In this study, we aimed to determine the clinicopathologic, radiologic, and molecular significance of the tumor invasiveness to further stratify the patients with high-grade (HG) upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) who can be treated less aggressively. Clinicopathologic and radiologic characteristics of 166 surgically resected HG UTUC (48 non-invasive, and 118 invasive) cases were evaluated. Six non-invasive UTUC cases with intra-tumoral tumor grade heterogeneity were selected for whole exome sequencing (WES) to understand the underlying molecular pathophysiology. Barcode-tagging sequencing (BTSeq) was done for validation of the target genes from WES data. Patients with non-invasive UTUC showed no cancer-specific death with better cancer-specific survival (p<0.001) and recurrence-free survival (p<0.001) compared to the patients with invasive UTUC. Compared to the invasive UTUC, non-invasive UTUC was correlated to a low grade on the preoperative abdominal computed tomography (CT) grading system (p<0.001), histologic intratumoral tumor grade heterogeneity (p=0.018), discrepancy in preoperative urine cytology diagnosis (p=0.018), and absence of urothelial carcinoma in situ (p<0.001). WES of the heterogeneous components showed mutually shared HRAS and FGFR3 mutations shared between the HG and LG components. HRAS mutation was associated with the lower grade on preoperative abdominal CT and intratumoral tumor grade heterogeneity (p=0.045 and p<0.001, respectively), whereas FGFR3 mutation was correlated to the absence of carcinoma in situ (p<0.001). According to our comprehensive analysis, HG non-invasive UTUC can be preoperatively suspected based on distinct preoperative radiologic, cytologic, histologic, and molecular features. Non-invasive HG UTUC shows excellent prognosis and thus should be treated less aggressively.

Background: Bladder cancer is characterized by frequent mutations, which provide potential therapeutic targets for most patients. The effectiveness of emerging personalized therapies depends on an accurate molecular diagnosis, for which the accurate estimation of the neoplastic cell percentage (NCP) is a crucial initial step. However, the established method for determining the NCP, manual counting by a pathologist, is time-consuming and not easily executable. Methods: To address this, artificial intelligence (AI) models were developed to estimate the NCP using nine convolutional neural networks and the scanned images of 39 cases of urinary tract cancer. The performance of the AI models was compared to that of six pathologists for 119 cases in the validation cohort. The ground truth value was obtained through multiplexed immunofluorescence. The AI model was then applied to 41 cases in the application cohort that underwent next-generation sequencing testing, and its impact on the copy number variation (CNV) was analyzed. Results: Each AI model demonstrated high reliability, with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) ranging from 0.82 to 0.88. These values were comparable or better to those of pathologists, whose ICCs ranged from 0.78 to 0.91 in urothelial carcinoma cases, both with and without divergent differentiation/ subtypes. After applying AI-driven NCP, 190 CNV (24.2%) were reclassified with 66 (8.4%) and 78 (9.9%) moved to amplification and loss, respectively, from neutral/minor CNV. The neutral/minor CNV proportion decreased by 6%. Conclusions: These results suggest that AI models could assist human pathologists in repetitive and cumbersome NCP calculations.

Mitochondria are essential organelles that are not only responsible for energy production but are also involved in cell metabolism, calcium homeostasis, and apoptosis. Targeting mitochondria is a key strategy for bacteria to subvert host cells’ physiology and promote infection. Helicobacter (H.) pylori targets mitochondria directly. However, mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) polymorphism (haplogroup) is not yet considered an important factor for H. pylori infection. Here, we clarified the association of mitochondrial haplogroups with H. pylori prevalence and the ability to perform damage. Seven mtDNA haplogroups were identified among 28 H. pylori-positive subjects. Haplogroup B was present at a higher frequency and haplotype D at a lower one in the H. pylori population than in that of the H. pylori-negative one. The fibroblasts carrying high-frequency haplogroup displayed a higher apoptotic rate and diminished mitochondrial respiration following H. pylori infection. mtDNA mutations were accumulated more in the H. pylori-positive population than in that of the H. pylori-negative one in old age. Among the mutations, 57% were located in RNA genes or nonsynonymous protein-coding regions in the H. pylori-positive population, while 35% were in the H. pylori-negative one. We concluded that gastric disease caused by Helicobacter virulence could be associated with haplogroups and mtDNA mutations.

Background/Aim: Somatic mutations were investigated in 21 patients with postmenopausal estrogen receptor (ER)-positive and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2)-positive (ER+HER2+) breast cancer (BC) treated with neoadjuvant letrozole and lapatinib, to identify their distinct molecular landscape. Patients and Methods: We used tissue samples of 21 patients from phase II Neo ALL-IN cohort, and somatic alterations were examined using targeted exome sequencing performed in Foundation Medicine, Inc. (FMI). Results: TP53 (61.9%) and PIK3CA (57.1%) were the two most frequently mutated genes that were inter-correlated (p=0.026). They were associated with unfavorable clinical outcomes, particularly when accompanying PIK3CA mutations at exon 9 in helical domains. Meanwhile, MLL2 alteration was negatively associated with mutations of TP53 or PIK3CA, and it tended to be present in patients with low KI-67 levels and no initial nodal involvement. Moreover, patients with MLL2 mutations numerically showed more favorable overall response rates (ORR) (80% vs. 56.2%) and better 5-year event-free survival (EFS) rates (100% vs. 87.5%) compared to the wild-type. Conclusion: Mutations in TP53 and PIK3CA hotspot at exon 9 may be potential negative predictors of ER+HER2+ BC treated with neoadjuvant letrozole and lapatinib, while MLL2 inactivating mutation might confer therapeutic benefit in these patients.