¿Es la actividad metabólica del tejido adiposo un predictor de respuesta histopatológica al tratamiento neoadyuvante en el cáncer de mama? / Is adipose tissue metabolic activity a predictor of pathological responses to neoadjuvant treatment in breast cancer?

Objetivo La respuesta histopatológica a la quimioterapia neoadyuvante (NAC) es esencial en pacientes con cáncer de mama. La predicción de la respuesta histopatológica a la NAC en pacientes con cáncer de mama localmente avanzado es esencial para una estrategia de tratamiento óptima. El enfoque actual del tratamiento adyuvante o neoadyuvante se basa en el subtipo molecular. La obesidad puede afectar la respuesta a la quimioterapia. El objetivo de este estudio es evaluar la relación entre la actividad metabólica del tejido adiposo (AT) y la respuesta histopatológica de la NAC. Definir, la asociación del índice de masa corporal (IMC) y el valor del «Standard Uptake Value» (SUV) de AT medido por tomografía por emisión de positrones (PET/TC) con la respuesta a la quimioterapia neoadyuvante. Material y métodos Hemos incluido 116 pacientes consecutivos con cáncer de mama, estadio II y III, que acudieron para la realización de un PET/TC previo a NAC entre 2016 y 2020. Hemos calculado los parámetros metabólicos del tejido adiposo visceral (SUV del VAT), del tejido adiposo subcutáneo (SUV del SAT) y la relación entre ambos (relación V/S). Todos estos biomarcadores los hemos relacionado con la respuesta histopatológica de los pacientes. Resultados El análisis univariante muestra una correlación significativa entre la respuesta histopatológica con el estadio clínico (p<0,001), HER2 positivo (p<0,001), SUV del VAT (p=0,037), densidad del VAT (p=0,043) y la relación V/S (p=0,003). El análisis multivariante muestra una significación estadística entre HER2 positivo y la relación V/S con la respuesta histopatológica. Se evidencia una correlación positiva del IMC con el volumen del IVA (p<0,001), SUV del IVA (p<0,016), volumen del SAT (p<0,001) y el SUV del SAT (p<0,001). Se evidencia una correlación negativa del IMC con la relación V/S (p=0,039) y la densidad del SAT (p=0,003) (AU)

Introduction and objective Prediction of the pathologic response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in patients with locally advanced breast cancer is essential for optimal treatment strategy. The current approach of adjuvant or neoadjuvant treatment is based on the molecular subtype. Obesity may have affected chemotherapy response. This study aims to evaluate the relationship between metabolic activity of adipose tissue (AT) and pathological responses to NAC. And to define the association with body mass index (BMI) and metabolic parameters of standardized uptake value (SUV) of adipose tissue measured by positron emission computed tomography (PET/CT). Material and methods One-hundred and sixteen consecutive patients with stage II and III breast cancer who underwent PET/CT before receiving NAC, were evaluated in the study. Metabolic parameters of visceral adipose tissue (VAT-SUV), subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT-SUV), and calculated SUV of visceral-to-subcutaneous ratio (V/S-ratio) were regarded. The relationship between SUV of AT and pathologic response was evaluated from medical records retrospectively. Results Univariate-analysis revealed that good pathological response was significantly associated with clinical stage (p<0.001), HER-2 positivity (p<0.001), VAT-SUV (p=0.037), VAT-density (p=0.043) and V/S-ratio (p=0.003). In multivariate-analysis clinical stage, HER-2 positivity and V/S-ratio were found to have statistically effect on pathological response. VAT-volume (p<0.001), VAT-SUV (p=0.016), SAT-volume (p<0.001) and SAT-SUV (p<0.001) has positive correlation with BMI value. On the other hand, V/S-ratio (p=0.039) and SAT-density (p=0.003) has negative correlation with BMI. Conclusion Metabolic activity of AT is associated with BMI and effected chemotherapy responses. Low V/S ratio was associated with high BMI and poor pathological response to NAC. V/S ratio may be a useful marker for the prediction of NAC responses (AU)

Evaluation of serum HGF and CK18 levels in patients with esophageal cancer.

Cytokeratins are thought to play a role in apoptosis. Cytokeratin 18 (CK18) is involved in the formation of intracellular cytoskeleton, and has been considered a promising apoptosis marker in gastrointestinal carcinomas. Growth factors, including hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), may provide a microenvironment for malignant cells. In this study, we aimed to compare serum HGF and CK18 levels between esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients and healthy controls. The study included 41 adult patients (20 male, 21 female) diagnosed with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, with a mean age of 63.54 ± 10.88 years (range, 41-82 years). We also recruited 39 age and gender-matched healthy control subjects. Venous blood samples were taken; serum HGF and CK18 concentrations were determined via ELISA. Results indicated that serum HGF levels were higher in patients (1.37 ± 0.63 ng/mL) as compared to the healthy subjects (0.41 ± 0.29 ng/mL). Similarly, serum CK18 levels were higher in the patient group (2.53 ± 1.33 ng/mL) than in the control group (0.34 ± 0.23 ng/mL) (P < 0.001). In addition, serum HGF and CK18 levels were positively correlated with metastasis stage, tumor stage, and disease stage of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate serum HGF and CK18 levels in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. The results suggest that serum CK18 and HGF levels may be used as prognostic and disease monitoring biomarkers of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.