Högskolan i Skövde

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer with sexual history as a consistent risk factor. This is the pioneering study that evaluates the frequency of HPV infection in prostate cancer in India. Ninety five (95) histopathologically confirmed cancer and fifty five (55) BPH from Indian population were analyzed for HPV infection using a pair of consensus sequence primer followed by type specific PCRs for both high-risk and low-risk HPV types. The data demonstrate HPV infection in 41% of prostate tumor biopsies and 20% in BPH. Subsequent PCR- based HPV typing using type - specific primers revealed 32% were infected with HPV type 16 whereas 6% were found to be positive for HPV type 18, while in BPH controls only 5% of the BPH controls were infected with HPV 16 and this difference was highly significant (p = 0.0004). Significant proportion of HPV infected (74%) cases belonged to stage III and IV (p < 0.001) with a high Gleason score ≥8 (p = 0.003). The study represents for the first time the incidence of HPV infection in prostate cancer in Indian population and strengthens the hypothesis that HPV infection could be one of the co factor associated with progression of prostate cancer.

OBJECTIVES: Cervical cancer is a leading gynecological cancer in Indian women and is caused due to infection with high risk human pappilloma virus (HR-HPV) 16 and 18. It has been well documented that PML (promyelocytic leukemia) enhances viral infectivity and plays a crucial role in antiviral response mechanisms. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of PML gene with context to HPV infection in cervical carcinogenesis.

METHODS: The expression pattern of PML was analyzed by western blotting and immunohistochemistry in a total of 170 fresh surgically resected cervical tissue specimens comprising precancer (n=12), cancer (n=118) and normal controls (n=40) recruited from PGIMER, Chandigarh, India. HPV status was analyzed by L1 consensus PCR followed by type specific PCR for HR-HPV types 16 and 18 and low risk types 6 and 11.

RESULTS: A significant downregulation of PML protein was observed in the majority of cervical cancer and precancer cases 68% (89/130) compared to normal controls. The loss of expression pattern of PML gene was significantly increased with severity of disease both clinically and pathologically (p<0.001). HPV infection was detected in the majority of cancer cases 96% (113/118) and in 83% (10/12) of precancer lesions whereas no infection could be detected in normal controls. Interestingly, all the 68% (89/130) cervical cancer cases that showed downregulation of PML were HPV infected (p=0.0001).

CONCLUSION: Taken together, these observations suggest that the downregulation of PML gene and its synergism with HPV infection may play an important role and may serve as a new marker for early diagnosis and therapeutic intervention for cervical carcinogenesis.

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women worldwide. The estrogen receptor alpha (ESR1) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) have been known to play a vital role in development and progression of breast cancer. The aim of the present study was to determine the relationship, if any, between genetic polymorphism in (ESR1) 2014G>A (T594T) and (EGFR) 142285G>A (R521K) with risk of breast cancer and the prognosis in a heterogeneous North Indian population that is known for its diverse ethnicity. A case-control study in a total of 300 individuals comprising of 150 breast cancer patients and 150 normal controls was performed. PCR-RFLP was employed for genotyping. The G/A heterozygous genotype EGFR R521K, was slightly higher in cases (56.7 %) than in controls (48.3 %) (P = 0.20). The results indicated that EGFR polymorphism does not show any significant association with breast cancer in this population. On the other hand, the mutant A/A genotype ESR1 codon 594, showed a 6.4-folds risk for breast cancer and this association was highly significant (P = 0.00) as compared to wild GG genotype, the heterozygous G/A genotype also showed a significant association with disease (P = 0.00, OR = 2.03). In addition, the frequency of A allele was also higher in cases (36 %) than in controls (19 %) and a highly significant difference was observed with wild G allele (63.3 % in cases and 6.6 % in controls). This clearly indicates that there appears to be an influence of ESR1 codon 594 genotypes on genetic susceptibility to breast cancer. Further a significantly higher risk was observed in individuals who had diabetes {OR = 3.04 (1.68-5.50), P = 0.00} and females with ESR polymorphism in pre-menopause patients that had undergone menopause above the age of 50 years {OR = 3.58 (1.86-6.90), P < 0.05}. The different ethnic backgrounds and geographical locations have complimented the present genotypic analysis and have highlighted the influence of ethnicity, race and geographic location in genetic predisposition to breast cancer.

Prostate cancer is the second most diagnosed cancer in men next to skin cancer in the developed world. Risk of disease varies most prominently with age, ethnicity, family history, and diet. Genetic polymorphism of some genes has been implicated in increasing the risk. The XPD (Xeroderma pigmentosum group D) gene codes for a DNA helicase involved in transcription and nucleotide excision repair. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of XPD 751 Lys/Gln polymorphism on risk of prostate cancer on north Indian patients. Blood sample from 150 prostate cancer patients, 150 from Prostate Hyper Plasia and equal number of samples from healthy control groups was collected from North India. The polymerase chain reaction and restrictive fragment length polymorphism techniques were implemented. Statistically non-significant increase risk of prostate cancer was observed with patients having Gln/Gln genotype (OR 1.62, 95% CI).

BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer is a leading cause of mortality in men worldwide especially in developing countries like India. The molecular mechanisms of the oncogenic signaling pathway(s) that are involved in prostate carcinogenesis play a crucial role in disease progression and persistence. There is an important role of signal transducer and activator of transcriptions (STATs) particularly STAT-3 and STAT-5 and its negative regulator suppressor of cytokine signaling-1 (SOCS-1).

METHODS: In the present study, the expression and localization of STAT and SOCS-1 proteins in prostate cancer by immunohistochemistry in a total of 150 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded human prostate tissues of different grade obtained by radical prostatectomies or transurethral resection.

RESULTS: A significantly strong STAT-3 expression pattern in 68% (65/95) prostate cancer cases as compared to 12% (5/55) in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) controls (P < 0.001) was observed. Interestingly the SOCS-1 expression was found to be significantly elevated in prostate cancer cases (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrates overexpression of STAT-3 and STAT-5 proteins and a contrasting role of SOCS-1 in prostate cancer. These results suggest a critical association between altered expression of STAT-3 and STAT-5 with SOCS-1 and indicate its potential role as a negative regulator independent of JAK-STAT pathway in tumorigenic transformation of prostate tissue. The results of the present report focuses on the fundamental differences in major oncogenic signaling cascades between benign and malignant form of prostate tissue that plays a crucial role in prostate cancer biology.

Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-α) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and obesity. The increased expression of TNF-α in adipose tissue is known to induce insulin resistance, and a polymorphism at position -308 in the promoter region of TNF-α gene may lead to its increased transcription in adipocytes. The objective of this work was to determine the role of TNFα-308G/A gene polymorphism in metabolic syndrome (MetS) and coronary artery disease (CAD) with obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A total of 250 MetS and 224 CAD patients and 214 controls were studied. TNFα-308G/A polymorphism was detected from the whole blood genomic DNA using PCR-amplification refractory mutation system. The 2 × 2 contingency tables and multiple regression analysis were used for determining the association of genotypes with obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in MetS and CAD subjects. In CAD subjects with T2DM, the AG genotypes showed a very strong association (P < 0.0001; OR 0.194, 95%CI 0.103-0.365). In CAD subjects with obesity, the AA (P = 0.049; OR 2.449) and AG genotypes showed a strong association (P < 0.0001; OR 0.206). In both males and females, AG genotype and G allele (P < 0.0001) showed a strong association with T2DM. In MetS subjects with T2DM, there was a strong association with AG (P = 0.002; OR 4.483) as well as AA+AG genotypes (P = 0.002; OR 4.255). The AA and AG genotype (P = 0.001; OR 5.497) in males showed a strong 4.6- and 5.4-fold risks, respectively, with obesity. In females, only AG genotype showed a strong 4.5-fold risk with obesity (P = 0.001). In MetS subjects with obesity, the AA genotype (P = 0.043; OR 3.352) as well as AG showed a very strong association (P = 0.001; OR 5.011). The AG genotypes showed a high 3.5-fold risk with T2DM in females (P = 0.011). In CAD subjects, AG genotype showed a protective effect in both obese males and females (P < 0.0001). Heterozygous TNFα-308G/A gene variant may be an important risk factor for MetS with T2DM and obesity in both males and females, but may have a protective role in CAD subjects with obesity and T2DM. A allele may be an important risk factor for MetS and CAD with obesity as well as CAD subjects with T2DM.

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is a leading cause of cancer related deaths in women worldwide caused due to infection of high-risk human papillomaviruses. As JAK/STAT signalling pathway has been shown to play an important role during carcinogenesis, we studied the role of silencing of Suppressor of Cytokine Signalling-1 (SOCS-1) gene, a negative regulator of JAK/STAT pathway in cervical cancer.

METHODS: The expression pattern of SOCS-1 mRNA and protein was analyzed in different stages of cervical tumor biopsies while normal cervical tissues served as controls. RT-PCR, immunohistochemistry and methylation-specific PCR (MSP) were performed to assess the expression pattern and promoter methylation of SOCS-1 gene in a total of 120 fresh surgically resected cervical tissue specimens comprising precancer (n = 12), cancer (n = 78) and normal controls (n = 30).

RESULTS: Compared with expression of SOCS-1 in normal tissues, 64% of the tumor tissues expressed either undetectable or reduced expression. Aberrant promoter methylation of SOCS-1 was found in 61% of the cervical tumor tissues. SOCS-1 expression and methylation were significantly associated with severity of the disease (p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION: We demonstrate for the first time the transcriptional inactivation of SOCS-1 gene due to hypermethylation and synergism with HPV infection which may play an important role in cervical carcinoma.