Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most prevalent cancer in men. Hyperactive STAT3 is thought to be oncogenic in PCa. However, targeting of the IL-6/STAT3 axis in PCa patients has failed to provide therapeutic benefit. Here we show that genetic inactivation of Stat3 or IL-6 signalling in a Pten-deficient PCa mouse model accelerates cancer progression leading to metastasis. Mechanistically, we identify p19ARF as a direct Stat3 target. Loss of Stat3 signalling disrupts the ARF–Mdm2–p53 tumour suppressor axis bypassing senescence. Strikingly, we also identify STAT3 and CDKN2A mutations in primary human PCa. STAT3 and CDKN2A deletions co-occurred with high frequency in PCa metastases. In accordance, loss of STAT3 and p14ARF expression in patient tumours correlates with increased risk of disease recurrence and metastatic PCa. Thus, STAT3 and ARF may be prognostic markers to stratify high from low risk PCa patients. Our findings challenge the current discussion on therapeutic benefit or risk of IL-6/STAT3 inhibition.
Background
Identification of specific somatic gene alterations is crucial for the insight into the development, progression, and clinical behavior of individual cancer types. The recently discovered recurrent ERG rearrangement in prostate cancer (PCa) might represent a PCa specific alteration that has not been systematically assessed in tumors other than PCa. Aim of this study was to assess, whether the ERG rearrangement and the distinct deletion site between TMPRSS2 and ERG, both predominantly resulting in a TMPRSS2-ERG fusion, occurs in tumors other than PCa.
Design
We assessed 54 different tumor types (2942 samples in total) for their ERG rearrangement status by FISH. To calibrate, we analyzed 285 PCa samples for the ERG rearrangement frequency. Additionally, we interrogated a high-resolution SNP data set across 3131 cancer specimens (26 tumor types) for copy number alterations.
Results
None of the 54 different tumor types assessed by FISH harbored an ERG rearrangement, whereas the PCa samples revealed an ERG rearrangement in 31.2%–49.5%, depending on the cohort. Furthermore, within the 26 tumor types assessed for copy number alterations by SNP, the distinct deletion site between TMPRSS2 and ERG (21q22.2-3) was detectable exclusively in PCa.
Conclusion
Although Ewing's sarcoma and AML have known rearrangements rarely involving ERG, we hypothesize that the ERG rearrangement as well as the distinct deletion site on 21q22.2-3 between TMPRSS2 and ERG, are PCa specific genomic alterations. These observations provide further insight into the oncogenesis of PCa and might be critical for the development of ERG rearrangement assessment as a clinical tool.
BackgroundThere is tremendous potential for genome sequencing to improve clinical diagnosis and care once it becomes routinely accessible, but this will require formalizing research methods into clinical best practices in the areas of sequence data generation, analysis, interpretation and reporting. The CLARITY Challenge was designed to spur convergence in methods for diagnosing genetic disease starting from clinical case history and genome sequencing data. DNA samples were obtained from three families with heritable genetic disorders and genomic sequence data were donated by sequencing platform vendors. The challenge was to analyze and interpret these data with the goals of identifying disease-causing variants and reporting the findings in a clinically useful format. Participating contestant groups were solicited broadly, and an independent panel of judges evaluated their performance.ResultsA total of 30 international groups were engaged. The entries reveal a general convergence of practices on most elements of the analysis and interpretation process. However, even given this commonality of approach, only two groups identified the consensus candidate variants in all disease cases, demonstrating a need for consistent fine-tuning of the generally accepted methods. There was greater diversity of the final clinical report content and in the patient consenting process, demonstrating that these areas require additional exploration and standardization.ConclusionsThe CLARITY Challenge provides a comprehensive assessment of current practices for using genome sequencing to diagnose and report genetic diseases. There is remarkable convergence in bioinformatic techniques, but medical interpretation and reporting are areas that require further development by many groups.
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