In a paper published online in advance in Clinical Cancer Research, an international team led by investigators at VU University Medical Center in The Netherlands presents a meta-analysis of mouse and human medulloblastoma gene expression data. The researchers show that expression of the RAS-GTPase-activating protein family member DAB2IP is repressed in medulloblastoma by EZH2-induced trimethylation. They also say that "DAB2IP may represent a molecular marker to distinguish patients with medulloblastoma at high risk from those with a longer survival prognosis."
Elsewhere in the journal, researchers in Japan show that the amount of Epstein-Barr virus DNA detected in whole blood samples from patients with extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type, is "useful for predicting tumor response, toxicity, and prognosis after SMILE [steroid, methotrexate, ifosfamide, L-asparaginase, and etoposide] chemotherapy."
Finally, writing in Clinical Cancer Research, scientists from the New York University School of Medicine show that topical imiquimod is a well-tolerated and beneficial treatment modality for breast cancer metastatic to skin/chest wall, and that the drug "can promote a pro-immunogenic tumor microenvironment in breast cancer." The NYU team adds that preclinical data is has generated suggests superior results might be achieved with a combination of imiquimod and ionizing radiation. "We are currently testing in patients whether the combination can further improve anti-tumor immune and clinical responses," the researchers add.