We examined tumours from a large cohort of patients with metastatic urothelial bladder cancer (mUC) treated with an anti–PD-L1 agent (atezolizumab) and identified major determinants of clinical response and immune escape. Whole transcriptome profiles were generated for 368 patients using TruSeq RNA Access technology (Illumina). Somatic mutations were determined via whole exome sequencing for a subset of these patients. - Response was associated with CD8+ T effector cell phenotype and, to an even greater extent, high neoantigen or tumour mutation burden (TMB). On the other hand, lack of response was associated with a transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) signature, particularly in patients with CD8+ T cells preferentially residing in collagen-rich matrix surrounding tumours. Integration of these three independent biological features provided the best basis for understanding outcome in this setting. -
Background and Rationale for the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) Over the last several decades, advances in treatments for childhood and adolescent cancer have substantially improved survival following diagnosis. These improvements gave rise to the responsibility for investigating long-term treatment-associated morbidity and mortality. Early efforts to describe late effects were largely conducted through single-institution and limited consortia studies. However, by the mid-1980s, it became increasingly clear that these approaches had inherent limitations, including small sample size, convenience sampling, incompletely characterized populations, and limited length of follow-up. To overcome these limitations, the CCSS was proposed and funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as a U01 grant in 1994. Subsequently, the strengths of the CCSS, including an efficient and extensive infrastructure, plus expanding database and biorepository, were recognized and appreciated. Thus, in consultation with the NCI, the CCSS was converted to a U24 (resource grant) funding mechanism to serve the scientific community in 2000. The overarching goal of the CCSS resource is to increase the conduct of innovative and high impact research related to pediatric cancer survivorship. CCSS has been used extensively by researchers from a wide range of disciplines to address a broad spectrum of topics. Strengths of the resource include its large size, comprehensive annotation of treatment exposures, ongoing longitudinal follow-up with characterization of a wide array of participant characteristics and outcomes, and an established biorepository. Design of the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study The Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) is a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary collaborative research resource comprised of a retrospective hospital-based cohort of survivors of childhood cancer and a comparison sibling cohort. Eligible survivors from 31 participating institutions were diagnosed between 1970 and 1999, prior to age 21 years, with selected common pediatric cancers (leukemia, central nervous system tumors, Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, kidney tumors, neuroblastoma, soft tissue sarcoma, or bone tumors). All patients who survived five years from the date of diagnosis were eligible, regardless of disease or treatment status. The baseline questionnaire was completed by 24,368 survivors and 5,039 siblings recruited to serve as a comparison group. To date, participants have completed three general follow-up surveys, as well as a number of specialized surveys on specific topics (e.g. health care, insurance, screening practices, men's and women's health issues, adolescent health, sleep and fatigue). In addition, biological samples (buccal cells, saliva and/or blood) have been collected for over 11,000 participants. Full descriptions of the design and characteristics of the CCSS have been previously published (Robison et al; Leisenring et al.), and available data and samples are described at https://ccss.stjude.org/develop-a-study/gwas-data-resource.html. Treatment Data in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study A key feature of CCSS is the availability of detailed treatment data, which were collected by abstraction of medical records for each individual member of the cohort. Detailed abstraction included dates of therapy, protocol information, and specific details regarding surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Quantitative dose details were collected for 22 specific chemotherapeutic agents, including alkylating agents, anthracyclines, platinum compounds and epipodophyllotoxins. In addition to individual agent doses, algorithms have been created to calculate cumulative doses of all drugs in a specific class, such as anthracyclines (doxorubicin, daunomycin and idarubicin) or platinum agents (cisplatinum and carboplatinum). Data abstracted for surgeries included dates and both the names and corresponding International Classification of Diseases (9th revision) code. For radiation treatment data, all relevant records were sent to the Radiation Physics Center at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center for detailed abstraction and dosimetry. Initial body region dosimetry was performed for all participants, followed by more detailed dosimetry as needed for specific studies. Genomics Data in the Childhood Cancer Survivor StudyThe NCI's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics and CCSS investigators collaborated to conduct genomics studies (SNP array genotyping and whole exome sequencing) using samples from the CCSS Biorepository. Studies included all cohort participants with available DNA regardless of sex or ancestry when the genomics studies were initiated. Phenotype Data in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study Vital status and cause of death for both participants and non-participants is determined via linkage with the National Death Index (NDI). Identification of subsequent neoplasms is based on self-report, followed by validation using medical records, or via NDI. A wide array of additional health outcomes have been ascertained via a comprehensive set of questions on the CCSS questionnaires, covering potential adverse events across a range of organ systems (hearing/vision/speech, urinary, hormonal, heart and circulatory, respiratory, digestive, brain and nervous systems). In addition to health outcomes, longitudinal data have been collected on demographics, health behaviors, family history, screening practices, insurance status, and a range of psychosocial and neurocognitive factors. A full listing of available variables and copies of the CCSS questionnaires are available at http://ccss.stjude.org. Research Areas in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study Extensive use by the research community has resulted in over 265 published manuscripts on a wide range of topics, including associations between treatment factors and mortality, subsequent neoplasms, chronic health conditions, cardiac events, neurocognitive sequelae, psychosocial factors, fertility, and health status. Additional topics have included health behaviors, screening practices, health care access and utilization, statistical and exposure assessment methodology, and development of risk prediction models. A full listing of published manuscripts using CCSS data is available on the CCSS website at https://ccss.stjude.org/published-research/publications.html. The Childhood Cancer Survivor Study as a Resource for Investigators The CCSS is an NCI-funded resource (U24 CA55727) to promote and facilitate research among long-term survivors of cancer diagnosed during childhood and adolescence. Interested investigators are encouraged to develop research ideas and propose projects within CCSS, whether or not they are from a participating CCSS institution. The CCSS is now accepting proposals to collaborate with CCSS and NCI investigators in the use of genomics data and corresponding outcomes-related data to address innovative research questions relating to potential genetic contributions to risk for treatment-related outcomes. Any researcher, or group of researchers, qualified to conduct genetic research can submit a proposal. There are no restrictions relative to country, institution, or prior involvement in CCSS. A full description of the process for developing a proposal for genetic research in CCSS can be found at https://ccss.stjude.org/develop-a-study/gwas-data-resource.html, along with listings of approved proposals.
Vibrent Health will expand the Vibrent Digital Health Solutions Platform (DHSP) implementation to additional populations among diverse user groups for additional validation of the technology's performance, usability, and reliability in refinement of analytics generating predictive algorithms for infection and that support individual, organizational, community and societal-level decision-making in the COVID-19 pandemic response. This includes the aims to innovate a technology that can differentiate between COVID-19 and flu (or other respiratory illness); develop and test a novel WIFI-based contact tracing tool using a University’s enterprise WIFI system and software release of augmented contact tracing capabilities in Vibrent's DHSP; and develop a full technical integration approach and strategy to support data exchange between this solution and the NCI data hub.DOI: https://rapids.ll.mit.edu/10.57895/ravs-1b57
This is an epidemiological study of substance abuse and related psychopathology in which the subjects have been drawn from the Minnesota Center for Twin and Family Research (MCTFR). The MCTFR is a large, ongoing, family-based study. It is in part a longitudinal study of two cohorts of adolescent twins and their parents. It additionally includes a parallel longitudinal study of adolescent adoptive siblings, biologically related siblings, and their parents. Over 1500 twin families and 350 adoptive and biological sibling families have been studied, with follow-up assessments occurring approximately every 3 years. The MCTFR gathered detailed, standardized data on study participants including DSM-IIIR and DSM-IV diagnostic interview and questionnaire data. For the Genome-Wide Association Study of Behavioral Disinhibition, parental intake data plus that adolescent data gathered closest to the children 17th birthday (between ages 16.5 and 21) was used.
The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) has funded the Centers for Common Disease Genomics (CCDG), a collaborative large-scale genome sequencing effort to comprehensively identify rare risk and protective variants contributing to common disease phenotypes and to better understand the general principles of genomic architecture underlying common, complex inherited diseases. This study contains variant calls derived from the whole genome sequence data of an early-onset coronary artery disease case-control cohort collected by the Cleveland Clinic. Case status was assigned based on the presence of myocardial infarction, coronary artery stenosis greater than 70% in at least one coronary artery, and/or revascularization (coronary angioplasty with or without stent placement or coronary artery bypass grafting) at an early age. For these samples, "early age" is defined as men 60 years of age or younger and women 70 years of age or younger.
From 2012-2021, Yale University was home to one of four national centers created by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the genetics of rare inherited diseases. Researchers at Yale University, University of Washington, the Broad Institute and a center operated jointly by Baylor University and Johns Hopkins University analyzed the genomes of thousands of patients who suffer from more than 6,000 rare Mendelian disorders affecting more than 25 million individuals in United States. The Centers for Mendelian Genomics (CMG) applied next-generation sequencing and computational approaches to discover the genes and variants that underlie Mendelian disorders. The discovery of new genes that cause Mendelian conditions expanded our understanding about their biology to facilitate their diagnosis, and potentially indicate new treatments. The CMG provided free exome sequencing and analysis to collaborating investigators for qualified phenotypes.
Zidovudine (ZDV) is a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) which competitively inhibits HIV reverse transcriptase and is incorporated into the viral DNA, resulting in DNA chain termination. It was the first approved antiretroviral medication used for preventing HIV transmission from mother to child. However, in vitro and animal studies have suggested genotoxicity of ZDV and no study has evaluated potential impact of in utero ZDV exposure using genomic sequencing technologies. In this study, we investigate markers of genomic damage detected in peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples obtained from 91 ZDV-exposed and, for comparison, 94 NRTI-unexposed HIV-uninfected children born to HIV-infected mothers during the first week after birth. We utilize high-throughput DNA sequencing (whole exome sequencing) and genotype array methods to comprehensively identify potential clonal somatic single nucleotide variants (SNVs) and large acquired copy number alterations (SCNAs) related to ZDV exposure.
Heterogeneity in the tumor microenvironment (TME) of follicular lymphoma (FL) can affect clinical outcomes. We developed a new organoid culture method for cultivating patient-derived lymphoma organoids (PDLOs), which include cells from the native FL TME. We generated organoids from 12 FL patients at diagnosis, clinical progression, or relapse. These organoids were profiled with targeted DNA sequencing and mRNA sequencing. We evaluated the stability of organoids in culture at serial weekly timepoints (D0, D7, D14, D21). We treated organoids with CD19:CD3 or CD20:CD3 bispecific antibodies or unconjugated anti-CD20, anti-CD19, and anti-CD3 as a control, and profiled DNA/RNA at D11 to evaluate treatment response. This system is intended as a platform for advancing precision medicine efforts in FL through patient-specific modeling, high-throughput screening, TME signature identification, and treatment response evaluation.
Psoriasis is a chronic immune disease of the skin and joints that affects about 2% of the population. The most common form of psoriasis is plaque psoriasis, also called psoriasis vulgaris. A variety of drugs, including biologics, are available for treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis. When biologic agents are stopped, psoriasis can return (relapse) and often requires the biologic to be restarted and continued. No treatment program has been identified to prevent relapse of psoriasis. The study design has a lead-in period of weight-based ustekinumab treatment, with all participants receiving either 45 mg ustekinumab ( 100 kg) administered subcutaneously at weeks 0 and 4. At week 12, participants will be assessed for a Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) 75 response to ustekinumab. Participants who do not achieve a PASI 75 score will be discontinued from the investigation and permitted to seek standard therapy.
Since it is recognized that currently available chips may not be ideally suited to studying African populations, the H3Africa Genome Analysis working group undertook the task of designing a cost-effective GWAS chip with content appropriate for use in genomics research studies of individuals from the African continent. To address gaps in sequence data for some of the African populations being studied in H3Africa projects, a high coverage whole genome sequence dataset was generated at the Baylor College of Medicine with samples provided by H3Africa PIs and collaborators, funded by the National Institutes of Health. This dataset includes 350 high coverage and 160 medium coverage whole genome sequences from 348 populations. The data is accompanied by minimal metadata, including country, ethnic group and sex.
