Eléonore Gravier

Basal-like carcinomas (BLCs) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 overexpressing (HER2+) carcinomas are the subgroups of breast cancers that have the most aggressive clinical behaviour. In contrast to HER2+ carcinomas, no targeted therapy is currently available for the treatment of patients with BLCs. In order to discover potential therapeutic targets, we aimed to discover deregulated signalling pathways in human BLCs.In this study, we focused on the oncogenic phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway in 13 BLCs, and compared it with a control series of 11 hormonal receptor negative- and grade III-matched HER2+ carcinomas. The two tumour populations were first characterised by immunohistochemistry and gene expression. The PI3K pathway was then investigated by gene copy-number analysis, gene expression profiling and at a proteomic level using reverse-phase protein array technology and tissue microarray. The effects of the PI3K inhibition pathway on proliferation and apoptosis was further analysed in three human basal-like cell lines.The PI3K pathway was found to be activated in BLCs and up-regulated compared with HER2+ tumours as shown by a significantly increased activation of the downstream targets Akt and mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin). BLCs expressed significantly lower levels of the tumour suppressor PTEN and PTEN levels were significantly negatively correlated with Akt activity within that population. PTEN protein expression correlated significantly with PTEN DNA copy number and more importantly, reduced PTEN DNA copy numbers were observed specifically in BLCs. Similar to human samples, basal-like cell lines exhibited an activation of PI3K/Akt pathway and low/lack PTEN expression. Both PI3K and mTOR inhibitors led to basal-like cell growth arrest. However, apoptosis was specifically observed after PI3K inhibition.These data provide insight into the molecular pathogenesis of BLCs and implicate the PTEN-dependent activated Akt signalling pathway as a potential therapeutic target for the management of patients with poor prognosis BLCs.

Abstract Breast cancers are composed of molecularly distinct subtypes with different clinical outcomes and responses to therapy. To discover potential therapeutic targets for the poor prognosis-associated triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), gene expression profiling was carried out on a cohort of 130 breast cancer samples. Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) was found to be significantly overexpressed in TNBC compared with the other breast cancer subtypes. High PLK1 expression was confirmed by reverse phase protein and tissue microarrays. In triple-negative cell lines, RNAi-mediated PLK1 depletion or inhibition of PLK1 activity with a small molecule (BI-2536) induced an increase in phosphorylated H2AX, G2–M arrest, and apoptosis. A soft-agar colony assay showed that PLK1 silencing impaired clonogenic potential of TNBC cell lines. When cells were grown in extracellular matrix gels (Matrigel), and exposed to BI-2536, apoptosis was observed specifically in TNBC cancerous cells, and not in a normal cell line. When administrated as a single agent, the PLK1 inhibitor significantly impaired tumor growth in vivo in two xenografts models established from biopsies of patients with TNBC. Most importantly, the administration of BI-2536, in combination with doxorubicin + cyclophosphamide chemotherapy, led to a faster complete response compared with the chemotherapy treatment alone and prevented relapse, which is the major risk associated with TNBC. Altogether, our observations suggest PLK1 inhibition as an attractive therapeutic approach, in association with conventional chemotherapy, for the management of patients with TNBC. Cancer Res; 73(2); 813–23. ©2012 AACR.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) represents a subgroup of breast cancers (BC) associated with the most aggressive clinical behavior. No targeted therapy is currently available for the treatment of patients with TNBC. In order to discover potential therapeutic targets, we searched for protein kinases that are overexpressed in human TNBC biopsies and whose silencing in TNBC cell lines causes cell death. A cohort including human BC biopsies obtained at Institut Curie as well as normal tissues has been analyzed at a gene-expression level. The data revealed that the human protein kinase monopolar spindle 1 (hMPS1), also known as TTK and involved in mitotic checkpoint, is specifically overexpressed in TNBC, compared to the other BC subgroups and healthy tissues. We confirmed by immunohistochemistry and reverse phase protein array that TNBC expressed higher levels of TTK protein compared to the other BC subgroups. We then determined the biological effects of TTK depletion by RNA interference, through analyses of tumorigenic capacity and cell viability in different human TNBC cell lines. We found that RNAi-mediated depletion of TTK in various TNBC cell lines severely compromised their viability and their ability to form colonies in an anchorage-independent manner. Moreover, we observed that TTK silencing led to an increase in H2AX phosphorylation, activation of caspases 3/7, sub-G1 cell population accumulation and high annexin V staining, as well as to a decrease in G1 phase cell population and an increased aneuploidy. Altogether, these data indicate that TTK depletion in TNBC cells induces apoptosis. These results point out TTK as a protein kinase overexpressed in TNBC that may represent an attractive therapeutic target specifically for this poor prognosis associated subgroup of breast cancer.

Abstract Predicting evolution of small node‐negative breast carcinoma is a real challenge in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to search whether qualitative or quantitative DNA changes may help to predict metastasis of small node‐negative breast carcinoma. Small invasive ductal carcinomas without axillary lymph node involvement (T1T2N0) from 168 patients with either good (111 patients with no event at 5 years after diagnosis) or poor (57 patients with early metastasis) outcome were analyzed with comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) array. A CGH classifier, identifying low‐ and high‐risk groups of metastatic recurrence, was established in a training set of 78 patients, then validated, and compared with clinicopathological parameters in a distinct set of 90 patients. The genomic status of regions located on 2p22.2, 3p23, and 8q21‐24 and the number of segmental alterations were defined in the training set to classify tumors into low‐ or high‐risk groups. In the validation set, in addition to estrogen receptors and grade, this CGH classifier provided significant prognostic information in multivariate analysis (odds ratio, 3.34; 95% confidence interval 1.01–11.02; P = 4.78 × 10 −2 , Wald test). This study shows that tumor DNA contains important prognostic information that may help to predict metastasis in T1T2N0 tumors of the breast. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

The increasing number of methodologies and tools currently available to analyse gene expression microarray data can be confusing for non specialist users.Based on the experience of biostatisticians of Institut Curie, we propose both a clear analysis strategy and a selection of tools to investigate microarray gene expression data. The most usual and relevant existing R functions were discussed, validated and gathered in an easy-to-use R package (EMA) devoted to gene expression microarray analysis. These functions were improved for ease of use, enhanced visualisation and better interpretation of results.Strategy and tools proposed in the EMA R package could provide a useful starting point for many microarrays users. EMA is part of Comprehensive R Archive Network and is freely available at http://bioinfo.curie.fr/projects/ema/.

The accurate prognosis definition to tailor treatment for early luminal invasive breast carcinoma patients remains challenging.Two hundred fourteen early luminal breast carcinomas were genotyped with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) array to determine the number of chromosomal breakpoints as a marker of genomic instability. Proliferation was assessed by KI67 (immunohistochemistry) and genomic grade index (transcriptomic analysis). IHC3 (IHC4 score for HER2 negative tumors) was also determined.In the training set (109 cases), the optimal cut-off was 34 breakpoints with a specificity of 0.94 and a sensitivity of 0.57 (Area under the curve (AUC): 0.81[0.71; 0.91]). In the validation set (105 cases), the outcome of patients with > 34 breakpoints (11 events / 22 patients) was poorer (logrank test p < 0.001; Relative Risk (RR): 3.7 [1.73; 7.92]), than that of patients with < 34 breakpoints (19 events / 83 patients).Whereas genomic grade and KI67 had a significant prognostic value in univariate analysis in contrast to IHC3 that failed to have a statistical significant prognostic value in this series, the number of breakpoints remained the only significant parameter predictive of outcome (RR: 3.47, Confidence Interval (CI [1.29; 9.31], p = 0.014)) in multivariate analysis .Genomic instability, defined herein as a high number of chromosomal breakpoints, in early stage luminal breast carcinoma is a stronger prognostic marker than proliferation.

Almost all prostate cancers respond to androgen deprivation treatment but many recur. We postulated that risk of hormone escape -frequency and delay- are influenced by hormone therapy modalities. More, hormone therapies induce crucial biological changes involving androgen receptors; some might be targets for escape prevention. We investigated the relationship between the androgen deprivation treatment and the risk of recurrence using nude mice bearing the high grade, hormone-dependent human prostate cancer xenograft PAC120. Tumor-bearing mice were treated by Luteinizing-Hormone Releasing Hormone (LHRH) antagonist alone, continuous or intermittent regimen, or combined with androgen receptor (AR) antagonists (bicalutamide or flutamide). Tumor growth was monitored. Biological changes were studied as for genomic alterations, AR mutations and protein expression in a large series of recurrent tumors according to hormone therapy modalities. Therapies targeting Her-2 or AKT were tested in combination with castration. All statistical tests were two-sided. Tumor growth was inhibited by continuous administration of the LH-RH antagonist degarelix (castration), but 40% of tumors recurred. Intermittent castration or complete blockade induced by degarelix and antiandrogens combination, inhibited tumor growth but increased the risk of recurrence (RR) as compared to continuous castration (RRintermittent: 14.5, RRcomplete blockade: 6.5 and 1.35). All recurrent tumors displayed new quantitative genetic alterations and AR mutations, whatever the treatment modalities. AR amplification was found after complete blockade. Increased expression of Her-2/neu with frequent ERK/AKT activation was detected in all variants. Combination of castration with a Her-2/neu inhibitor decreased recurrence risk (0.17) and combination with an mTOR inhibitor prevented it. Anti-hormone treatments influence risk of recurrence although tumor growth inhibition was initially similar. Recurrent tumors displayed genetic instability, AR mutations, and alterations of phosphorylation pathways. We postulated that Her-2/AKT pathways allowed salvage of tumor cells under castration and we demonstrated that their inhibition prevented tumor recurrence in our model.

Purpose (1) To determine TweakR expression in human breast cancers (BC), (2) evaluate the antitumor effect of the anti-TweakR antibody PDL192, used alone or after chemotherapy-induced complete remission (CR), on patient-derived BC xenografts (PDX) and (3) define predictive markers of response. Experimental Design TweakR expression was analyzed by IHC on patients and PDXs BC samples. In vivo antitumor effect of PDL192 was evaluated on eight TweakR-positive BC PDXs alone or after complete remission induced by a combination of doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide. Using both responding and resistant PDX tumors after PDL192 administration, RT-QPCR were performed on a wide list of selected candidate genes to identify predictive markers of response. Results TweakR protein was expressed in about half of human BC samples. In vivo PDL192 treatment had significantly anti-tumor activity in 4 of 8 TweakR-positive BC PDXs, but no correlation between the expression level of the Tweak receptor and response to therapy was observed. PDL192 also significantly delayed tumor relapse after CR. Finally, an 8 gene signature was defined from sensitive and resistant PDXs. Conclusions PDL192 was highly efficient in some BC PDXs. We found 8 genes that were differentially expressed in responding and resistant tumors and could constitute a gene expression signature which would need to be extended to other xenograft models for confirmation. These data confirm the therapeutic potential of TweakR targeting in BC and the possibility of prospectively selecting patients who might benefit from therapy.

Studying the molecular stratification of breast carcinoma is a real challenge considering the extreme heterogeneity of these tumors. Many patients are now treated following recommendation established at several NIH and St Gallen consensus conferences. However a significant fraction of these breast cancer patients do not need adjuvant chemotherapies while other patients receive inefficacious therapies. High density gene expression arrays have been designed to attempt to establish expression profiles that could be used as prognostic indicators or as predictive markers for response to treatment. This review is intended to discuss the potential value of these new indicators, but also the current weaknesses of these new genomic and bioinformatic approaches. The combined analysis of transcriptomic and genomic alteration data from relatively large numbers of well annotated tumor specimens may offer an opportunity to overcome the current difficulties in validating recently published non overlapping gene lists as prognostic or therapeutic indicators. There is also hope for identifying and deciphering signal transduction pathways driving tumor progression with newly developed algorithms and semi quantitative parameters obtained in simplified in vitro or in vivo models for specific transduction pathways.

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&lt;div&gt;Abstract&lt;p&gt;Breast cancers are composed of molecularly distinct subtypes with different clinical outcomes and responses to therapy. To discover potential therapeutic targets for the poor prognosis-associated triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), gene expression profiling was carried out on a cohort of 130 breast cancer samples. Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) was found to be significantly overexpressed in TNBC compared with the other breast cancer subtypes. High PLK1 expression was confirmed by reverse phase protein and tissue microarrays. In triple-negative cell lines, RNAi-mediated PLK1 depletion or inhibition of PLK1 activity with a small molecule (BI-2536) induced an increase in phosphorylated H2AX, G&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;–M arrest, and apoptosis. A soft-agar colony assay showed that PLK1 silencing impaired clonogenic potential of TNBC cell lines. When cells were grown in extracellular matrix gels (Matrigel), and exposed to BI-2536, apoptosis was observed specifically in TNBC cancerous cells, and not in a normal cell line. When administrated as a single agent, the PLK1 inhibitor significantly impaired tumor growth &lt;i&gt;in vivo&lt;/i&gt; in two xenografts models established from biopsies of patients with TNBC. Most importantly, the administration of BI-2536, in combination with doxorubicin + cyclophosphamide chemotherapy, led to a faster complete response compared with the chemotherapy treatment alone and prevented relapse, which is the major risk associated with TNBC. Altogether, our observations suggest PLK1 inhibition as an attractive therapeutic approach, in association with conventional chemotherapy, for the management of patients with TNBC. &lt;i&gt;Cancer Res; 73(2); 813–23. ©2012 AACR&lt;/i&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Abstract&lt;p&gt;Breast cancers are composed of molecularly distinct subtypes with different clinical outcomes and responses to therapy. To discover potential therapeutic targets for the poor prognosis-associated triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), gene expression profiling was carried out on a cohort of 130 breast cancer samples. Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) was found to be significantly overexpressed in TNBC compared with the other breast cancer subtypes. High PLK1 expression was confirmed by reverse phase protein and tissue microarrays. In triple-negative cell lines, RNAi-mediated PLK1 depletion or inhibition of PLK1 activity with a small molecule (BI-2536) induced an increase in phosphorylated H2AX, G&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;–M arrest, and apoptosis. A soft-agar colony assay showed that PLK1 silencing impaired clonogenic potential of TNBC cell lines. When cells were grown in extracellular matrix gels (Matrigel), and exposed to BI-2536, apoptosis was observed specifically in TNBC cancerous cells, and not in a normal cell line. When administrated as a single agent, the PLK1 inhibitor significantly impaired tumor growth &lt;i&gt;in vivo&lt;/i&gt; in two xenografts models established from biopsies of patients with TNBC. Most importantly, the administration of BI-2536, in combination with doxorubicin + cyclophosphamide chemotherapy, led to a faster complete response compared with the chemotherapy treatment alone and prevented relapse, which is the major risk associated with TNBC. Altogether, our observations suggest PLK1 inhibition as an attractive therapeutic approach, in association with conventional chemotherapy, for the management of patients with TNBC. &lt;i&gt;Cancer Res; 73(2); 813–23. ©2012 AACR&lt;/i&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

The human p73 gene is a homolog of p53, which has been localized to chromosome 1p36 in a region that is frequently deleted in neuroblastoma. Transfection of the p73 gene into neuroblastoma cells that lack detectable p73 protein has been shown to result in growth suppression and to induce neuronal differentiation. In this study, we have identified by means of restriction landmark genome scanning. (RLGS) a genomic fragment that was frequently reduced in intensity in neuroblastomas. The cloned fragment contained exon 1 of p73 as well as intronic and promoter sequences. We investigated the genomic and expression status of p73 and N-myc in 34 neuroblastoma tumors and 12 neuroblastoma cell lines. Approximately a third of neuroblastomas in our series exhibited deletion of p73. Most tumors analyzed exhibited reduced expression of p73, as determined by quantitative RT-PCR, in the absence of detectable p73 gene deletion. The reduced expression of p73 correlated with overexpression of N-myc in a statistically significant manner. The N-myc gene was transfected into two neuroblastoma cell lines that lacked N-myc amplification to determine its effect on p73 RNA levels. p73 was detectable at low level by RTPCR in untransfected SK-N-AS cells and became undetectable following N-myc transfection, whereas in SH-EP1 cells, p73 levels were substantially reduced following transfection but remained detectable. Our data suggest that the N-myc gene modulates expression of p73, allowing neuroblastoma cells to escape the growth suppressing properties of p73.

Abstract Background: PDL192 is a humanized IgG1 monoclonal antibody that binds the human TWEAK receptor (TweakR). TweakR, a member of the TNFR (Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor) superfamily, is overexpressed in several human cancers including breast cancer (BC). In BC, it may also play a role in the invasive and metastatic potential of the disease (Willis et al, Mol Cancer Res 2008). In TweakR-expressing cancer cell lines or mouse xenograft models, PDL192 has a potent antitumor effect (Culp et al., CCR 2010). All these data therefore suggest that anti-TweakR targeting could be a promising new therapeutic approach for human BC patients. Material and methods: TweakR expression was assessed by IHC (immunohistochemistry) on 3 Tissue-Micro-Array (TMA) banks of BC samples (basal-like, ERBB2, and luminal A/B), and 25 primary human BC xenografts (HBCx). The cut-off of positivity was defined as at least 25% cells with membraneous or cytoplasmic staining or by a combined score of percentage of positive staining cells x intensity &amp;gt; 50. The in vivo antitumor effect of PDL192 was then assessed on 7 TweakR-positive models (10 mg/kg thrice a week for 3 weeks by intraperitoneal route) in which one in combination with chemotherapy as maintenance therapy, as previsouly reported (Marangoni et al., BJC 2009). Results: TMA analyses showed that TweakR was expressed in 16/37 basal like BC (43%), 23/37 ERBB2-positive BC (62%), and 38/71 luminal BC (54%). A high TweakR expression was correlated with double estrogen receptor- and Her2-positive tumors. Moreover, 13/25 xenografts have been found to be TweakR-positive (52%). Nine human BC models have been treated with PDL192, with 4 models (44%) showing a tumor growth inhibition (TGI) ranging between 59% and 91%. No correlation has been observed between TweakR expression and in vivo TGI. Moreover, when PDL192 was administered in complete remission after chemotherapy (doxorubicin + cyclophosphamide), we observed a highly significant delay of relapse greater than 2 months. Conclusions: TweakR is expressed in 77/145 human BC samples (53%). In in vivo experiments, PDL192 showed potent TGI in 4/9 models, and significantly delayed tumor relapses after chemotherapy-induced complete remission. All these data therefore support the use of anti-TWEAK receptor monoclonal antibodies in the treatment of TweakR-positive BC patients. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1772. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-1772

The incidences of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer have increased markedly over the past 30 years. The main risk factor is ultraviolet radiation from the sun and from sunbeds. The Danish Sun Safety campaign was launched in 2007 to curb this development by reducing the exposure of adolescents and young children. In this study, the characteristics of high-risk sun-tanning behaviour were assessed and the effect of the campaign was determined.Cross-sectional study.Data from annual Internet surveys were compiled in 2008–2011 of 18, 685 15–64-year-old Danes. A tanning index based on sunbed use and intentional tanning in and outside Denmark was the outcome measure in a linear regression model, which included age, gender, skin type, education, income and survey year as exposure variables.High-risk tanning behaviour was associated with female gender, younger age, shorter education, skin type 3 or 4, higher income, smaller household and living in larger cities. The tanning index, where 100 represent high-risk behaviour, increased by 13.45 points for women as compared with men, dropped by 1.35 points for each 5-year increase in age, rose by 20.72 points for skin type 4 as compared with type 1 and increased by 10.33 points with an income >€105, 409 as compared with <€26, 352. High-risk behaviour decreased during the study period, especially among women and younger people.High-risk sun-tanning behaviour is linked to certain personal and social characteristics. After initiation of the Danish Sun Safety Campaign in 2007, this high-risk behaviour decreased, especially in the groups initially targeted by the campaign. The campaign may thus reduce the future incidence of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer.

Abstract Transcriptomic analyses identified four major groups among invasive ductal carcinomas, associated with different clinical outcomes. Their definitions in practice is still matter of debate. Our aims were 1) to validate definitions based on immunohistochemical markers and grade: luminal A= ER and or PR+ve, grade I HER2−ve, luminal B= ER+ve and/or PR+ve, HER2+ve or grade III, HER2 enriched carcinomas= HER2+ve and ER-ve, basal-like/triple negative carcinomas= grade III, ER-ve, PR-ve, HER2−ve and expression of at least one of the basal-like markers (CK5/6, CK14, EGFR); 2) to refine this immunohistochemical definition. 142 consecutive tumors were selected in our tumour bank (42 triple-negative and grade III; 31 HER2+ve and ER-ve; 35 luminal B ER or PR+ve and grade III (7 cases) or HER2+ve (28 cases); luminal A (34 ER+ve or PR+ve, grade I)). Transcriptomic analyses were performed using Affymetrix U133+2 arrays (good quality RNAs obtained for all frozen specimens). The molecular classes determined according to proposed definitions were compared to those obtained with unsupervised clustering analyses using datas after GC-RMA normalisation (with the intrinsic gene list genes and with the highest variance genes). Marker patterns of expression (CK 8/18, 5/6, 14, EGFR, BCL2 and Ki67) were analysed within each molecular class. Based on the phenotypical definition and grade, 10 and 9% of cases were misclassified respectively using unsupervised clustering either with the intrinsic gene list or the highest variance genes. The misclassified tumors were luminal B HER2+ve case with low ER level of expression, or HER2+ve and ER-ve cases classified among the triple-negative group. 39 out of 42 (93%) triple negative expressed at least one of the basal markers. RP expression pattern differed between luminal A and B carcinomas. All luminal A showed at least &amp;gt; 15% of positive cells and 65% of them harboured &amp;gt; 50% of positive cells. In contrast, luminal B showed &amp;lt; 15% of positive cells in 70% of the cases. Bcl2 was negative in 40% of the luminal B cases and positive (&amp;gt; 20% stained cells) in more than 90% of the luminal A cases. CK14 was positive (i.e. &amp;gt; 1% positive cell) in 65% of the triple negative cases, compared to CK5/6 positive in 58% of the cases. Ki67 was &amp;gt; 20% in 90% of the triple negative and in 55% of luminal B cases compared to less than 5% of the luminal A cases. 20 and 30% of HER2+ve ER-ve carcinomas expressed CK5/6, CK14 and EGFR associated in more than 90% of the cases to CK8/18 positivity (&amp;gt; 20% positive cells). Identification of molecular classes of breast carcinomas was accurately determined by immunohistochemistry and grade. Low level of RP expression and BCL2 negativity were part of the luminal B phenotype. CK14 was more sensitive in this population of triple negative carcinomas to identify basal-like carcinomas. KI67 was highly expressed in the vast majority if not all breast triple negative carcinomas. HER2+ve ER-ve carcinomas can express basal markers but in contrast to basal-like carcinomas, associated in the large majority of the cases to CK8/18 expression. The accurate determination of molecular groups of breast carcinomas should be a key parameter for development of targeted therapies within each group. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2011;71(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-05-03.

Abstract Background: To identify ER+ve ERBB2-ve ductal T1T2N0 carcinomas associated with a poor prognosis remains challenging. We have previously demonstrated that the number of chromosomal breakpoints assessed by CGH could be a marker of worse outcome for breast carcinomas. Our aim was to validate the CGH based signature in a series of luminal ductal and T1T2 N0 carcinoma patients with long-term clinical follow-up. Patients and methods: We analyzed 214 patients treated for an invasive ductal ER+ve ERBB2-ve carcinomas, smaller than 30mm. The training set was composed of 109 patients (10.9 years of median follow-up; 30 cases associated with a metastatic event within less than 4 years/79 control cases with no metastastic event at 5 years) and the validation set of 105 patients (10.5 years of median follow-up; 30 relapses including contra-lateral breast carcinomas, loco-regional relapses and 8 metastatic events). None of the patient received adjuvant chemotherapy. 16 received an adjuvant hormonotherapy (10 in the training and 6 in the validation groups). We genotyped the sample set with the SNP6.0 affymetrix array. After RMA normalisation using Genotyping console, segmentation was performed according to the Zhang and Siegmund maximum method. In the training data set, the number of breakpoints was assessed, linked to outcome and the threshold optimising the sensitivity and specificity was determined (ROC curve). The threshold prognostic value was then tested on the validation series (Kaplan Meier analysis, log rank test, determination of relative risk and its confidence interval with a Cox model). Results: In the training set, median numbers of breakpoints were 7 in cases that experienced a metastatic event after more than 5 years and 40.5 in cases that experienced a metastatic event in less than 4 years. The threshold (Younden index ) was 34 breakpoints with a sensitivity of 0.57 and a specificity of 0.94 (AUC: 0.81[0.71;0.91]). In the validation set, the outcome of patients with more than 34 breakpoints was poorer than that of patients with less than 34 breakpoints (&amp;lt;34 breakpoints: 19 events in out of 83 patients; &amp;gt;34 breakpoints: 11 events out of 22 patients with a median time to progression of 108 months; p&amp;lt;0.001 (logrank test); RR: 3.7 [1.73; 7.92]). In multivariate analysis, the number of breakpoints (&amp;gt;34 versus &amp;lt;34) remained the only significant parameter for prediction of outcome (RR: 3.12, CI[1.33; 7.31], p= 0.009). Histopronostic grade, significant in univariate analysis, was not significant in multivariate analysis but was correlated with the number of breakpoints. The number of breakpoints was statistically significant for prediction of metastatic free interval (&amp;lt;34 breakpoints: 4 events in out of 83 patients; &amp;gt;34 breakpoints: 4 events out of 22 patients with a median time to progression of 108 months; p=0.009 (logrank test); RR: 5.29 [1.32; 21.26]). Conclusion: We demonstated that patients with T1T2 (&amp;lt;3cm) N0 ER+Ve ERBB2-ve invasive ductal carcinomas harboured a shorter disease free and metastatic free intervals based on genomic profiles assessed by SNP6.0 with a threshold of more than 34 breakpoints. This new approach to assess prognosis in luminal carcinomas is based on a single genomic platform, could allow identification of future therapeutic targets. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2011;71(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-09-01.

Both Myc and Ras oncogenes impact cellular metabolism, deregulate redox homeostasis and trigger DNA replication stress (RS) that compromises genomic integrity. However, how are such oncogene-induced effects evoked and temporally related, to what extent are these kinetic parameters shared by Myc and Ras, and how are these cellular changes linked with oncogene-induced cellular senescence in different cell context(s) remain poorly understood. Here, we addressed the above-mentioned open questions by multifaceted comparative analyses of human cellular models with inducible expression of c-Myc and H-RasV12 (Ras), two commonly deregulated oncoproteins operating in a functionally connected signaling network. Our study of DNA replication parameters using the DNA fiber approach and time-course assessment of perturbations in glycolytic flux, oxygen consumption and production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) revealed the following results. First, overabundance of nuclear Myc triggered RS promptly, already after one day of Myc induction, causing slow replication fork progression and fork asymmetry, even before any metabolic changes occurred. In contrast, Ras overexpression initially induced a burst of cell proliferation and increased the speed of replication fork progression. However, after several days of induction Ras caused bioenergetic metabolic changes that correlated with slower DNA replication fork progression and the ensuing cell cycle arrest, gradually leading to senescence. Second, the observed oncogene-induced RS and metabolic alterations were cell-type/context dependent, as shown by comparative analyses of normal human BJ fibroblasts versus U2-OS sarcoma cells. Third, the energy metabolic reprogramming triggered by Ras was more robust compared to impact of Myc. Fourth, the detected oncogene-induced oxidative stress was due to ROS (superoxide) of non-mitochondrial origin and mitochondrial OXPHOS was reduced (Crabtree effect). Overall, our study provides novel insights into oncogene-evoked metabolic reprogramming, replication and oxidative stress, with implications for mechanisms of tumorigenesis and potential targeting of oncogene addiction.

Abstract Abstract #1081 Background: The purpose of this study was to identify a genomic signature of early metastatic recurrence, in order to predict accurately breast carcinomas clinical outcome and to select patients with node negative and small tumor size (&amp;lt;3cm) who would benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy.&amp;#x2028; Patients and methods: Using genome-wide BAC-PAC Genomic Comparative Hybridization (CGH) array (1kb), we analyzed a training set of 78 patients. All patients had invasive ductal carcinomas and were initially treated by surgery and radiotherapy, without chemotherapy. The validation was performed on an independent test set of 90 patients. The training and tests sets were composed of respectively 53 and 58 patients disease-free survivors at 60 months (good prognosis group), and by 25 and 32 patients with distant metastatic recurrence before 48 months (poor prognosis group). In the training set, a signature was established as a logistic multivariate model of regions containing contiguous BAC clones with statistically different ratios and median frequencies of gains and losses between the poor and the good prognosis groups. This signature was then validated using the independent test set to evaluate its accuracy to classify T0T1T2N0 patients according to their outcome.&amp;#x2028; Results: The training test identified a prognostic signature defined by 3 genomic regions, located on the 2p (38.3 to 40.9Mb), 3p (32 to 80.3Mb), and 8q (78.8 to 128.9Mb) chromosomes. In the test set, 90% of patients of favourable outcome were ER +ve and 88% were PR +ve, compared to 62% and 55% in the poor outcome group, respectively. In the test set, our signature was highly informative to identify patients that developed distant metastases before 48 months: the rate of patients well classified was 0.74, CI (95%): [0.64; 0.83], with a specificity of 95%, CI (95%): [86%; 99%]. On Kaplan-Meier analysis, the poor-prognosis genomic signature group of patients had a RR of 3.5 of metastatic relapse (log rank test p&amp;lt;0.001).&amp;#x2028; Conclusions: Our signature, validated on an independent series of small T0T1T2N0 and on a majority of ER/PR positive tumors, may provide a robust and accurate tool to identify, in addition to classical parameters, patients who would benefit from adjuvant medical treatments. The comparison of this genomic signature with RNA based signatures and clinico-pathological parameters, is currently being investigated. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(2 Suppl):Abstract nr 1081.