UCL Discovery Stage
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery Stage

High EMSY expression defines a BRCA-like subgroup of high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma with prolonged survival and hypersensitivity to platinum

Hollis, RL; Churchman, M; Michie, CO; Rye, T; Knight, L; McCavigan, A; Perren, T; ... Gourley, C; + view all (2019) High EMSY expression defines a BRCA-like subgroup of high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma with prolonged survival and hypersensitivity to platinum. Cancer 10.1002/cncr.32079. (In press). Green open access

[thumbnail of Hollis_et_al-2019-Cancer.pdf]
Preview
Text
Hollis_et_al-2019-Cancer.pdf - Published Version

Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Approximately half of high-grade serous ovarian carcinomas (HGSOCs) demonstrate homologous recombination repair (HR) pathway defects, resulting in a distinct clinical phenotype comprising hypersensitivity to platinum, superior clinical outcome, and greater sensitivity to poly(adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. EMSY, which is known to be amplified in breast and ovarian cancers, encodes a protein reported to bind and inactivate BRCA2. Thus, EMSY overexpression may mimic BRCA2 mutation, resulting in HR deficiency. However, to our knowledge, the phenotypic consequences of EMSY overexpression in HGSOC patients has not been explored. METHODS: Here we investigate the impact of EMSY expression on clinical outcome and sensitivity to platinum-based chemotherapy using available data from transcriptomically characterized HGSOC cohorts. RESULTS: High EMSY expression was associated with better clinical outcome in a cohort of 265 patients with HGSOC from Edinburgh (overall survival multivariable hazard ratio, 0.58 [95% CI, 0.38-0.88; P = .011] and progression-free survival multivariable hazard ratio, 0.62 [95% CI, 0.40-0.96; P = .030]). Superior outcome also was demonstrated in the Medical Research Council ICON7 clinical trial and multiple publicly available data sets. Patients within the Edinburgh cohort who had high EMSY expression were found to demonstrate greater rates of complete response to multiple platinum-containing chemotherapy regimens (radiological complete response rate of 44.4% vs 12.5% at second exposure; P = .035) and corresponding prolonged time to disease progression (median, 151.5 days vs 60.5 days after third platinum exposure; P = .004). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with HGSOCs demonstrating high EMSY expression appear to experience prolonged survival and greater platinum sensitivity, reminiscent of BRCA-mutant cases. These data are consistent with the notion that EMSY overexpression may render HGSOCs HR deficient.

Type: Article
Title: High EMSY expression defines a BRCA-like subgroup of high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma with prolonged survival and hypersensitivity to platinum
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1002/cncr.32079
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.32079
Language: English
Additional information: © 2019 University of Edinburgh. Cancer published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Cancer Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords: EMSY, homologous recombination, ovarian cancer, platinum response, survival
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Inst of Clinical Trials and Methodology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Inst of Clinical Trials and Methodology > MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL
URI: https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10076193
Downloads since deposit
7,600Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item