Precision Medicine is an approach that takes into account the influence of individuals' genes, environment and lifestyle exposures to tailor interventions. Here, we describe the development of a robust precision cancer care platform, which integrates whole exome sequencing (WES) with a living biobank that enables high throughput drug screens on patient-derived tumor organoids. To date, 56 tumor-derived organoid cultures, and 19 patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models have been established from the 769 patients enrolled in an IRB approved clinical trial. Because genomics alone was insufficient to identify therapeutic options for the majority of patients with advanced disease, we used high throughput drug screening effective strategies. Analysis of tumor derived cells from four cases, two uterine malignancies and two colon cancers, identified effective drugs and drug combinations that were subsequently validated using 3D cultures and PDX models. This platform thereby promotes the discovery of novel therapeutic approaches that can be assessed in clinical trials and provides personalized therapeutic options for individual patients where standard clinical options have been exhausted.
A major hurdle in the study of rare tumors is a lack of existing preclinical models. Neuroendocrine prostate cancer is an uncommon and aggressive histologic variant of prostate cancer that may arise de novo or as a mechanism of treatment resistance in patients with pre-existing castration-resistant prostate cancer. There are few available models to study neuroendocrine prostate cancer. Here, we report the generation and characterization of tumor organoids derived from needle biopsies of metastatic lesions from four patients. We demonstrate genomic, transcriptomic, and epigenomic concordance between organoids and their corresponding patient tumors. We utilize these organoids to understand the biologic role of the epigenetic modifier EZH2 in driving molecular programs associated with neuroendocrine prostate cancer progression. High-throughput organoid drug screening nominated single agents and drug combinations suggesting repurposing opportunities. This proof of principle study represents a strategy for the study of rare cancer phenotypes.
BACKGROUND:The Milan System for Reporting Salivary Gland Cytopathology (MSRSGC) is a 6-tier diagnostic category system with associated risks of malignancy (ROMs) and management recommendations. Submandibular gland fineneedle aspiration (FNA) is uncommon with a higher frequency of inflammatory lesions and a higher relative proportion of malignancy, and this may affect the ROM and subsequent management. This study evaluated the application of the MSRSGC and the ROM for each diagnostic category for 734 submandibular gland FNAs. METHODS: Submandibular gland FNA cytology specimens from 15 international institutions (2013-2017) were retrospectively assigned to an MSRSGC diagnostic category as follows: nondiagnostic, nonneoplastic, atypia of undetermined significance (AUS), benign neoplasm, salivary gland neoplasm of uncertain malignant potential (SUMP), suspicious for malignancy (SM), or malignant. A correlation with the available histopathologic follow-up was performed, and the ROM was calculated for each MSRSGC diagnostic category. RESULTS: The case cohort of 734 aspirates was reclassified according to the MSRSGC as follows: nondiagnostic, 21.4% (0%-50%); nonneoplastic, 24.2% (9.1%-53.6%); AUS, 6.7% (0%-14.3%); benign neoplasm, 18.3% (0%-52.5%); SUMP, 12% (0%-37.7%); SM, 3.5% (0%-12.5%); and malignant, 13.9% (2%-31.3%). The histopathologic follow-up was available for 333 cases (45.4%). The ROMs were as follows: nondiagnostic, 10.6%; nonneoplastic, 7.5%; AUS, 27.6%; benign neoplasm, 3.2%; SUMP, 41.9%; SM, 82.3%; and malignant, 93.6%. CONCLUSIONS: This multi-institutional study shows that the ROM of each MSRSGC category for submandibular gland FNA is similar to that reported for parotid gland FNA, although the reported rates for the different MSRSGC categories were variable across institutions. Thus, the MSRSGC can be reliably applied to submandibular gland FNA.
- Our understanding of the molecular alterations that lead from pancreatic precursor lesion to invasive carcinoma continues to evolve. These advances aid clinicians in their treatment decisions and researchers in their search for actionable, druggable targets.
Background
The Milan System for Reporting Salivary Gland Cytopathology (MSRSGC) has established distinct diagnostic categories for reporting cytopathological findings, and each is associated with a defined risk of malignancy (ROM). However, the ROM is applied at the overall category level and is not specific for particular morphological entities within a category. Here, the diagnostic performance of the MSRSGC for pleomorphic adenoma (PA) and Warthin tumor (WT) is reported.
Methods
The pathology archives of 11 institutions from 4 countries were retrospectively searched to identify all salivary gland fine‐needle aspiration (FNA) biopsies with a differential or definitive diagnosis of PA or WT and all resection specimens with a diagnosis of PA or WT; only paired cases were included. All FNA diagnoses were retrospectively classified according to the MSRSGC.
Results
A total of 1250 cases met the inclusion criteria, and they included 898 PA cases and 352 WT cases. The ROM in the benign neoplasm category was 3.0% and 1.3% for cases with a differential or definitive diagnosis of PA and WT, respectively. The ROM in the salivary gland neoplasm with uncertain malignant potential (SUMP) category was 2.7% and 18.8% for PA and WT, respectively (P = .0277). The diagnostic accuracy for PA and WT was 95.1% and 96.1%, respectively.
Conclusions
The diagnostic accuracy for PA and WT on FNA is high. Furthermore, these findings highlight the difference in the ROMs associated with 2 specific differential diagnoses in the SUMP category: basaloid neoplasms and oncocytoid neoplasms.
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