Endometrial carcinoma (EC), the second most common form of gynaecological malignancy, can be divided into two distinct sub-types: Type I tumours arise from hyperplastic endometrium and typically effect women around the time of menopause, whereas type II tumours arise in postmenopausal women from atrophic endometrium. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a novel class of non-protein coding molecules that have recently been implicated in the pathogenesis of many types of cancer including gynaecological tumours. Although they play critical physiological roles in cellular metabolism, their expression and function are deregulated in EC compared with paired normal tissue, indicating that they may also participate in tumour initiation and progression. For instance, the lncRNA MALAT-1 is down-regulated in EC samples compared to normal or hyperplastic endometrium, whereas the lncRNA OVAL is down-regulated in type II disease but up-regulated in type I disease. Other notatble lncRNAs such as HOTAIR, H19 and SRA become up-regulated with increasing EC tumour grade and other features associated with poor prognosis. In the current review, we will examine the growing body of evidence linking deregulated lncRNAs with specific biological functions of tumour cells in EC, we will highlight associations between lncRNAs and the molecular pathways implicated in EC tumourigenesis and we will identify critical knowledge gaps that remain to be addressed.

The latest investigations of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have revealed their important role in human cancers. LncRNAs are larger than 200 nucleotides in length and fulfill their cellular purpose without being translated into proteins. Though the molecular functions of some lncRNAs have been elucidated, there is still a high number of lncRNAs with unknown or controversial functions. In this review, we provide an overview of different lncRNAs and their role in human cancers. In particular, we emphasize their importance in tumorigenesis of colorectal cancer, the third most common cancer worldwide.

Venous thromoboembolism (VTE) is a frequent and burdensome complication of metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the epidemiology of VTE in patients with localized CRC after surgery in curative intent is incompletely understood. In this single-center observational cohort study, we investigate patterns of VTE risk in localized CRC, and define its relationship with baseline risk factors, adjuvant chemotherapy and CRC recurrence. Five-hundred-sixteen patients with stage II/III CRC were included retrospectively at the time of surgery, and followed until the occurrence of VTE, CRC recurrence, or death (median age = 65.1 years, stage II and III: n = 151 (29.5%), n = 361 (70.5%); adjCTX: n = 339 (65.7%)). During a median follow-up of 2.7 years, 15 VTEs (2.7%) and 116 recurrences (22.5%) occurred, and 46 patients (8.9%) died. Six-month, 1-year, and 5-year VTE risks were 1.6%, 2.0% and 3.2%, respectively. In competing risk time-to-VTE regression, adjCTX was not associated with an increased risk of VTE (Subdistribution hazard ratio = 0.98, 95% CI:0.33–2.88, p = 0.97). The occurrence of disease recurrence strongly increased the risk of VTE (Multi-state model: Transition hazard ratio (THR) = 13.03, 95% CI:4.39–38.74, p < 0.0001)). Conversely, the onset of VTE did not predict for recurrence (THR = 1.95, 95% CI: 0.62–6.16, p = 0.25). VTE risk is very low in localized CRC and does not appear to be increased by adjuvant chemotherapy. Thus, primary thromboprophylaxis is unlikely to result in clinical benefit in this population. The strongest determinant of VTE risk appears to be disease recurrence.

E16520 Background: The introduction of Abiraterone (Abi) and Enzalutamide (Enza) into treatment of mCRPC has led to a survival benefit. However, in a subset of patients treated with Enza/Abi, rapidly progressive disease with atpical metastatic spread develops. According to Eric Small et al. (ASCO 2015 Abstract 5003), 39% of metastases in mCRPC-patients treated with Enza/Abi have small cell neuroendocrine or mixed type histologies. Based on these findings we aimed at characterising NCD in a case series of 8 patients using 1) clinical, laboratory, radiological parameters, 2) molecular features generated by liquid biopsy and 3) to present outcome variables after treatment of these patients with combination chemotherapy carboplatin/etoposide (CE). Methods: Clinical, radiological, laboratory parameters, whole-genome sequencing of cfDNA (PlasmaSeq) and ctDNA taken at different time points during treatment were ascertained from 8 mCRPC-patients with NCD. Results: All patients presented with rapid tumour progression and atpical metastatic spread (3x liver, 3x lungs, 1x skin, 1x adrenal glands) during treatment with Enza/Abi. Laboratory findings revealed marked increase in CRP, AP and LDH levels and elevation of NSE ( > 5x times upper normal limit), whilst PSA levels were low or declining. All patients received Carboplatin AUC5 day 1 and Etoposid 100 mg/m3 day 1-3 q3w. In 7 out of 8 patients, initially high levels of CRP, LDH, AP and NSE decreased under CE therapy. Very good partial response on radiological examination was observed after 3-6 cycles of CE in these patients. One patient had progressive disease. Copy number profiles of ctDNA taken peri-interventionally revealed loss of androgen receptor and a clonal shift in comparison to profiles taken during endocrine treatment phase. Conclusions: Rapid clinical and radiologic progression, atypical metastases and sharp rise in LDH, CRP, AP and NSE levels combined with low PSA are indicative of NCD. For these patients, CE-based chemotherapy is a promising treatment option. In order to identify clonal shift from adenocarcinoma to neuroendocrine cancer, genetic profiling using ctDNA may be of use.