Radiochemical purity of technetium-99m-nanocolloid rhenium sulphide is not influenced by heating.

Despite a mistake during the preparation of technetium-99m (Tc)-nanocolloid rhenium sulphide (Nanocis) because of lack of heating, the apparent radiochemical purity (RCP) of this product was correct. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the impact of absence of heating on the RCP of Tc-nanocolloid rhenium sulphide and the effect of heating on particle size. Five Tc-Nanocis were prepared according to the manufacturer's instructions and five others were realized without any heating step. Quality controls were performed for each preparation. To evaluate the effect of heating on particle size, preparations were filtered through a 0.22 µm sterilizing membrane filter before and after 30 min of heating. The radioactivity was measured before and after the filtration. The results showed that absence of heating does not influence the apparent RCP of Tc-nanocolloid of rhenium sulphide. In terms of the particle size, 72% of particles had a diameter less than 0.22 µm before heating, as opposed to 21% after heating. To conclude, this study underlines a problem of quality control of the Tc-nanocolloid rhenium sulphide preparation, which cannot detect a lack of heating and can lead to the release of preparations that would not be suitable for scintigraphy.

Identification of novel recurrent ETV6-IgH fusions in primary central nervous system lymphoma.

Background: Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) represents a particular entity within non-Hodgkin lymphomas and is associated with poor outcome. The present study addresses the potential clinical relevance of chimeric transcripts in PCNSL discovered by using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). Methods: Seventy-two immunocompetent and newly diagnosed PCNSL cases were included in the present study. Among them, 6 were analyzed by RNA-seq to detect new potential fusion transcripts. We confirmed the results in the remaining 66 PCNSL. The gene fusion was validated by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples. We assessed the biological and clinical impact of one new gene fusion. Results: We identified a novel recurrent gene fusion, E26 transformation-specific translocation variant 6-immunoglobulin heavy chain (ETV6-IgH). Overall, ETV6-IgH was found in 13 out of 72 PCNSL (18%). No fusion conserved an intact functional domain of ETV6, and ETV6 was significantly underexpressed at gene level, suggesting an ETV6 haploinsufficiency mechanism. The presence of the gene fusion was also validated by FISH in FFPE samples. Finally, PCNSL samples harboring ETV6-IgH showed a better prognosis in multivariate analysis, P = 0.03, hazard ratio = 0.33, 95% CI = 0.12-0.88. The overall survival at 5 years was 69% for PCNSL harboring ETV6-IgH versus 29% for samples without this gene fusion. Conclusions: ETV6-IgH is a new potential surrogate marker of PCNSL with favorable prognosis with ETV6 haploinsufficiency as a possible mechanism. The potential clinical impact of ETV6-IgH should be validated in larger prospective studies.

Detection, Characterization, and Inhibition of FGFR-TACC Fusions in IDH Wild-type Glioma.

PURPOSE: Oncogenic fusions consisting of fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) and TACC are present in a subgroup of glioblastoma (GBM) and other human cancers and have been proposed as new therapeutic targets. We analyzed frequency and molecular features of FGFR-TACC fusions and explored the therapeutic efficacy of inhibiting FGFR kinase in GBM and grade II and III glioma. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Overall, 795 gliomas (584 GBM, 85 grades II and III with wild-type and 126 with IDH1/2 mutation) were screened for FGFR-TACC breakpoints and associated molecular profile. We also analyzed expression of the FGFR3 and TACC3 components of the fusions. The effects of the specific FGFR inhibitor JNJ-42756493 for FGFR3-TACC3-positive glioma were determined in preclinical experiments. Two patients with advanced FGFR3-TACC3-positive GBM received JNJ-42756493 and were assessed for therapeutic response. RESULTS: Three of 85 IDH1/2 wild-type (3.5%) but none of 126 IDH1/2-mutant grade II and III gliomas harbored FGFR3-TACC3 fusions. FGFR-TACC rearrangements were present in 17 of 584 GBM (2.9%). FGFR3-TACC3 fusions were associated with strong and homogeneous FGFR3 immunostaining. They are mutually exclusive with IDH1/2 mutations and EGFR amplification, whereas they co-occur with CDK4 amplification. JNJ-42756493 inhibited growth of glioma cells harboring FGFR3-TACC3 in vitro and in vivo. The two patients with FGFR3-TACC3 rearrangements who received JNJ-42756493 manifested clinical improvement with stable disease and minor response, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: RT-PCR sequencing is a sensitive and specific method to identify FGFR-TACC-positive patients. FGFR3-TACC3 fusions are associated with uniform intratumor expression of the fusion protein. The clinical response observed in the FGFR3-TACC3-positive patients treated with an FGFR inhibitor supports clinical studies of FGFR inhibition in FGFR-TACC-positive patients.

Mutational analysis of primary central nervous system lymphoma.

Little is known about the genomic basis of primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) tumorigenesis. To investigate the mutational profile of PCNSL, we analyzed nine paired tumor and germline DNA samples from PCNSL patients by high throughput exome sequencing. Eight genes of interest have been further investigated by focused resequencing in 28 additional PCNSL tumors to better estimate their incidence. Our study identified recurrent somatic mutations in 37 genes, some involved in key signaling pathways such as NFKB, B cell differentiation and cell cycle control. Focused resequencing in the larger cohort revealed high mutation rates for genes already described as mutated in PCNSL such as MYD88 (38%), CD79B (30%), PIM1 (22%) and TBL1XR1 (19%) and for genes not previously reported to be involved in PCNSL tumorigenesis such as ETV6 (16%), IRF4 (14%), IRF2BP2 (11%) and EBF1 (11%). Of note, only 3 somatically acquired SNVs were annotated in the COSMIC database. Our results demonstrate a high genetic heterogeneity of PCNSL and mutational pattern similarities with extracerebral diffuse large B cell lymphomas, particularly of the activated B-cell (ABC) subtype, suggesting shared underlying biological mechanisms. The present study provides new insights into the mutational profile of PCNSL and potential targets for therapeutic strategies.

Recurrent mutations of MYD88 and TBL1XR1 in primary central nervous system lymphomas.

PURPOSE: Our objective was to identify the genetic changes involved in primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) oncogenesis and evaluate their clinical relevance. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We investigated a series of 29 newly diagnosed, HIV-negative, PCNSL patients using high-resolution single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays (n = 29) and whole-exome sequencing (n = 4) approaches. Recurrent homozygous deletions and somatic gene mutations found were validated by quantitative real-time PCR and Sanger sequencing, respectively. Molecular results were correlated with prognosis. RESULTS: All PCNSLs were diffuse large B-cell lymphomas, and the patients received chemotherapy without radiotherapy as initial treatment. The SNP analysis revealed recurrent large and focal chromosome imbalances that target candidate genes in PCNSL oncogenesis. The most frequent genomic abnormalities were (i) 6p21.32 loss (HLA locus), (ii) 6q loss, (iii) CDKN2A homozygous deletions, (iv) 12q12-q22, and (v) chromosome 7q21 and 7q31 gains. Homozygous deletions of PRMD1, TOX, and DOCK5 and the amplification of HDAC9 were also detected. Sequencing of matched tumor and blood DNA samples identified novel somatic mutations in MYD88 and TBL1XR1 in 38% and 14% of the cases, respectively. The correlation of genetic abnormalities with clinical outcomes using multivariate analysis showed that 6q22 loss (P = 0.006 and P = 0.01) and CDKN2A homozygous deletion (P = 0.02 and P = 0.01) were significantly associated with shorter progression-free survival and overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides new insights into the molecular tumorigenesis of PCNSL and identifies novel genetic alterations in this disease, especially MYD88 and TBL1XR1 mutations activating the NF-κB signaling pathway, which may be promising targets for future therapeutic strategies.