Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) regulates various cellular functions, including tumorigenesis, and is inhibited by the tuberous sclerosis 1 (TSC1)–TSC2 complex. Here, we demonstrate that arrest-defective protein 1 (ARD1) physically interacts with, acetylates, and stabilizes TSC2, thereby repressing mTOR activity. The inhibition of mTOR by ARD1 inhibits cell proliferation and increases autophagy, thereby inhibiting tumorigenicity. Correlation between ARD1 and TSC2 abundance was apparent in multiple tumor types. Moreover, evaluation of loss of heterozygosity at Xq28 revealed allelic loss in 31% of tested breast cancer cell lines and tumor samples. Together, our findings suggest that ARD1 functions as an inhibitor of the mTOR pathway and that dysregulation of the ARD1-TSC2-mTOR axis may contribute to cancer development.

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With the progression of molecular techniques, the detection of circulating plasma DNA (cpDNA) is clinically feasible. However, the role of the cpDNA levels in gastric cancer is not well understood. This study assessed the mutational profile in primary tumors and clarified the clinical utility of quantitative and qualitative cpDNA alterations in 277 patients with advanced gastric cancer. The concentrations of cpDNA were measured by TaqMan qPCR, and 68 mutations in 8 genes were studied for cpDNA mutations. The median cpDNA concentrations in patients with stages I, II, and III gastric cancer were 3979, 3390 and 4278 copies/mL, respectively, and increased to 11,380 copies/mL in patients with Stage IV gastric cancer (p < 0.001). Among the 35 patients harboring cpDNA mutations, Stage IV patients (100%) were more likely to display high cpDNA levels than were Stage I (33.3%), II (75%) and III patients (66.7%) (p 5 0.037). Patients displaying high cpDNA levels were more likely to experience peritoneal recurrence and exhibited significantly lower 5-year overall survival rates (39.2% vs. 45.8%, p 5 0.039) than did patients displaying low cpDNA levels. Only for late stage (Stages III or IV) gastric cancer, patients harboring cpDNA mutations were more likely to experience vascular invasion (20% vs. 2.4%, p 5 0.036) and exhibited a lower 5-year overall survival rate than did those lacking cpDNA mutations (5.6% vs. 31.5%, p 5 0.028). High cpDNA levels are associated with peritoneal recurrence and poor prognosis in patients with advanced gastric cancer; harboring cpDNA mutations is associated with poor prognosis among patients with late stage gastric cancer.Although the worldwide incidence of gastric cancer has been declining, it remains the 5th most common cancer, accounting for 723,000 deaths worldwide in 2012.1 Surgical resection and lymphadenectomy are the standard of care for curing gastric cancer, and the tumor stage provides important prognostic insight. 2Peritoneal recurrence is the most common pattern of gastric cancer recurrence after curative surgery and is often

Plasma DNA alteration is a useful tool for clinical surveillance of colorectal cancer patients and might be an independent prognosticator.

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