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Molecular mechanisms of malignant transformation in spinal cord gliomas are not well-understood. Our objective was to investigate genetic causes of malignant transformation in a primary spinal cord glioma. A 32-year-old female patient presented with bilateral lower extremity weakness and was diagnosed with a primary spinal cord glioma from T9 to T12, with a syrinx extending from the craniocervical junction to the conus. She underwent resection in 2006. Pathology showed an abundance of Rosenthal fibers, calcification and degenerative features consistent with a low-grade pilocytic astrocytoma. She presented in 2020 with tumor recurrence and underwent re-resection. Whole exome sequencing, DNA methylation profiling and immunohistochemistry were performed on her initial and recurrent tumor samples. Immunohistochemical profiling of her recurrent tumor showed pleomorphic cells with extensive necrosis consistent with a high-grade glioma. DNA methylation profiling showed that the initial tumor clustered with pilocytic astrocytomas, whereas the recurrent lesion clustered with anaplastic astrocytomas, confirming malignant transformation. Whole-exome sequencing showed interim acquisition of a rare fibroblast growth factor receptor-transforming acidic coiled-coil () gene fusion. We report an fusion associated with malignant transformation in a primary spinal cord glioma. Our study adds to growing reports of fusions, which are amenable to receptor tyrosine kinase inhibition.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/jss-21-24 | DOI Listing |
Periodontol 2000
September 2025
Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
Oral cancer is a major global health burden, ranking sixth in prevalence, with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) being the most common type. Importantly, OSCC is often diagnosed at late stages, underscoring the need for innovative methods for early detection. The oral microbiome, an active microbial community within the oral cavity, holds promise as a biomarker for the prediction and progression of cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNature
September 2025
Department of Translational Genomics, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a highly aggressive type of lung cancer, characterized by rapid proliferation, early metastatic spread, frequent early relapse and a high mortality rate. Recent evidence has suggested that innervation has an important role in the development and progression of several types of cancer. Cancer-to-neuron synapses have been reported in gliomas, but whether peripheral tumours can form such structures is unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNature
September 2025
Centre for Evolution and Cancer, Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK.
Cancer development and response to treatment are evolutionary processes, but characterizing evolutionary dynamics at a clinically meaningful scale has remained challenging. Here we develop a new methodology called EVOFLUx, based on natural DNA methylation barcodes fluctuating over time, that quantitatively infers evolutionary dynamics using only a bulk tumour methylation profile as input. We apply EVOFLUx to 1,976 well-characterized lymphoid cancer samples spanning a broad spectrum of diseases and show that initial tumour growth rate, malignancy age and epimutation rates vary by orders of magnitude across disease types.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Nanotechnol
September 2025
John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Adoptive T-cell therapies, and particularly CAR T cells and tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes, have transformed cancer treatment by selectively targeting malignant cells. Despite their clinical success, these therapies face substantial challenges, including costly manufacturing processes and tumour-imposed barriers that limit efficacy. Advances in understanding the nanoscale mechanisms governing T-cell activation and the role of the tumour microenvironment in restricting T-cell responses have driven the development of nanotechnology-based strategies that integrate key chemical and physical cues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol
August 2025
Department of Oral Medicine, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology & National Center for Stomatology & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases & National Engineering Research Center of Oral Biomaterials and Digital Medical Devices, Beijing, PR China. Electronic address: yz
Objective: There are limited data regarding the association and differentiation between proliferative verrucous leukoplakia (PVL) and unifocal verrucous leukoplakia (UVL).
Methods: We retrospectively recruited oral leukoplakia (OL) patients from 2010 to 2024, analyzing the demographic, clinical, histopathological features, and malignant transformation of PVL and UVL.
Results: Among 1756 OL subjects, PVL and UVL accounted for 1.