Jacqueline Whang-Peng

Bio: Jacqueline Whang-Peng is an academic researcher from National Health Research Institutes. The author has contributed to research in topics: Lung cancer & Chemotherapy. The author has an hindex of 31, co-authored 98 publications receiving 5060 citations. Previous affiliations of Jacqueline Whang-Peng include National Yang-Ming University & National Taiwan University.

Nodal dissection for patients with gastric cancer: a randomised controlled trial

Abstract: Summary Background The survival benefit and morbidity after nodal dissection for gastric cancer remains controversial. We aimed to do a single-institution randomised trial to compare D1 (ie, level 1) lymphadenectomy with that of D3 (ie, levels 1, 2, and 3) dissection for gastric cancer in terms of overall survival and disease-free survival. Methods From Oct 7, 1993, to Aug 12, 1999, 335 patients were registered. 221 patients were eligible, 110 of whom were randomly assigned D1 surgery and 111 of whom were randomly assigned D3 surgery, both with curative intent. Three participating surgeons had done at least 25 independent D3 dissections before the start of the trial, and every procedure was verified by pathological analyses. The primary endpoints were 5-year overall survival and 5-year disease-free survival. We also analysed risk of recurrence. Main analyses were done by intention to treat. This trial is registered at the US National Institute of Health website http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/NCT00260884. Findings Median follow-up for the 110 (50%) survivors was 94·5 months (range 62·9–135·1). Overall 5-year survival was significantly higher in patients assigned D3 surgery than in those assigned D1 surgery (59·5% [95% CI 50·3–68·7] vs 53·6% [44·2–63·0]; difference beteween groups 5·9% [−7·3 to 19·1], log-rank p=0·041). 215 patients who had R0 resection (ie, no microscopic evidence of residual disease) had recurrence at 5 years of 50·6% [41·1–60·2] for D1 surgery and 40·3% [30·9–49·7] for D3 surgery (difference between groups 10·3% [−3·2 to 23·7], log-rank p=0·197). Interpretation D3 nodal dissection, compared with that of D1, offers a survival benefit for patients with gastric cancer when done by well trained, experienced surgeons.

PIK3CA as an oncogene in cervical cancer

Abstract: Amplification of chromosome arm 3q is the most consistent aberration in cervical cancer, and is implicated in the progression of dysplastic uterine cervical cells into invasive cancer. The present study employed the ‘positional candidate gene’ strategy to determine the contribution of PIK3CA, which is located in 3q26.3, in cervical tumorigenesis. PIK3CA is known to be involved in the PI 3-kinase/AKT signaling pathway, which plays an important role in regulating cell growth and apoptosis. The results of comparative genomic hybridization show that the 3q26.3 amplification was the most consistent chromosomal aberration in primary tissues of cervical carcinoma, and a positive correlation between an increased copy number of PIK3CA (detected by competitive PCR) and 3q26.3 amplification was found in tumor tissues and in cervical cancer cell lines. In cervical cancer cell lines harboring amplified PIK3CA, the expression of gene product (p110α) of PIK3CA was increased, and was subsequently associated with high kinase activity. In addition, transformation phenotypes in these lines, including increased cell growth and decreased apoptosis, were found to be significantly affected by the treatment of specific PI 3-kinase inhibitor, suggesting that increased expression of PIK3CA in cervical cancer may result in promoting cell proliferation and reducing apoptosis. These evidences support that PIK3CA is an oncogene in cervical cancer and PIK3CA amplification may be linked to cervical tumorigenesis.

Selection of DDX5 as a novel internal control for Q-RT-PCR from microarray data using a block bootstrap re-sampling scheme

Abstract: The development of microarrays permits us to monitor transcriptomes on a genome-wide scale. To validate microarray measurements, quantitative-real time-reverse transcription PCR (Q-RT-PCR) is one of the most robust and commonly used approaches. The new challenge in gene quantification analysis is how to explicitly incorporate statistical estimation in such studies. In the realm of statistical analysis, the various available methods of the probe level normalization for microarray analysis may result in distinctly different target selections and variation in the scores for the correlation between microarray and Q-RT-PCR. Moreover, it remains a major challenge to identify a proper internal control for Q-RT-PCR when confirming microarray measurements. Sixty-six Affymetrix microarray slides using lung adenocarcinoma tissue RNAs were analyzed by a statistical re-sampling method in order to detect genes with minimal variation in gene expression. By this approach, we identified DDX5 as a novel internal control for Q-RT-PCR. Twenty-three genes, which were differentially expressed between adjacent normal and tumor samples, were selected and analyzed using 24 paired lung adenocarcinoma samples by Q-RT-PCR using two internal controls, DDX5 and GAPDH. The percentage correlation between Q-RT-PCR and microarray were 70% and 48% by using DDX5 and GAPDH as internal controls, respectively. Together, these quantification strategies for Q-RT-PCR data processing procedure, which focused on minimal variation, ought to significantly facilitate internal control evaluation and selection for Q-RT-PCR when corroborating microarray data.

Robust enumeration of cell subsets from tissue expression profiles

Abstract: We introduce CIBERSORT, a method for characterizing cell composition of complex tissues from their gene expression profiles When applied to enumeration of hematopoietic subsets in RNA mixtures from fresh, frozen and fixed tissues, including solid tumors, CIBERSORT outperformed other methods with respect to noise, unknown mixture content and closely related cell types CIBERSORT should enable large-scale analysis of RNA mixtures for cellular biomarkers and therapeutic targets (http://cibersortstanfordedu/)

Comparative analysis of mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow, umbilical cord blood, or adipose tissue.

Abstract: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represent a promising tool for new clinical concepts in supporting cellular therapy. Bone marrow (BM) was the first source reported to contain MSCs. However, for clinical use, BM may be detrimental due to the highly invasive donation procedure and the decline in MSC number and differentiation potential with increasing age. More recently, umbilical cord blood (UCB), attainable by a less invasive method, was introduced as an alternative source for MSCs. Another promising source is adipose tissue (AT). We compared MSCs derived from these sources regarding morphology, the success rate of isolating MSCs, colony frequency, expansion potential, multiple differentiation capacity, and immune phenotype. No significant differences concerning the morphology and immune phenotype of the MSCs derived from these sources were obvious. Differences could be observed concerning the success rate of isolating MSCs, which was 100% for BM and AT, but only 63% for UCB. The colony frequency was lowest in UCB, whereas it was highest in AT. However, UCB-MSCs could be cultured longest and showed the highest proliferation capacity, whereas BM-MSCs possessed the shortest culture period and the lowest proliferation capacity. Most strikingly, UCB-MSCs showed no adipogenic differentiation capacity, in contrast to BM- and AT-MSCs. Both UCB and AT are attractive alternatives to BM in isolating MSC: AT as it contains MSCs at the highest frequency and UCB as it seems to be expandable to higher numbers.

The evolution of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases as regulators of growth and metabolism

Abstract: Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases (PI3Ks) evolved from a single enzyme that regulates vesicle trafficking in unicellular eukaryotes into a family of enzymes that regulate cellular metabolism and growth in multicellular organisms. In this review, we examine how the PI3K pathway has evolved to control these fundamental processes, and how this pathway is in turn regulated by intricate feedback and crosstalk mechanisms. In light of the recent advances in our understanding of the function of PI3Ks in the pathogenesis of diabetes and cancer, we discuss the exciting therapeutic opportunities for targeting this pathway to treat these diseases.

Epidermal growth factor receptor mutations in lung cancer

Abstract: The development and clinical application of inhibitors that target the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) provide important insights for new lung cancer therapies, as well as for the broader field of targeted cancer therapies. We review the results of genetic, biochemical and clinical studies focused on somatic mutations of EGFR that are associated with the phenomenon of oncogene addiction, describing 'oncogenic shock' as a mechanistic explanation for the apoptosis that follows the acute treatment of susceptible cells with kinase inhibitors. Understanding the genetic heterogeneity of epithelial tumours and devising strategies to circumvent their rapid acquisition of resistance to targeted kinase inhibitors are essential to the successful use of targeted therapies in common epithelial cancers.