatment of thyroid cancer refractory to conventional therapy, we studied the effect of all-trans-RA treatment on five human thyroid cancer cell lines. We found that WRO and NPA, derived from follicular and poorly differentiated human thyroid carcinoma, respectively, showed a growth inhibition after 25 and 21 d of RA treatment. Both apoptosis and a decrease in DNA synthesis were observed as mechanisms of growth inhibition. In the NPA cell line, a delay of cell-cycle progression has also been observed.

International Journal of Cancer, 2007

BRMS1 is regarded as a metastasis suppressor gene for its ability to reduce metastatic potential ... more BRMS1 is regarded as a metastasis suppressor gene for its ability to reduce metastatic potential of human and murine breast cancer cells as well as human melanoma cells. However, BRMS1 association to human tumor progression is not clearly understood. In the present study we analyzed BRMS1 mRNA expression in tumor progression and its potential prognostic value for breast carcinoma. BRMS1 mRNA expression level was quantified by real-time PCR in 47 tumoral, in 14 peritumoral and in 15 metastatic microdissected cellular populations from 47 breast cancer patients with 10-year follow up. We found BRMS1 expression to be higher in carcinoma cells than in matching normal epithelial cell populations in 10 out of 14 cases (p = 0.0005), while lymph-nodal carcinoma cells showed lower BRMS1 expression in 9 out of 15 cases (p = 0.001). Using both in vivo (human mammary breast carcinomas) and in vitro systems (breast cancer cell lines) we were able to demonstrate that BRMS1 overexpression was not a bias effect induced by cell proliferation rate. BRMS1 expression levels did not correlate with standard breast cancer prognostic factors but BRMS1 higher expression was associated with patient shorter disease-free and overall survival. Our findings are apparently inconsistent with the concept of BRMS1 as a metastasis suppressor gene. One possible explanation is that epithelial cells increase their BRMS1 expression as a compensatory response to tumor formation or metastasis progression, which is elevated in proportion to tumor aggressiveness, whereas those cells of the primary tumor that cannot upregulate BRMS1 escape to form metastasis.

Cancer Science, 2009

Anthracycline-based chemotherapy represents a milestone in the treatment of breast cancer. We pre... more Anthracycline-based chemotherapy represents a milestone in the treatment of breast cancer. We previously demonstrated in an in vitro model that cyclin E overexpression is associated with increased expression of manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) and resistance to doxorubicin. In the present study, immunohistochemical expression of cyclin E and MnSOD was evaluated in 134 early breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant epirubicin-based chemotherapy regimens containing epirubicin. Both parameters were correlated with the available clinicopathological parameters and with the outcome of patients. Overexpression of cyclin E and MnSOD was detected in 46 (34.3%) and 56 (41.8%) patients, respectively, and expression levels of the two proteins were related. Disease-free and alive patients displayed a lower mean percentage of cyclin E-expressing cells than relapsed and dead patients, respectively. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis demonstrated a significant separation between high versus low cyclin E-expressing tumors in terms of overall survival (P = 0.038 by log-rank). Similar results were obtained considering the subset of node-negative patients separately. No significant relationship with patient outcome was observed for MnSOD expression levels. At multivariate analysis cyclin E failed to demonstrate an independent prognostic value. In conclusion, the results of the present study support previous evidence that increased cyclin E expression is associated with higher MnSOD expression levels and poorer outcome, at least as evaluated in terms of overall survival. Further studies are warranted to evaluate the usefulness of cyclin E as a prognostic marker to identify breast cancer patients at higher risk of death from the disease when treated with adjuvant anthracyclinebased therapy.

Breast Diseases: A Year Book Quarterly, 2010

The phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt pathway is involved in the pathogenesis of several human cancer... more The phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt pathway is involved in the pathogenesis of several human cancers. In this study, the biological and prognostic value of phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt pathway dysregulation was assessed by immunohistochemistry in a well-...

Anticancer research

Available prognostic factors do not accurately identify node-negative breast cancer patients at h... more Available prognostic factors do not accurately identify node-negative breast cancer patients at high risk of disease recurrence and progression. Cyclin A and E2F1 expression levels were evaluated in 75 consecutive node-negative breast cancer patients with a median follow-up of 10 years. Both parameters were tested for correlation with all the available clinicopathological parameters and with the clinical evolution of the disease. Cyclin A was overexprNed in 45.3% of patients and significantly related to large tumor size, high Ki67 and high E2F1 expression levels. No relationship was observed between cyclin A and tumor estrogen receptor (ER) status, grading or patient age. Seventeen patients relapsed within 5 years from diagnosis. Twelve (71%) of them showed cyclin A overexpression in comparison with 22 (38%) out of the 58 who did not relapse (p = 0.02). Disease-free survival (DFS) was significantly shorter in patients with cyclin A-overexpressing tumors compared to non-overexpressin...

Leukemia Research, 2008

PS-341 (Bortezomib) is a dipeptide boronic acid proteasome inhibitor with antitumor activity that... more PS-341 (Bortezomib) is a dipeptide boronic acid proteasome inhibitor with antitumor activity that induces apoptosis in different human cancer cell lines. We investigated effects of PS-341 (Bortezomib) on cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, induction of apoptosis and differentiation in a megakaryoblastic (MO7-e) cell line. PS-341 was able to retain NF-kappaB in the cytoplasm and inhibit cell growth (IC(50)=22.5 nM), in a dose/time-dependent way. This anti-proliferative activity resulted to be lineage-specific, because other leukemic cell lines (KG1a, K562/R7, HL60/DNR) were unaffected by the PS-341 treatment. Moreover, PS-341 in MO7-e induced a significant pro-apoptotic effect from 10 nM concentration (40% versus 12% in the control, p<0.05). On the other hand, at lower concentration (5 nM), Bortezomib blocked cell cycle in the G2 phase. Finally, this compound was able to down-regulate WT1 expression. No significant effects on cell differentiation were found. Because a spontaneous NF-kappaB activation has been reported in megakaryocytes from patients affected by myeloproliferative disorders, Bortezomib would so be an attractive therapeutic tool for these malignancies, including essential thrombocythemia or idiopathic myelofibrosis. Preliminary data show an inhibiting activity of Bortezomib in the megakaryocytic colonies formation. Finally, also down-regulation of the WT1 gene Bortezomib-driven could be relevant, because of the role that this gene would play in the pathogenesis of acute and chronic myeloproliferative disorders.

Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine, 2011

Bronchopulmonary neuroendocrine tumors (BP-NETs) are separated into four subgroups: typical carci... more Bronchopulmonary neuroendocrine tumors (BP-NETs) are separated into four subgroups: typical carcinoid tumor (TC), atypical carcinoid tumor (AC), large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) and small-cell lung carcinoma (SCLC). The signaling pathway involving AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is crucial to the regulation of cell growth, proliferation and survival, and is frequently activated in human cancers. Consequently, mTOR is considered an attractive target for anticancer agents. The present study aimed to evaluate the expression of phosphorylated AKT and mTOR in a series of BP-NETs, and to analyze the correlations with clinicopathological parameters. p-AKT and p-mTOR levels were determined by immunohistochemistry in a series of 210 BP-NETs, including 85 SCLCs, 17 LCNECs, 26 ACs, 75 TCs and 7 tumorlets. Higher p-AKT and p-mTOR expression levels were identified in the majority of tumorlets and carcinoids in comparison to the LCNECs (P=0.0001) and SCLCs (P=0.0002). Furthermore, a significant association was observed between p-mTOR expression and tumor size (T) in SCLCs (P=0.04) and LCNECs (P=0.03): T3-T4 tumors exhibited significantly lower p-mTOR expression compared to T1-T2 tumors. In conclusion, most of the BP-NETs examined in this study expressed p-AKT and p-mTOR, suggesting that the AKT/mTOR pathway plays an important role in these tumors. Additionally, our results confirm that low- to intermediate-grade tumors are more closely associated to each other than to high-grade tumors, despite sharing common classification and a common origin from neuroendocrine cells. These findings improve our knowledge of the biological characterization of these tumors and indicate new therapeutic opportunities for the treatment of BP-NETs.

International Journal of Oncology, 2013

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a key role in cancer pathogenesis and are involved in several human cance... more MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a key role in cancer pathogenesis and are involved in several human cancers, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study evaluated Let-7g and miR-21 expression by quantitative real-time PCR in 80 NSCLC patients and correlated the results with their main clinicopathological and molecular features. MiR-21 expression was significantly higher in NSCLC tissues compared to non-cancer lung tissues (p<0.0001), while no significant changes in Let-7g expression were observed between the tumor and normal lung tissues. Target prediction analysis led to the identification of 26 miR-21 and 24 Let-7g putative target genes that play important roles in cancer pathogenesis and progression. No significant association was observed between the analysed miRNAs and the main clinicopathological or molecular characteristics of the NSCLC patients, although both miRNAs were downregulated in squamous cell carcinomas compared to adenocarcinomas. Noteworthy, we observed a significant association between low Let-7g expression and metastatic lymph nodes at diagnosis (p=0.046), as well as between high miR-21 expression and K-Ras mutations (p=0.0003). Survival analysis did not show any significant correlation between prognosis and the analysed miRNAs, although the patients with a high Let-7g and miR-21 expression showed a significantly lower short-term progression-free survival (p=0.01 and p=0.0003, respectively) and overall survival (p=0.023 and p=0.0045, respectively). In conclusion, we showed that Let-7g and miR-21 expression was deregulated in NSCLC and we demonstrated a strong relationship between miR-21 overexpression and K-Ras mutations. Our data indicate that Let-7g and miR-21 profiling combined with the determination of K-Ras mutational status may be considered a useful biomarker for a more effective molecular characterization and clinical management of NSCLC patients.

Thyroid : official journal of the American Thyroid Association, 2007

Loss-of-function mutations of the thyrotropin receptor (TSHr) may be responsible for congenital h... more Loss-of-function mutations of the thyrotropin receptor (TSHr) may be responsible for congenital hypothyroidism or isolated hyperthyreotropinemia. To study cell surface expression of inactivating TSHr mutations detected in patients with isolated hyperthyreotropinemia (L252P, Q8fsX62, P27T, E34K, R46P, D403N, W488R, and M527T), we used the Agilent 2100 bioanalyzer to perform microchip flow cytometry analysis. The previously described TSHr inactivating mutation T477I was used as control. The level of receptor expression in COS-7 cells transfected with the T477I measured by binding assay was four times lower with respect to the wild-type TSHr. The very low expression of T477I was confirmed by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis and by microchip flow cytometry analysis, suggesting that this method can be a reliable system to measure receptor cell surface expression. Other inactivating TSHr mutations were expressed in COS-7 cells for binding studies, FACS analysis, and mic...

Clinical Colorectal Cancer, 2014

This study evaluated micro-RNAs expression and outcome in two different cohorts of metastatic col... more This study evaluated micro-RNAs expression and outcome in two different cohorts of metastatic colorectal cancer patients treated with cetuximab or panitumumab. High intensity levels of the signature MiR-99a/Let-7c/ miR-125b associated with significant longer progression-free survival and overall survival in the whole population and in KRAS wild-type patients. MiR-99a/Let-7c/miR-125b signature may improve the selection of KRAS wild-type patients for anti-EGFR therapy. Background: To investigate whether microRNAs are predictive of sensitivity to antieepidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) monoclonal antibodies in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Methods: A total of 183 mCRC cases from 2 independent cohorts (cohort 1: 74 cases; validation cohort: 109 cases) treated with cetuximab or panitumumab were included in the study. MiRNA arrays were analyzed using Agilent's miRNA platform. Results: The study identified the cluster Let-7c/miR-99a/miR-125b as a signature associated with an outcome different from that of anti-EGFR therapies. In the first cohort, patients with high-intensity signatures had a significantly longer progressionfree survival (PFS) (6.1 vs. 2.3 mo; P ¼ .02) and longer overall survival (OS) ( 29.8 vs. 7.0 mo, P ¼ .08) than patients with low-intensity signatures. In the validation cohort, patients with high signature had significantly longer PFS and OS than individuals with low-intensity signatures (PFS 7.8 vs. 4.3 mo, P ¼ .02; OS 12.8 vs. 7.5 mo, P ¼ .02). In the KRAS wildtype population (n ¼ 120), high-intensity signature patients had a significantly longer PFS (7.8 vs. 4.6 mo, P ¼ .016) and longer OS (16.1 vs. 10.9 mo, P ¼ .09) than low-signature individuals, with no difference in KRAS mutated patients. Conclusion: The MiR-99a/Let-7c/miR-125b signature may improve the selection of patients with KRAS wild-type mCRC as good candidates for anti-EGFR therapy.

Thyroid, 2007

Loss-of-function mutations of the thyrotropin receptor (TSHr) may be responsible for congenital h... more Loss-of-function mutations of the thyrotropin receptor (TSHr) may be responsible for congenital hypothyroidism or isolated hyperthyreotropinemia. To study cell surface expression of inactivating TSHr mutations detected in patients with isolated hyperthyreotropinemia (L252P, Q8fsX62, P27T, E34K, R46P, D403N, W488R, and M527T), we used the Agilent 2100 bioanalyzer to perform microchip flow cytometry analysis. The previously described TSHr inactivating mutation T477I was used as control. The level of receptor expression in COS-7 cells transfected with the T477I measured by binding assay was four times lower with respect to the wild-type TSHr. The very low expression of T477I was confirmed by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis and by microchip flow cytometry analysis, suggesting that this method can be a reliable system to measure receptor cell surface expression. Other inactivating TSHr mutations were expressed in COS-7 cells for binding studies, FACS analysis, and microchip flow cytometry analysis. Binding studies showed that L252P, Q8fsX62, P27T, E34K, R46P, D403N, W488R, and M527T mutants had a low expression at the cell surface, as demonstrated by Bmax values. Data obtained by binding studies were in good agreement with data obtained by FACS analysis and microchip flow cytometry analysis. In conclusion, the low number of cells required for analysis and the ease of use make the microchip flow cytometry analysis a very reliable and favorable system to study cell surface expression of TSHr mutations.

Pancreas, 2009

Objectives: Pancreatic cancer still remains a challenge for its biological complexity and lack of... more Objectives: Pancreatic cancer still remains a challenge for its biological complexity and lack of effective therapeutic strategies. Establishing new pancreatic cancer cell lines is therefore of paramount importance to clarify its biology.

Oncology Reports, 2012

Bronchopulmonary neuroendocrine tumours (BP-NETs) comprise a large spectrum of tumours including ... more Bronchopulmonary neuroendocrine tumours (BP-NETs) comprise a large spectrum of tumours including typical carcinoids (TCs), atypical carcinoids (ACs), largecell neuroendocrine carcinomas (LCNECs) and small-cell lung carcinomas (SCLCs) that exhibit considerably different biological aggressiveness and clinical behaviours. The phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase α catalytic subunit (PIK3CA) gene is known to be involved in the pathogenesis of several types of human cancers through gene amplification, deletions or somatic missense mutations within the helical and catalytic domains. However, the PIK3CA gene status in BP-NETs has yet to be explored. This study aimed to investigate the PIK3CA gene status in a large series of BP-NETs by direct gene sequencing and to analyse its correlation with the main clinicopathological parameters. To the best of our knowledge, we demonstrated for the first time a high frequency of somatic missense mutations (23.2%) in the PIK3CA gene in a series of 190 BP-NETs, including 75 TCs, 23 ACs, 17 LCNECs and 75 SCLCs. The frequency of the PIK3CA gene mutation in the kinase domain was higher (17.9%) than that in the helical domain (5.3%). When the mutational status of the PIK3CA gene was compared with the main clinical and pathological characteristics of the BP-NET patients, we found a significant association between PIK3CA gene mutations and BP-NET histology (P=0.011). Interestingly, the frequency of PIK3CA gene mutations increased with the biological aggressiveness of all BP-NETs, except LCNECs. In conclusion, our results suggest that PIK3CA gene mutations may play a key role in tumourigenesis and aggressiveness of BP-NETs. The PIK3CA gene may represent a favourable candidate for an effective therapeutic strategy in the treatment of patients with BP-NETs.

Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology, 2009

We studied cell growth rate, mechanisms of growth inhibition, phenotype redifferentiation, expres... more We studied cell growth rate, mechanisms of growth inhibition, phenotype redifferentiation, expression of RAR  and differentiation thyroid genes before and after combined treatment with 5-Aza-CdR and RA (5-Aza/RA) of human thyroid carcinoma cell lines (FRO, WRO, TT). Furthermore, the activity and localization of the re-expressed sodium-iodide-symporter (NIS) protein was analyzed.

Journal of Endocrinological Investigation, 2008

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2005

Conventional chemoteraphy and radiotherapy are ineffective for the treatment of advanced thyroid ... more Conventional chemoteraphy and radiotherapy are ineffective for the treatment of advanced thyroid tumors like poorly differentiated papillary, anaplastic, and medullary thyroid cancer. In the attempt to evaluate the possibility of using retinoic acid (RA) in the treatment of thyroid cancer refractory to conventional therapy, we studied the effect of all-trans-RA treatment on five human thyroid cancer cell lines. We found that WRO and NPA, derived from follicular and poorly differentiated human thyroid carcinoma, respectively, showed a growth inhibition after 25 and 21 d of RA treatment. Both apoptosis and a decrease in DNA synthesis were observed as mechanisms of growth inhibition. In the NPA cell line, a delay of cell-cycle progression has also been observed.

International Journal of Cancer, 2007

BRMS1 is regarded as a metastasis suppressor gene for its ability to reduce metastatic potential ... more BRMS1 is regarded as a metastasis suppressor gene for its ability to reduce metastatic potential of human and murine breast cancer cells as well as human melanoma cells. However, BRMS1 association to human tumor progression is not clearly understood. In the present study we analyzed BRMS1 mRNA expression in tumor progression and its potential prognostic value for breast carcinoma. BRMS1 mRNA expression level was quantified by real-time PCR in 47 tumoral, in 14 peritumoral and in 15 metastatic microdissected cellular populations from 47 breast cancer patients with 10-year follow up. We found BRMS1 expression to be higher in carcinoma cells than in matching normal epithelial cell populations in 10 out of 14 cases (p = 0.0005), while lymph-nodal carcinoma cells showed lower BRMS1 expression in 9 out of 15 cases (p = 0.001). Using both in vivo (human mammary breast carcinomas) and in vitro systems (breast cancer cell lines) we were able to demonstrate that BRMS1 overexpression was not a bias effect induced by cell proliferation rate. BRMS1 expression levels did not correlate with standard breast cancer prognostic factors but BRMS1 higher expression was associated with patient shorter disease-free and overall survival. Our findings are apparently inconsistent with the concept of BRMS1 as a metastasis suppressor gene. One possible explanation is that epithelial cells increase their BRMS1 expression as a compensatory response to tumor formation or metastasis progression, which is elevated in proportion to tumor aggressiveness, whereas those cells of the primary tumor that cannot upregulate BRMS1 escape to form metastasis.

Cancer Science, 2009

Anthracycline-based chemotherapy represents a milestone in the treatment of breast cancer. We pre... more Anthracycline-based chemotherapy represents a milestone in the treatment of breast cancer. We previously demonstrated in an in vitro model that cyclin E overexpression is associated with increased expression of manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) and resistance to doxorubicin. In the present study, immunohistochemical expression of cyclin E and MnSOD was evaluated in 134 early breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant epirubicin-based chemotherapy regimens containing epirubicin. Both parameters were correlated with the available clinicopathological parameters and with the outcome of patients. Overexpression of cyclin E and MnSOD was detected in 46 (34.3%) and 56 (41.8%) patients, respectively, and expression levels of the two proteins were related. Disease-free and alive patients displayed a lower mean percentage of cyclin E-expressing cells than relapsed and dead patients, respectively. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis demonstrated a significant separation between high versus low cyclin E-expressing tumors in terms of overall survival (P = 0.038 by log-rank). Similar results were obtained considering the subset of node-negative patients separately. No significant relationship with patient outcome was observed for MnSOD expression levels. At multivariate analysis cyclin E failed to demonstrate an independent prognostic value. In conclusion, the results of the present study support previous evidence that increased cyclin E expression is associated with higher MnSOD expression levels and poorer outcome, at least as evaluated in terms of overall survival. Further studies are warranted to evaluate the usefulness of cyclin E as a prognostic marker to identify breast cancer patients at higher risk of death from the disease when treated with adjuvant anthracyclinebased therapy.

Breast Diseases: A Year Book Quarterly, 2010

The phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt pathway is involved in the pathogenesis of several human cancer... more The phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt pathway is involved in the pathogenesis of several human cancers. In this study, the biological and prognostic value of phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt pathway dysregulation was assessed by immunohistochemistry in a well-...

Anticancer research

Available prognostic factors do not accurately identify node-negative breast cancer patients at h... more Available prognostic factors do not accurately identify node-negative breast cancer patients at high risk of disease recurrence and progression. Cyclin A and E2F1 expression levels were evaluated in 75 consecutive node-negative breast cancer patients with a median follow-up of 10 years. Both parameters were tested for correlation with all the available clinicopathological parameters and with the clinical evolution of the disease. Cyclin A was overexprNed in 45.3% of patients and significantly related to large tumor size, high Ki67 and high E2F1 expression levels. No relationship was observed between cyclin A and tumor estrogen receptor (ER) status, grading or patient age. Seventeen patients relapsed within 5 years from diagnosis. Twelve (71%) of them showed cyclin A overexpression in comparison with 22 (38%) out of the 58 who did not relapse (p = 0.02). Disease-free survival (DFS) was significantly shorter in patients with cyclin A-overexpressing tumors compared to non-overexpressin...