Adrenocortical carcinoma is a rare malignancy with poor prognosis and limited response to chemotherapy. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and its receptor cMET augment cancer growth and resistance to chemotherapy, but their role in adrenocortical carcinoma has not been examined. In this study, we investigated the association between HGF/cMET expression and cancer hallmarks of adrenocortical carcinoma. Transcriptomic and immunohistochemical analyses indicated that increased HGF/cMET expression in human adrenocortical carcinoma samples was positively associated with cancer-related biologic processes, including proliferation and angiogenesis, and negatively correlated with apoptosis. Accordingly, treatment of adrenocortical carcinoma cells with exogenous HGF resulted in increased cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo while short hairpin RNA–mediated knockdown or pharmacologic inhibition of cMET suppressed cell proliferation and tumor growth. Moreover, exposure of cells to mitotane, cisplatin, or radiation rapidly induced pro-cMET expression and was associated with an enrichment of genes (e.g., CYP450 family) related to therapy resistance, further implicating cMET in the anticancer drug response. Together, these data suggest an important role for HGF/cMET signaling in adrenocortical carcinoma growth and resistance to commonly used treatments. Targeting cMET, alone or in combination with other drugs, could provide a breakthrough in the management of this aggressive cancer. Cancer Res; 75(19); 1–12. ©2015 AACR.

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare malignancy with poor prognosis and limited response to chemotherapy. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and its receptor cMET augment cancer growth and resistance to chemotherapy, but their role in ACC has not been examined. In this study, we investigated the association between HGF/cMET expression and cancer hallmarks of ACC. Transcriptomic and immunohistochemical analyses indicated that increased HGF/cMET expression in human ACC samples was positively associated with cancer-related biological processes including proliferation and angiogenesis, and negatively correlated with apoptosis. Accordingly, treatment of ACC cells with exogenous HCG resulted in increased cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo while short hairpin RNA-mediated knockdown or pharmacological inhibition of cMET suppressed cell proliferation and tumor growth. Moreover, exposure of cells to mitotane, cisplatin, or radiation rapidly induced pro-cMET expression and was associated with an enrichment of genes (e.g., CYP450 family) related to therapy resistance further implicating cMET in the anticancer drug response. Together, these data suggest an important role for HGF/cMET signaling in ACC growth and resistance to commonly used treatments. Targeting cMET, alone or in combination with other drugs, could provide a breakthrough in the management of this aggressive cancer.

High grade gliomas (HGG) are classified into four subgroups based on transcriptional signatures and phenotypic characteristics. In particular, the proneural-to-mesenchymal transition (PMT) is associated with increased malignancy, poor prognosis, and disease recurrence, but the underlying causes of PMT are still unclear. In this study, we investigated whether radiotherapy promotes PMT using a genetically engineered mouse model of proneural HGG. We found that cranial ionizing radiation induced robust and durable PMT in tumors. Additionally, we isolated primary proneural HGG cells from mouse and human tumors and demonstrate that radiation induced a sustained cell-intrinsic mesenchymal transition associated with increased invasiveness and resistance to the alkylating agent temozolomide. Expectedly, irradiation-induced PMT was also associated with activation of the STAT3 transcription factor, and the combination of STAT3 blockade using JAK2 inhibitors with radiation abrogated the mesenchymal transition and extended survival of mice. Taken together, our data suggest that clinical JAK2 inhibitors should be tested in conjunction with radiation in patients with proneural HGG as a new strategy for blocking the emergence of therapy-resistant mesenchymal tumors at relapse.

Colon cancer patients who were heavy coffee drinkers had a far lower risk of dying or having their cancer return than those who did not drink coffee.

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