BJMO - volume 12, issue 1, february 2018
B. Brouwers MD, PhD
The main objective of this doctoral research was to expand the scientific knowledge on the complex interface between cancer and biological aging. In the first part, we started by studying stromal characteristics of breast cancers arising in young respectively old patients. Differences in stroma, could lead to a different behaviour of the tumour cells according to age. By laser capturing the stromal compartments of breast cancers from young and old patients, and comparing the gene expression profiles, we confirmed for the first time in humans, the presence of a Senescence Associated Secretory Profile and of Autophagy to Senescence Transition in older breast cancer stromal samples as well as differences in gene expression mainly in genes responsible for proliferation, dedifferentiation and migration into the extracellular matrix.
In the second part of the thesis, we investigated biological aging in the rest of the organism, and the impact from cancer treatment (by chemotherapy) on this process. In a retrospective study investigating several biological and clinical parameters of aging in young and old breast cancer patients, IL-6 showed to be a robust frailty marker. Next, we performed a prospective study in early breast cancer patients either or not treated with adjuvant chemotherapy, and tested if the natural evolution of clinical and/or biological aging markers was influenced by chemotherapy. We did not find convincing evidence that chemotherapy would accelerate biological aging in breast cancer patients.
(BELG J MED ONCOL 2018;12(1):29–32)
Read moreBJMO - volume 11, issue 8, december 2017
M.E. Goossens , M. P. Zeegers , H. Van Poppel MD, PhD, F. Buntinx MD, PhD
Age, gender and smoking habits are the most important risk factors for bladder cancer. Selenium supplement, in addition to standard care, does not diminish recurrence in bladder cancer patients compared to placebo and increases the risk of bladder cancer with 6% for each increase of 10 mcg/L of blood selenium level. Each extra daily portion of vegetables decreases the risk of bladder cancer with 6%. Neither diabetes nor metformin was associated with bladder cancer risk in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink.
(BELG J MED ONCOL 2017;11(8):393-395)
Read moreBJMO - volume 11, issue 6, october 2017
Z. Drebert PhD
The cancer microenvironment, which includes cancer-associated fibroblasts, plays an essential role during cancer progression. Glucocorticoids, steroidal ligands of glucocorticoid receptor, are often administered to cancer patients during chemotherapy. Glucocorticoids have a substantial effect on CAFs, affecting composition of their secretome, which results in a reduced pro-angiogenic effect and a neutralized growth- and invasion-promoting impact on cancer cells.
(BELG J MED ONCOL 2017;11(6):289–291)
Read moreBJMO - volume 11, issue 3, may 2017
T. Vermassen PhD
Prostate cancer (PCa) is the 2nd most frequently diagnosed cancer in males worldwide and the most frequently diagnosed in Europe. Serum prostate specific antigen (sPSA) is the most commonly used biochemical test in PCa diagnosis. However, as a diagnostic parameter sPSA is associated with considerable analytical problems. As N-glycosylation patterns of sPSA show diagnostic potential, we determined if N-glycosylation of urinary prostate proteins is usable in the diagnosis of PCa. Significant differences were observed between the urinary N-glycosylation of healthy volunteers, patients with benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and PCa. The urinary glycosylation marker improved the diagnosis of PCa by adding them to the current models, especially in the diagnostic grey zone of sPSA concentrations between 4 and 10 μg/L. Furthermore, a link was noticed between urinary N-glycosylation and extracellular vesicles in urine. Urinary N-glycosylation could therefore be used as diagnostic and prognostic markers in PCa, although further validation of the biomarker is warranted.
(BELG J MED ONCOL 2017;11(3):126–128)
Read moreBJMO - volume 11, issue 2, march 2017
E. Wynendaele PhD, PharmD, B. De Spiegeleer PhD, PharmD
The human microbiome was recently associated with different diseases. The explanation for this relationship is however not yet clarified. In this research, the interaction of chemically diverse quorum sensing peptides, produced by the bacteria and summarised in the Quorum peps database, with human cancer cells was explored. We demonstrated that some quorum sensing peptides induced colon and breast cancer cell invasion in vitro and promoted angiogenesis; both processes can be linked to cancer metastasis. Our findings thus indicate that the human microbiome, through their quorum sensing peptides, can be one of the factors responsible for cancer metastasis.
(BELG J MED ONCOL 2017;11(2):75–77)
Read moreBJMO - volume 10, issue 7, november 2016
S. Elsen PhD, E. Lerut MD, PhD, B. Van Cleynenbreugel MD, PhD, F. Van der Aa MD, PhD, H. Van Poppel MD, PhD, P.A. de Witte PhD
The diagnosis of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer using the standard white-light cystoscopy technique is not optimal and leads to underdiagnosis of some of the tumours. Therefore, in this thesis, the use of Evans blue dye as a diagnostic tool to aid bladder cancer detection during white-light cystoscopy was investigated using a rat orthotopic bladder cancer model. The results show that Evans blue might have great potential to assist detection of bladder cancer in a clinical setting.
(BELG J MED ONCOL 2016;10(7):281–284)
Read moreBJMO - volume 10, issue 4, july 2016
L. Spans PhD, E. Lerut MD, PhD, S. Joniau MD, PhD, F. Claessens PhD
Whole exome sequencing was performed on 38 high-risk prostate cancer samples. We confirmed recurrent mutations in prostate cancer-specific genes, but also identified genes not reported to be mutated, like TET1. This DNA hydroxymethylase converts methylcytosines to hydroxymethylcytosines as a first step in DNA demethylation. By immunohistochemistry, we detected decreased TET1 protein levels in tumour compared to surrounding non-tumour tissue. DNA hydroxymethylation followed the same course. Furthermore, TET1 mRNA expression levels are an independent predictor of metastasis-free survival in a larger retrospective cohort, indicating an important role for TET1 and hydroxymethylation in prostate cancer.
The LNCaP and C4-2B cell lines form an excellent preclinical model to study the development of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Both exome and transcriptome sequencing was performed: more than half of the mutations found in the exomes were confirmed in the RNA-sequencing data. Combining C4-2B-specific mutations with differentially expressed genes allowed the detection of changes in focal adhesion and ECM-receptor interactions, which might contribute to the metastatic potential of C4-2B cells.
(BELG J MED ONCOL 2016;10(4):139–142)
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