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Although endocrine therapy is an effective method to treat estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer, approximately 30%-40% of all hormone receptor-positive tumors display de novo resistance. The aim of our current study was to analyze whether 18 F-labeled fluoromisonidazole (1-(2-nitro-1-imidazolyl)-2-hydroxy-3-fluoropropane [ 18 F-FMISO]) PET/CT could predict primary resistance to hormonal therapy in ER-positive breast cancer. Methods: Postmenopausal women who had ER-a-positive breast cancer, stages II-IV, and had never received prior endocrine therapy were prospectively enrolled in this study. Patients underwent both 18 F-FDG and 18 F-FMISO PET/CT scans before and after treatment. The hottest 18 F-FDG standardized uptake value (SUV) in the tumor foci, the SUVs at 2 and 4 h, and the TBR2 h and TBR4 h for the target lesions were calculated (TBR2 h 5 SUV2 h T /SUV2 h B and TBR4 h 5 SUV4 h T /SUV4 h B [TBR is the tumor-to-background ratio]). Clinical outcomes of primary endocrine therapy with letrozole were evaluated according to the criteria of the World Health Organization after at least 3 mo of treatment. Immunohistochemistry for markers of proliferation (Ki67) and hypoxia-induced factor 1a was performed on a subset of tumors that had undergone biopsy or surgery. Pearson and Spearman analysis was used to determine the correlation between the parameters of 18 F-FDG and 18 F-FMISO uptake and clinical or immunohistochemistry outcomes with a 0.01 threshold for statistical significance. Results: A total of 45 lesions (13 primary, 32 metastatic) from 20 patients met the inclusion criteria in this study. Baseline 18 F-FDG and 18 F-FMISO PET/CT scans were obtained for 33 lesions from 16 patients. The correlation between baseline 18 F-FDG uptake and clinical outcome was weak and did not reach statistical significance (r 5 0.37, P 5 0.031). However, there was a significantly positive correlation between baseline 18 F-FMISO uptake (SUV2 h T , TBR2 h, SUV4 h T , and TBR4 h) and clinical outcomes after $3 mo of primary endocrine therapy with letrozole (r 5 0.77, 0.76, 0.71, and 0.78, respectively; P , 0.0001). The application of a TBR4 h cutoff of $1.2 allowed the prediction of 88% of the cases of progressive disease (15/17). Despite poor correlation between 18 F-FMISO uptake and hypoxia-induced factor 1a expression, a marginal positive correlation between TBR4 h and Ki67 expression was measured (r 5 0.51, P 5 0.011) in a subset of malignant lesions acquired by biopsy or surgery. Conclusion: 18 F-FMISO PET/CT can be used to predict primary endocrine resistance in ER-positive breast cancer.

Hyperphosphorylation of Tau forming neurofibrillary tangles has been considered as a crucial event in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). MiR-124-3p belongs to microRNA (miRNA) family and was markedly decreased in AD, however, the functions of miR-124-3p in the pathogenesis of AD remain unknown. We observed that the expression of miR-124-3p was significantly decreased in N2a/APP695swe cells; and transfection of miR-124-3p mimics not only attenuated cell apoptosis and abnormal hyperphosphorylation of Tau protein without any changes of total Tau protein, but also increased expression levels of Caveolin-1, phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), phospho-Akt (Akt-Ser473)/Akt, phospho-glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK-3β-Ser9)/GSK-3β in N2a/APP695swe cells. We further found that miR-12-3p directly targeted Caveolin-1; miR-124-3p inhibited abnormal hyperphosphorylation of Tau by regulating Caveolin-1-PI3K/Akt/GSK3β pathway in AD. This study reveals that miR-124-3p may play a neuroprotective role in AD, which may provide new ideas and therapeutic targets for AD.

ObjectiveTo assess the clinical value of dual tracers Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) 18F-fluoroestradiol (18F-FES) and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) in predicting neoadjuvant chemotherapy response (NAC) of breast cancer.MethodsEighteen consecutive patients with newly diagnosed, non-inflammatory, stage II and III breast cancer undergoing NAC were included. Before chemotherapy, they underwent both 18F-FES and 18F-FDG PET/CT scans. Surgery was performed after three to six cycles of chemotherapy. Tumor response was graded and divided into two groups: the responders and non-responders. We used the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) to qualify each primary lesion.ResultsPathologic analysis revealed 10 patients were responders while the other 8 patients were non-responders. There was no statistical difference of SUVmax-FDG and tumor size between these two groups (P>0.05). On the contrary, SUVmax-FES was lower in responders (1.75±0.66 versus 4.42±1.14; U=5, P=0.002); and SUVmax-FES/FDG also showed great value in predicting outcome (0.16±0.06 versus 0.54±0.22; U=5, P=0.002).ConclusionsOur study showed 18F-FES PET/CT might be feasible to predict response of NAC. However, whether the use of dual tracers 18F-FES and 18F-FDG has complementary value should be further studied.

Background The tumor suppressor FBW7 is the substrate recognition component of the SCF E3-ubiquitin ligase complex that mediates proteolytic degradation of various oncogenic proteins. However, the role of FBW7 in ovarian cancer progression remains inadequately understood. Methods IP-MASS, co-IP, immunohistochemistry, and western blotting were used to identify the potential substrate of FBW7 in ovarian cancer. The biological effects of FBW7 were investigated using in vitro and in vivo models. LC/MS was used to detect the m6A levels in ovarian cancer tissues. MeRIP-Seq and RNA-Seq were used to assess the downstream targets of YTHDF2. Results We unveil that FBW7 is markedly down-regulated in ovarian cancer tissues and its high expression is associated with favorable prognosis and elevated m6A modification levels. Consistently, ectopic FBW7 inhibits ovarian cancer cell survival and proliferation in vitro and in vivo, while ablation of FBW7 empowers propagation of ovarian cancer cells. In addition, the m6A reader protein, YTHDF2, is identified as a novel substrate for FBW7. FBW7 counteracts the tumor-promoting effect of YTHDF2 by inducing proteasomal degradation of the latter in ovarian cancer. Furthermore, YTHDF2 globally regulates the turnover of m6A-modified mRNAs, including the pro-apoptotic gene BMF. Conclusions Our study has demonstrated that FBW7 suppresses tumor growth and progression via antagonizing YTHDF2-mediated BMF mRNA decay in ovarian cancer.

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Resistance is an obstacle to endocrine therapy for breast cancer. We measured levels of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α in 52 primary breast cancer patients before and after receiving neoadjuvant endocrine therapy with letrozole for at least 3 months. Pre-treatment levels of HIF-1α were associated with negative clinical outcome. Furthermore, levels of HIF-1α were increased in post-treatment residual tumors compared with those in pre-treatment biopsy samples. In animal studies, xenografts stably expressing HIF-1α were resistant to endocrine therapy with fulvestrant compared with the effects in control xenografts. Additionally, HIF-1α transcription was inhibited by zoledronic acid, a conventional drug for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis, and was accompanied by a marked inhibition of the RAS/MAPK/ERK1/2 pathway. HIF-1α is a determinant of resistance to endocrine therapy and should be considered as a potential therapeutic target for overcoming endocrine resistance in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer. In addition, zoledronic acid may overcome endocrine resistance in ER-positive human breast cancer by targeting HIF-1α transcription through inhibition of the RAS/MAPK/ERK1/2 pathway. Clinical studies on the administration of zoledronic acid as a second line treatment in patients who failed endocrine therapy should be considered to improve therapeutic outcomes in breast cancer patients.