Mutations In Notch Signaling Pathway Research Articles

Notch signaling genes and CD8+ T-cell dynamics: Their contribution to immune-checkpoint inhibitor therapy in oral squamous cell carcinoma: A retrospective study.

Aberrant Notch signaling pathway has been related with the tumorigenesis in head and neck region, involving oral cavity. Here, we report the correlation between mutations in the Notch signaling pathway and CD8+ T-cell infiltration via PD-L1, which lead to enhanced antitumor immunity and may target for immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) therapy. This retrospective study analyzed the results of immunohistochemical staining for PD-L1 and CD8+ T-cell infiltration in 10 patients and whole-exome sequencing (WES) was conducted on five of these patients to identify frequently mutated genes. Four of 10 patients were positive for PD-L1 and CD8+ T. By analyzing WES in three of these four patients, we notably identified the mutations of NOTCH1, FBXW7, and noncoding RNA intronic mutation in NOTCH2NLR in two of these three patients. This study may enable better selection of ICI therapy with CD8+ T-cell infiltration via PD-L1 expression for oral squamous cell carcinoma patients with mutations in Notch signaling pathway.

Clinical potential of ctDNA-based TMB in small cell lung cancer recieving chemoradiotherapy.

3536 Background: Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive tumor with poor prognosis. Chemotherapy and / or radiotherapy is the main choice of SCLC treatment. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has received substantial attention in recent years owing to the potential of patient stratification and monitoring. Here, we assessed the value of prediction and prognosis using ctDNA in SCLC. Methods: SCLC patients (pts) with limited-stage disease (LD) receiving chemoradiotherapy and extensive-stage disease (ED) receiving chemotherapy were enrolled. Baseline plasma samples were collected for NGS using a 1021-gene-panel. Mutational features and blood-based tumor mutation burden (bTMB) were analyzed using ctDNA. pyClone software was used to cluster the mutations. The mutations in the cluster with the highest cancer cell fraction (CCF) were defined as clonal mutations. Progression-free survival (PFS) was followed. Results: 58 SCLC pts (35 LD and 23 ED) and 58 plasma samples were enrolled. Smoking pts accounted for 84% (49/58). In all samples, recurrent genes were TP53 (86%), RB1 (57%), LRP1B (34%), CREBBP (26%), and MLL3 (22%). The median of bTMB and clone count were 7.9 [0-26] and 7 [0-25]. Significant higher bTMB and clone count were observed in ED pts compared with LD (Mann Whitney test, p = 0.019 and p = 0.041, respectively). Mutated CREBBP (10/23 ED versus 5/35 LD) was enriched in ED (Fisher exact test, p = 0.017 and OR = 0.223). Mutations in NOTCH signaling pathway were enriched in ED (l6/23 ED versus 13/35 LD, p = 0.031, OR = 0.265). In LD group, there were trend toward prolonged PFS in pts with higher bTMB(p = 0.065), and pts with higher clonal bTMB (cbTMB) exhibited significant longer PFS (p = 0.016, HR 0.37, 95% CI [0.12-1.11]). Patients with alteration in PIK3CA showed shorter PFS than wild type (p < 0.001, HR 0.11, 95% CI [0-2.86]). There were no significant difference in median PFS in LD stage pts with any detectable pathway alterations. Whereas, LD pts whose ctDNA contained RTK-RAS signaling pathway alterations exhibited shorter PFS than pts without those alterations (p = 0.135). In ED pts, NOTCH1 gene wild type displayed longer PFS than mutant type (p = 0.036, HR 0.38, 95% CI [0.1-1.53]). There were no difference in PFS between pts with higher and lower bTMB and cbTMB. Conclusions: ctDNA can characterize the mutational feature of SCLC. There are differences in the molecular characteristics between ED and LD pts. Clonal bTMB is a potential prognostic biomarker for LD SCLC chemoradiotherapy. The prognostic marker of ED chemotherapy is different from LD.

Targeted next-generation DNA sequencing identifies Notch signaling pathway mutation as a predictor of radiation response

Purpose: Identifying the association between somatic mutations and the radiation response of tumor is essential for understanding the mechanisms and practicing personalized radiotherapy. The present study aimed to discover specific genes or pathways that are associated with radiation response using targeted next-generation DNA sequencing.Material and methods: Fifty-five patients with various solid tumors whose specimen were sequenced using institutional panel which includes 148 cancer-related genes and received radiotherapy for a measurable tumor were analyzed. Patients with irradiated tumors in complete or partial remission for more than 6 months were defined as responders. Association between mutations including pathogenic single nucleotide variants and insertions/deletions in the 148 genes and 39 molecular pathways and radiation response was investigated.Results: Analyzing 17 responders and 38 non-responders, biologically effective dose (BED), but not concurrent chemotherapy, was associated with radiation response. No single gene correlated with radiation response. Mutations in Notch signaling pathway were associated with radiosensitivity after correction for multiple comparison (adjusted p = .094). When BED and Notch signaling pathway mutation were tested with logistic regression, both variables were associated with radiation response.Conclusions: Our results suggest that somatic mutations in Notch signaling pathway may be related to sensitivity to radiation, although these results should be validated in a larger and more homogeneous cohort.