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Biomedical subjects

Richard Grundy

Publications and source records attributed to Richard Grundy.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Immediate nephrectomy versus preoperative chemotherapy in the management of non-metastatic Wilms' tumour: results of a randomised trial (UKW3) by the UK Children's Cancer Study Group.

PURPOSE: To determine if patients receiving preoperative chemotherapy with vincristine and actinomycin D for non-metastatic Wilms' tumour have a more advantageous stage distribution and so need less treatment compared to patients who have immediate nephrectomy, without adversely affecting outcome. METHODS: Between 1991 and 2001, a total of 205 patients with newly diagnosed non-metastatic renal tumours, of which 186 had Wilms' histologies, were randomly assigned either to immediate surgery or to 6 weeks preoperative chemotherapy and then delayed surgery. Both groups of children received postoperative chemotherapy according to tumour stage and histology determined at the time of nephrectomy. RESULTS: There was a significant improvement in the stage distribution for patients with Wilms' histologies receiving delayed surgery compared to those having immediate nephrectomy (stage I: 65.2% versus 54.3%; stage II: 23.9% versus 14.9%; stage III: 9.8% versus 29.8%, chi2 test for trend=7.02, p=0.008). This improvement resulted in 20% fewer children receiving radiotherapy or doxorubicin yet event-free and overall survivals at 5 years of 79.6% and 89.0%, respectively, were similar in the two groups. CONCLUSION: Six weeks of preoperative chemotherapy with vincristine and actinomycin D results in a significant shift towards a more advantageous stage distribution and hence reduction in therapy, while maintaining excellent event free and overall survival in children with non-metastatic Wilms' tumour. Around 20% of survivors were therefore spared the late-effects of doxorubicin or radiotherapy. Our results suggest that all children with non-metastatic Wilms' tumour should receive chemotherapy prior to tumour resection.

Adolescent↗

A proposal for an international retinoblastoma staging system.

BACKGROUND: Although intra-retinal tumor has long been staged presurgically according to the Reese-Ellsworth (R-E) system, retinoblastoma differs from other pediatric neoplasms in never having had a widely accepted classification system that encompasses the entire spectrum of the disease. Comparisons among studies that consider disease extension, risk factors for extra-ocular relapse, and response to therapy require a universally accepted staging system for extra-ocular disease. PROCEDURE: A committee of retinoblastoma experts from large centers worldwide has developed a consensus classification that can encompass all retinoblastoma cases and is presented herein. Patients are classified according to extent of disease and the presence of overt extra-ocular extension. In addition, a proposal for substaging considering histopathological features of enucleated specimens is presented to further discriminate between Stage I and II patients. RESULTS: The following is a summary of the classification system developed-Stage 0: Patients treated conservatively (subject to presurgical ophthalmologic classifications); Stage I: Eye enucleated, completely resected histologically; Stage II: Eye enucleated, microscopic residual tumor; Stage III: Regional extension [(a) overt orbital disease, (b) preauricular or cervical lymph node extension]; Stage IV: Metastatic disease [(a) hematogenous metastasis: (1) single lesion, (2) multiple lesions; (b) CNS extension: (1) prechiasmatic lesion, (2) CNS mass, (3) leptomeningeal disease]. A proposal is also presented for substaging of enucleated Stages I and II eyes. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed staging system is the product of an international effort to adopt a uniform staging system for patients with retinoblastoma to cover the whole spectrum of the disease.

Humans↗

Molecular subtypes and phenotypic expression of Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome.

Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome (BWS) results from mutations or epigenetic events involving imprinted genes at 11p15.5. Most BWS cases are sporadic and uniparental disomy (UPD) or putative imprinting errors predominate in this group. Sporadic cases with putative imprinting defects may be subdivided into (a) those with loss of imprinting (LOI) of IGF2 and H19 hypermethylation and silencing due to a defect in a distal 11p15.5 imprinting control element (IC1) and (b) those with loss of methylation at KvDMR1, LOI of KCNQ1OT1 (LIT1) and variable LOI of IGF2 in whom there is a defect at a more proximal imprinting control element (IC2). We investigated genotype/epigenotype-phenotype correlations in 200 cases with a confirmed molecular genetic diagnosis of BWS (16 with CDKN1C mutations, 116 with imprinting centre 2 defects, 14 with imprinting centre 1 defects and 54 with UPD). Hemihypertrophy was strongly associated with UPD (P<0.0001) and exomphalos was associated with an IC2 defect or CDKN1C mutation but not UPD or IC1 defect (P<0.0001). When comparing birth weight centile, IC1 defect cases were significantly heavier than the patients with CDKN1C mutations or IC2 defect (P=0.018). The risk of neoplasia was significantly higher in UPD and IC1 defect cases than in IC2 defect and CDKN1C mutation cases. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed a risk of neoplasia for all patients of 9% at age 5 years, but 24% in the UPD subgroup. The risk of Wilms' tumour in the IC2 defect subgroup appears to be minimal and intensive screening for Wilms' tumour appears not to be indicated. In UPD patients, UPD extending to WT1 was associated with renal neoplasia (P=0.054). These findings demonstrate that BWS represents a spectrum of disorders. Identification of the molecular subtype allows more accurate prognostic predictions and enhances the management and surveillance of BWS children such that screening for Wilms' tumour and hepatoblastoma can be focused on those at highest risk.

Alleles↗

Chemosensitivity in pediatric dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans.

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is a rare tumor of fibrohistiocytic spectrum and uncommonly presents in infancy and childhood. The standard treatment is wide-margin surgical excision, but this is difficult to achieve in large tumors and may result in unacceptable cosmetic, structural, and functional consequences. The authors describe a child with recurring DFSP who, after extensive surgery, responded to treatment with vinblastine and oral methotrexate. This is the first reported case in literature of a chemotherapeutic response in pediatric DFSP.

Administration, Oral↗

Multigene methylation analysis of Wilms' tumour and adult renal cell carcinoma.

To investigate the role of epigenetic gene silencing in the pathogenesis of Wilms' tumour and renal cell carcinoma (RCC), we determined their methylation profile using a candidate gene approach. Thus, 40 Wilms' tumours and up to 49 adult RCC were analysed by methylation-specific PCR for promoter methylation at CASP8, CDH1, CDH13, DAPK, MGMT, NORE1A, p14ARF and RARB2 in primary Wilms' tumours and CASP8, CDH1, CDH13, CRBP1, DAPK, MGMT, MT1G, NORE1A, p16INK4a, SDHB and RARB2 in primary RCC. Both tumour sample sets had previously been analysed for RASSF1A promoter methylation, and p16INK4a methylation results were also available for the Wilms' tumour samples. Wilms' tumours demonstrated a high incidence of methylation at CASP8 (43%) and MGMT (30%), intermediate frequencies at NORE1A (15%), p14ARF (15%), p16INK4a (10%), DAPK (11%) and CRBP1 (9%), but promoter methylation was rare or absent at RARB2 (0%), CDH13 (0%) and CDH1 (3%). No association was detected between methylation of RASSF1A, CASP8 or MGMT in individual tumours. The frequency of MGMT methylation was higher in stage 1 and 2 tumours (50%) than in stage 3 and 4 tumours (17%) but this did not reach statistical significance (P=0.06). RCC were most frequently methylated at DAPK (24%), MT1G (20%), NORE1A (19%), CDH1 (16%) and MGMT (9%) and not or rarely at SDHB (4%), RARB2 (0%), p16INK4a (0%) and CDH13 (3%). There were no associations between methylation of RASSF1A, DAPK and CDH1 in individual tumours. Papillary RCC demonstrated a higher frequency of DAPK methylation (43%) than clear cell tumours (19%) (P=0.14). We have demonstrated that de novo promoter methylation is frequent in Wilms' tumour and RCC, and these data enable methylation profiles to be constructed for each tumour type. Thus, combining our results with data published previously, it appears that promoter methylation occurs frequently (> or =20% of primary tumours) at CASP8, SLIT2 and RASSF1A in Wilms' tumour and at RASSF1A, TIMP3, DAPK, SLIT2, MT1G and GSTP1 in RCC.

Carcinoma, Renal Cell↗

Genomic imbalances in pediatric intracranial ependymomas define clinically relevant groups.

The outcome of pediatric ependymomas is difficult to predict based on clinical and histological parameters. To address this issue, we have performed a comparative genomic hybridization screen of 42 primary and 11 recurrent pediatric ependymomas and correlated the genetic findings with clinical outcome. Three distinct genetic patterns were identified in the primary tumors and confirmed by hierarchical cluster analysis. The first group of structural tumors, showed few, mainly partial imbalances (n = 19). A second numerical group showed 13 or more chromosome imbalances with a nonrandom pattern of whole chromosome gains and losses (n = 5). The remaining tumors (n = 18) showed a balanced genetic profile that was significantly associated with a younger age at diagnosis (P < 0.0001), suggesting that ependymomas arising in infants are biologically distinct from those occurring in older children. Multivariate analysis showed that the structural group had a significantly worse outcome compared to tumors with a numerical (P = 0.05) or balanced profile (P = 0.02). Moreover genetic group and extent of surgical resection contributed significantly to outcome whereas histopathology, age, and other clinical parameters did not. We conclude that patterns of genetic imbalances in pediatric intracranial ependymomas may help to predict clinical outcome.

Adolescent↗