Fibroblast growth factors (FGF) are a family of ligands that bind to four different types of cell surface receptor entitled, FGFR1, FGFR2, FGFR3 and FGFR4. These receptors differ in their ligand binding affinity and tissue distribution. The prototypical receptor structure is that of an extracellular region comprising three immunoglobulin (Ig)-like domains, a hydrophobic transmembrane segment and a split intracellular tyrosine kinase domain. Alternative gene splicing affecting the extracellular third Ig loop also creates different receptor isoforms entitled FGFRIIIb and FGFRIIIc. Somatic fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) mutations are implicated in different types of cancer and germline FGFR mutations occur in developmental syndromes particularly those in which craniosynostosis is a feature. The mutations found in both conditions are often identical. Many somatic FGFR mutations in cancer are gain-of-function mutations of established preclinical oncogenic potential. Gene amplification can also occur with 19-22% of squamous cell lung cancers for example having amplification of FGFR1. Ontologic comparators can be informative such as aberrant spermatogenesis being implicated in both spermatocytic seminomas and Apert syndrome. The former arises from somatic FGFR3 mutations and Apert syndrome arises from germline FGFR2 mutations. Finally, therapeutics directed at inhibiting the FGF/FGFR interaction are a promising subject for clinical trials.

FOXM1 is a pro-proliferative transcription factor that promotes cell cycle progression at the G1-S, and G2-M transitions. It is activated by phosphorylation usually mediated by successive cyclin – cyclin dependent kinase complexes, and is highly expressed in sarcoma. p53 down regulates FOXM1 and FOXM1 inhibition is also partly dependent on Rb and p21. Abnormalities of p53 or Rb are frequent in sporadic sarcomas with bone or soft tissue sarcoma, accounting for 36% of index cancers in the high penetrance TP53 germline disorder, Li-Fraumeni syndrome.FOXM1 stimulates transcription of pluripotency related genes including SOX2, KLF4, OCT4, and NANOG many of which are important in sarcoma, a disorder of mesenchymal stem cell/ partially committed progenitor cells. In a selected specific, SOX2 is uniformly expressed in synovial sarcoma. Embryonic pathways preferentially used in stem cell such as Hippo, Hedgehog, and Wnt dominate in FOXM1 stoichiometry to alter rates of FOXM1 production or degradation. In undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma, liposarcoma, and fibrosarcoma, dysregulation of the Hippo pathway increases expression of the effector co-transcriptional activator Yes-Associated Protein (YAP). A complex involving YAP and the transcription factor TEAD elevates FOXM1 in these sarcoma subtypes. In another scenario 80% of desmoid tumors have nuclear localization of β-catenin, the Wnt pathway effector molecule. Thiazole antibiotics inhibit FOXM1 and because they have an auto-regulator loop FOXM1 expression is also inhibited. Current systemic treatment of sarcoma is of limited efficacy and inhibiting FOXM1 represents a potential new strategy.

Micro-AbstractWe retrospectively evaluated the effect of locoregional treatment (LRT) on overall survival (OS) in 300 metastatic at diagnosis (M1) prostate cancer patients. LRT was associated in univariate and multivariate analysis with longer OS, which remained significant for radiotherapy but not for transurethral prostatectomy. These data support further prospective evaluation of the benefit of local control in this patient population.

Peto's paradox is the counterintuitive finding that increasing body mass and thereby cell number does not correlate with an increase in cancer incidence across different species. The Hippo signaling pathway is an evolutionarily conserved system that determines organ size by regulating apoptosis and cell proliferation. It also affects cell growth by microRNA-29 (miR-29)-mediated cross-talk to the mTOR signaling pathway. Whether these pathways that decide organ size could explain this paradox merits consideration. Inactivation of most genes of the Hippo pathway in Drosophila melanogaster genetic screens causes excessive tissue-specific growth of developing tissues. Altered Hippo pathway activity is frequently found in diverse tumor types, but mutations of component pathway genes are rare. Most Hippo pathway components are encoded by tumor suppressor genes (TSG), but an exception is the downstream effector gene called YAP. Activity of the Hippo pathway causes deactivating phosphorylation of YES-associated protein (YAP) with nuclear exclusion. YAP can also be phosphorylated at a second site, S127, by AKT. YAP induces the expression of genes responsible for proliferation and suppression of apoptosis. Resolving Peto's paradox may serendipitously provide new insights into the biology and treatment of cancer. This article considers Hippo signaling and Peto's paradox in the context of TSG-oncogene computed models. Interspecies differences in dietary composition, metabolic rates, and anabolic processes are also discussed in the context of Hippo-mTOR signaling. The metabolically important LKB1-AMPK (liver kinase B1-AMP activated protein kinase) signaling axis that suppresses the mTOR pathway is also considered. Clin Cancer Res; 20(3); 557-64. Ó2013 AACR.

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11531 Background: In the era of cytotoxic chemotherapy, aggressive cancer treatment and hospitalization at the end of life (EOL) has been associated with a worse quality of death. Meanwhile, in the era of immunotherapy (IO), little is known of the impact of these novel agents on EOL care. The aim of this study was to evaluate the EOL care of metastatic cancer patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients prescribedPD1/L1 or CTLA-4 antibodies in Cork University Hospital (CUH) and Mercy University Hospital (MUH) between January 2013 to December 2018. Patients treated on a clinical trial were excluded. Results: We identified 224 patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (outside of a clinical trial) in CUH and MUH over the described 6 year period. 108 of these patients were deceased, 102 electronic files were available for analysis. Of the 102 patients, 57 had metastatic melanoma, 33 non small cell lung cancer, 8 renal cell carcinoma, 4 had other advanced malignancies. 43% were female and 57% were male. 6% of patients had an ECOG performance status (PS) of 0 at diagnosis, 80% PS of 1 and 10% PS of 2. Median age at death was 62 years. 47 patients were treated with pembrolizumab, 26 nivolumab, 25 ipilimumab, 2 nivolumab/ipilimumab and 2 received atezolizumab. 29 patients received IO as first line treatment, 50 as second line, 17 as third line and 6 as fourth line. Median number of IO cycles received was 4 (range 1 - 41). Progression of disease (62%) and declining performance status (14%) were the most common reasons for discontinuation of IO treatment. 16 of the 102 patients received a further line of systemic therapy. Median time from last dose of IO to death was 57 days. 20 patients (20%) died within 30 days of last dose of IO. Of these 20 patients, the median number of cycles of IO received was 2 (range 1-7), 8 of these 20 patients received one cycle of IO only. 39 patients (38%) attended the ED in the last month of life. 47 (46%) patients had at least one hospital admission in the last month of life, the median hospital length of stay was 6 days (range 1-30) and 22 patients died in hospital. 94% of patients were referred to palliative care, the median time from palliative care referral to death was 64 days (range 1- 1010), 62% of patients died in hospice. Conclusions: Patients with advanced cancer treated with immunotherapy have high rates of hospital admissions and ED attendances despite early palliative care involvement. 20% of patients died within 30 days of IO. More research is needed to help physicians identify patients who are least likely to benefit from IO so as not to treat futile cases.

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