Alveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of pulmonary veins (ACD/MPV) is a rare and lethal developmental disorder of the lung defined by a constellation of characteristic histopathological features. Non-pulmonary anomalies involving organs of gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and genitourinary systems have been identified in approximately 80% of patients with ACD/MPV. We have collected DNA and pathological samples from more than 90 infants with ACD/MPV and their family members. Since the publication of our initial report of four point mutations and ten deletions, we have identified an additional thirty eight novel nonsynonymous mutations of FOXF1 (nine nonsense, seven frameshift, one inframe deletion, twenty missense, and one no stop). This report represents an up to date list of all known FOXF1 mutations to the best of our knowledge. Majority of the cases are sporadic whereas four familial cases with three showing maternal inheritance, consistent with paternal imprinting of the gene. Twenty five mutations (60%) are located within the putative DNA binding domain, indicating its plausible role in gene regulation. Five mutations map to the second exon. We identified two additional genic and eight genomic deletions upstream to FOXF1. These results corroborate and extend our previous observations and further establish involvement of FOXF1 in ACD/MPV and lung organogenesis.

BackgroundInfantile myofibromatosis belongs to a family of soft tissue tumors. The majority of these tumors have benign behavior but resistant and malignant courses are known, namely in tumors with visceral involvement. The standard of care is surgical resection. Observations suggest that low dose chemotherapy is beneficial. The treatment of resistant or relapsed patients with multifocal disease remains challenging. Patients that harbor an actionable mutation in the kinase domain are potential subjects for targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy.Case presentationAn infant boy with inborn generalized infantile myofibromatosis that included bone, intracranial, soft tissue and visceral involvement was treated according to recent recommendations with low dose chemotherapy. The presence of a partial but temporary response led to a second line of treatment with six cycles of chemotherapy, which achieved a partial response again but was followed by severe toxicity. The generalized progression of the disease was observed later. Genetic analyses were performed and revealed a PDGFRB gene c.1681C>A missense heterozygous germline mutation, high PDGFRβ phosphokinase activity within the tumor and the heterozygous germline Slavic Nijmegen breakage syndrome 657del5 mutation in the NBN gene. Targeted treatment with sunitinib, the PDGFRβ inhibitor, plus low dose vinblastine led to an unexpected and durable response without toxicities or limitations to daily life activities. The presence of the Slavic NBN gene mutation limited standard chemotherapy dosing due to severe toxicities. Sister of the patient suffred from skull base tumor with same genotype and histology. The same targeted therapy led to similar quick and durable response.ConclusionProgressive and resistant incurable infantile myofibromatosis can be successfully treated with the new approach described herein. Detailed insights into the biology of the patient’s tumor and genome are necessary to understand the mechanisms of activity of less toxic and effective drugs except for up to date population-based chemotherapy regimens.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12885-017-3115-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Diffuse gliomas with K27M histone mutations (H3K27M glioma) are generally characterized by a fatal prognosis, particularly affecting the pediatric population. Based on the molecular heterogeneity observed in this tumor type, personalized treatment is considered to substantially improve therapeutic options. Therefore, clinical evidence for therapy, guided by comprehensive molecular profiling, is urgently required. In this study, we analyzed feasibility and clinical outcomes in a cohort of 12 H3K27M glioma cases treated at two centers. Patients were subjected to personalized treatment either at primary diagnosis or disease progression and received backbone therapy including focal irradiation. Molecular analyses included whole-exome sequencing of tumor and germline DNA, RNA-sequencing, and transcriptomic profiling. Patients were monitored with regular clinical as well as radiological follow-up. In one case, liquid biopsy of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was used. Analyses could be completed in 83% (10/12) and subsequent personalized treatment for one or more additional pharmacological therapies could be recommended in 90% (9/10). Personalized treatment included inhibition of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway (3/9), MAPK signaling (2/9), immunotherapy (2/9), receptor tyrosine kinase inhibition (2/9), and retinoic receptor agonist (1/9). The overall response rate within the cohort was 78% (7/9) including one complete remission, three partial responses, and three stable diseases. Sustained responses lasting for 28 to 150 weeks were observed for cases with PIK3CA mutations treated with either Gojo et al.Personalized Treatment of H3K27M Glioma miltefosine or everolimus and additional treatment with trametinib/dabrafenib in a case with BRAFV600E mutation. Immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment of a case with increased tumor mutational burden (TMB) resulted in complete remission lasting 40 weeks. Median time to progression was 29 weeks. Median overall survival (OS) in the personalized treatment cohort was 16.5 months. Last, we compared OS to a control cohort (n = 9) showing a median OS of 17.5 months. No significant difference between the cohorts could be detected, but long-term survivors (>2 years) were only present in the personalized treatment cohort. Taken together, we present the first evidence of clinical efficacy and an improved patient outcome through a personalized approach at least in selected cases of H3K27M glioma.

Alveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of pulmonary veins (ACD/MPV) is a rare developmental lung disorder that is uniformly lethal. Affected infants die within the first few weeks of their life despite aggressive treatment, although a few cases of late manifestation and longer survival have been reported. We have shown previously that mutations and deletions in FOXF1 are a cause of this disorder. Although most of the cases of ACD/MPV are sporadic, there have been infrequent reports of familial cases. We present a family with five out of six children affected with ACD/MPV. DNA analysis identified a missense mutation (c.416G4T; p.Arg139Leu) in the FOXF1 gene that segregated in the three affected siblings tested. The same variant is also present as a de novo mutation in the mother and arose on her paternally derived chromosome 16. The two tested affected siblings share the same chromosome 16 haplotype inherited from their maternal grandfather. Their single healthy sibling has a different chromosome 16 haplotype inherited from the maternal grandmother. The results are consistent with paternal imprinting of FOXF1 in human.

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Although the administration of retinoids represents an important part of treatment for children suffering from high-risk neuroblastomas, approximately 50% of these patients do not respond to this therapy or develop resistance to retinoids during treatment. Our study focused on the comparative analysis of the expression of five genes and corresponding proteins (DDX39A, HMGA1, HMGA2, HOXC9 and PBX1) that have recently been discussed as possible predictive biomarkers of clinical response to retinoid differentiation therapy. Expression of these five candidate biomarkers was evaluated at both the mRNA and protein level in the same subset of 8 neuroblastoma cell lines after treatment with natural or synthetic retinoids. We found that the cell lines that were HMGA2-positive and/or HOXC9-negative have a reduced sensitivity to retinoids. Furthermore, the experiments revealed that the retinoid-sensitive cell lines showed a uniform pattern of change after treatment with both natural and sensitive retinoids: increased DDX39A and decreased PBX1 protein levels. Our results showed that in NBL cells, these putative protein biomarkers are associated with sensitivity or resistance to retinoids, and their endogenous or induced expression can distinguish between these two phenotypes.

1 Oddělení lékařské genetiky, FN Brno 2 Klinika dětské onkologie LF MU a FN Brno 3 Centrum molekulární bio logie a genové terapie, Interní hematologická a onkologická klinika LF MU a FN Brno 4 Ústav experimentální bio logie, PřF MU, Brno 5 Ústav patologie, LF MU a FN Brno Souhrn Východiska: Meduloblastom, embryonální neuroektodermální tumor mozečku, je nejčastější zhoubný nádor mozku u dětí. Ročně je dia gnostikováno v České republice přibližně 15 případů.Dle histopatologické klasifi kace Světové zdravotnické organizace z roku 2007 jsou rozeznávány následující tři podtypy meduloblastomu: klasický, desmoplastický (a jeho krajní varianta, meduloblastom s převažující nodularitou) a velkobuněčný/ anaplastický meduloblastom. Molekulárně--genetické analýzy ukázaly, že existují čtyři hlavní podskupiny meduloblastomu označované WNT/ Wingless, SHH/ sonic Hedgehog, Group 3 a Group 4. V nádorové tkáni meduloblastomů podskupiny SHH se vyskytují somatické mutace genů SHH, PTCH1, SUFU, SMO a TP53, přičemž u dětí mladších tří let jsou nacházeny nejčastěji mutace genů PTCH1 a SUFU. Převážná většina meduloblastomů jsou sporadická onemocnění, jen v asi 5-10 % případů se nádor vyskytuje jako součást dědičného genetického syndromu. Případ: Prezentujeme případ pa cientky, u které byl ve věku 21 měsíců dia gnostikován nádor zadní jámy lební. Histologické vyšetření prokázalo desmoplastický/ nodulární typ meduloblastomu. Léčba zahrnovala radikální neurochirurgickou operaci a adjuvantní chemoterapii, dítě zůstává po léčbě v kompletní remisi onemocnění. Metodou array--CGH byla v DNA izolované z tkáně tumoru detekována bialelická parciální delece genu SUFU (lokus 10q24.32), přičemž monoalelická delece části genu SUFU byla nalezena i v DNA izolované z lymfocytů periferní krve pa cientky. Nálezy byly u pa cientky ověřeny nezávisle metodou kvantitativní PCR (qPCR). Vyšetření genu SUFU bylo provedeno také u rodičů a starší sestry pa cientky. Ztráta jedné alely v oblasti genu SUFU byla prokázána u matky pa cientky. Výsledky DNA analýzy tak ukazují na germinální charakter mutace a její hereditární přenos. Předpokládáme souvislost tohoto nálezu s opakovaným výskytem nádorů mozku v rodě matky pa cientky. Závěr: Zárodečné mutace SUFU genu jsou zmiňovány jako predispozice ke vzniku desmoplastických meduloblastomů u dětí mladších tří let, bazaliomů, bazocelulárních karcinomů a meningeomů. Dědičnost predispozice je autozomálně dominantní s neúplnou penetrancí. Dosud ale nebyla stanovena jednotná, na důkazech založená doporučení pro sledování rizik u nosičů této zárodečné mutace. Náš návrh vychází jak z rodinné situace, tak z podobných familiárních případů popsaných v odborné literatuře. Vzhledem k tomu, že germinální mutace genu SUFU jsou zodpovědné za přibližně 50 % všech desmoplastických meduloblastomů u dětí do tří let věku, je genetické testování mutací genu SUFU doporučeno u všech dětí mladších tří let s desmoplastickým meduloblastomem, resp. meduloblastomem molekulární podskupiny SHH. Klíčová slovameduloblastom -hereditární nádorové syndromy -ge...

Highlights A report on the best treatment results on an osteosarcoma cohort. There has been a lack of improvement in osteosarcoma treatment for the last four decades. Mifamurtide is the only new drug against osteosarcoma licensed by the EMA but not by the FDA. Oncologists have no consensus for mifamurtide use due to its expense.