Abstract: Chronic kidney disease with reduced estimated glomerular filtration rate or elevated albuminuria increases risk for ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. This study assessed the effects of sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) on stroke and atrial fibrillation/flutter (AF/AFL) from CREDENCE (Canagliflozin and Renal Events in Diabetes With Established Nephropathy Clinical Evaluation) and a meta-analysis of large cardiovascular outcome trials (CVOTs) of SGLT2i in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods: CREDENCE randomized 4401 participants with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease to canagliflozin or placebo. Post hoc, we estimated effects on fatal or nonfatal stroke, stroke subtypes, and intermediate markers of stroke risk including AF/AFL. Stroke and AF/AFL data from 3 other completed large CVOTs and CREDENCE were pooled using random-effects meta-analysis. Results: In CREDENCE, 142 participants experienced a stroke during follow-up (10.9/1000 patient-years with canagliflozin, 14.2/1000 patient-years with placebo; hazard ratio [HR], 0.77 [95% CI, 0.55–1.08] ). Effects by stroke subtypes were: ischemic (HR, 0.88 [95% CI, 0.61–1.28]; n=111), hemorrhagic (HR, 0.50 [95% CI, 0.19–1.32] ; n=18), and undetermined (HR, 0.54 [95% CI, 0.20–1.46]; n=17). There was no clear effect on AF/AFL (HR, 0.76 [95% CI, 0.53–1.10] ; n=115). The overall effects in the 4 CVOTs combined were: total stroke (HR pooled , 0.96 [95% CI, 0.82–1.12]), ischemic stroke (HR pooled , 1.01 [95% CI, 0.89–1.14]), hemorrhagic stroke (HR pooled , 0.50 [95% CI, 0.30–0.83]), undetermined stroke (HR pooled , 0.86 [95% CI, 0.49–1.51]), and AF/AFL (HR pooled , 0.81 [95% CI, 0.71–0.93]). There was evidence that SGLT2i effects on total stroke varied by baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate ( P =0.01), with protection in the lowest estimated glomerular filtration rate ( 〈 45 mL/min/1.73 m 2 ]) subgroup (HR pooled , 0.50 [95% CI, 0.31–0.79]). Conclusions: Although we found no clear effect of SGLT2i on total stroke in CREDENCE or across trials combined, there was some evidence of benefit in preventing hemorrhagic stroke and AF/AFL, as well as total stroke for those with lowest estimated glomerular filtration rate. Future research should focus on confirming these data and exploring potential mechanisms. Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov ; Unique identifier: NCT02065791.

Abstract: Prolonging survival in good health is a fundamental societal goal. However, the leading determinants of disability-free survival in healthy older people have not been well established. Data from ASPREE, a bi-national placebo-controlled trial of aspirin with 4.7 years median follow-up, was analysed. At enrolment, participants were healthy and without prior cardiovascular events, dementia or persistent physical disability. Disability-free survival outcome was defined as absence of dementia, persistent disability or death. Selection of potential predictors from amongst 25 biomedical, psychosocial and lifestyle variables including recognized geriatric risk factors, utilizing a machine-learning approach. Separate models were developed for men and women. The selected predictors were evaluated in a multivariable Cox proportional hazards model and validated internally by bootstrapping. We included 19,114 Australian and US participants aged ≥65 years (median 74 years, IQR 71.6–77.7). Common predictors of a worse prognosis in both sexes included higher age, lower Modified Mini-Mental State Examination score, lower gait speed, lower grip strength and abnormal (low or elevated) body mass index. Additional risk factors for men included current smoking, and abnormal eGFR. In women, diabetes and depression were additional predictors. The biased-corrected areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves for the final prognostic models at 5 years were 0.72 for men and 0.75 for women. Final models showed good calibration between the observed and predicted risks. We developed a prediction model in which age, cognitive function and gait speed were the strongest predictors of disability-free survival in healthy older people. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01038583)

Abstract: Over the past decade, metabolic engineering has emerged as an active and distinct discipline characterized by its over-arching emphasis on integration. In practice, metabolic engineering is the directed improvement of cellular properties through the application of modern genetic methods. The concept of metabolic regulations deals with the varied and innumerable metabolic pathways that are present in the human body. A combination of such metabolic reactions paves the way to the proper functioning of different physiological and biological processes. Dealing with the adversities of a disease, engineering of novel metabolic pathways showcases the potential of metabolic engineering and its application in the therapeutic treatment of diseases. A proper and deeper understanding of the metabolic functions in the human body can be known from simulated yeast models. This review gives a brief understanding about the interactions between the molecular set of metabolome and its complexity.

Abstract: Follicular Lymphoma (FL) is the most common indolent lymphoma derived from light zone germinal center B cells and characterized by a t(14;18) translocation resulting in upregulation of BCL2 in over 80% of cases. This translocation alone is not sufficient for tumorogenesis, and must be combined with additional genetic mutations to transform B cells. FL is incurable and the disease course can be highly varied, with survival ranging from a few months to decades following diagnosis and treatment with standard chemoimmunotherapy. The heterogeneity of FL poses major challenges to identifying the association of genetic alterations and clinical outcome. Current WHO guidelines recommend establishing grade for each FL case with grade 3 thought to be more aggressive than 1 and 2. The genetic basis and clinical implications of grade in FL are unclear. Recent sequencing studies have identified many genes found to be recurrently mutated in FL including KMT2D and CREBBP. However, the degree to which genetic alterations cooperate with each other or contribute to clinical outcome is unclear. Based on the observed mutational rates in follicular lymphoma, we estimated 900 cases were needed to comprehensively delineate the genetic alterations that underlie histologic grade and clinical outcome. Accordingly, we enrolled a cohort of 1042 patients with newly diagnosed FL. All treated patients received rituximab-containing standard regimens. To go beyond the identification of gene-coding events, we developed a very large panel of 110 Mbp covering exonic (~40Mbp) and non-exonic regions (~70Mbp) of interest to enable a wide range of genomic analysis including mutation calling in both coding and non-coding regions, rearrangement detection, viral identification, and copy number analysis. In addition to the whole exome, we extended coverage to include introns, promoters, and untranslated regions of all known driver genes in cancer. We included the entirety of the immunoglobulin loci, T-cell receptor loci and CD3 loci to detect clonotypes and rearrangements. We also included lymphoma-relevant long non-coding RNAs, microRNAs, enhancers, and breakpoint-prone regions. For viral detection, we targeted the genomes of eight cancer-related viruses: Epstein-Barr virus, human papillomavirus, human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, human T-lymphotropic virus, and Merkel cell polyomavirus. In addition, to enable high resolution identification of copy number variation (CNV) calls, the entire genome was tiled with probes spaced 10kb apart. DNA and RNA were extracted from all tumors and their paired normal samples, prepared into DNA and RNA sequencing libraries and subjected to sequencing on the Illumina platform to a targeted coverage of 150X. Somatic events were identified and further filtered to identify driver events in both coding and non-coding regions. FLs demonstrated a significant degree of genetic heterogeneity with over 100 genes mutated with a frequency of at least 2%. Nearly 100% of FL cases had a mutation in at least one chromatin-modifying gene. The most frequently mutated genes in follicular lymphoma were KMT2D, BCL2, IGLL5 and CREBBP. In addition, we identified frequent mutations in SPEN, BIRC6 and SETD2. To our knowledge, this is the first description of alterations in these genes in FL. Transcriptome analysis indicated a strong correlation between BIRC6 mutations and the previously described immune response 2 signature that is associated with a poor prognosis. We further performed unbiased clustering of genetic alterations in these FL cases. We identified a cluster that was specifically enriched in BCL6 and TP53 alterations and was strongly associated with grade 3 FLs which are predicted to have poorer outcomes with low intensity therapies. We further examined the genetic profiles of 1001 DLBCLs in comparison to this cohort of FLs. Our data indicate a continuum of highly overlapping genetic alterations with DLBCL displaying more complex patterns that included alterations in MYC, TP53 and CDKN2A (mainly copy number losses), indicating shared pathogenetic mechanisms underlying FL and DLBCL, particularly those germinal center B cell origin. Disclosures Koff: Burroughs Wellcome Fund: Research Funding; V Foundation: Research Funding; Lymphoma Research Foundation: Research Funding; American Association for Cancer Research: Research Funding. Leppä:Roche: Honoraria, Research Funding; Takeda: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Bayer: Research Funding; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Janssen-Cilag: Research Funding; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Gang:ROCHE: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Hsi:Abbvie: Research Funding; Eli Lilly: Research Funding; Cleveland Clinic & Abbvie Biotherapeutics Inc: Patents & Royalties: US8,603,477 B2; Jazz: Consultancy. Flowers:AbbVie: Consultancy, Research Funding; Denovo Biopharma: Consultancy; BeiGene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Burroughs Wellcome Fund: Research Funding; Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group: Research Funding; National Cancer Institute: Research Funding; V Foundation: Research Funding; Optimum Rx: Consultancy; Millenium/Takeda: Research Funding; TG Therapeutics: Research Funding; Gilead: Consultancy, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Karyopharm: Consultancy; AstraZeneca: Consultancy; Pharmacyclics/Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Spectrum: Consultancy; Bayer: Consultancy; Acerta: Research Funding; Genentech, Inc./F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Consultancy, Research Funding. Neff:Enzyvant: Consultancy; EUSA Pharma: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Fedoriw:Alexion Pharmaceuticals: Other: Consultant and Speaker. Reddy:Genentech: Research Funding; BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy; KITE Pharma: Consultancy; Abbvie: Consultancy. Mason:Sysmex: Honoraria. Behdad:Loxo-Bayer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Thermo Fisher: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Pfizer: Other: Speaker. Burton:Bristol-Myers Squibb: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Roche: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Dave:Data Driven Bioscience: Equity Ownership.

Abstract: Introduction Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), the most common lymphoma world-wide, is strikingly heterogeneous. This heterogeneity creates a daunting challenge for conducting well-powered studies connecting molecular features to clinical outcome. Not only is the association of genetic mutations with clinical outcome in DLBCL mostly unknown, the relative importance of other well-described features, such as MYC and BCL2 translocation/expression and cell of origin based subsets (ABC and GCB DLBCL), is difficult to interpret due to conflicting reports. We sought to comprehensively define the spectrum of genetic mutations and their association with clinical outcome in DLBCL. Our calculations indicated that 500 tumor-normal pairs would provide 95% power to define mutations occurring in at least 5% of patients, and that 800 cases would be required to define the clinical correlations with cross-validation. Methods We enrolled 1001 de novo DLBCL patients, with complete IPI and survival data, who were treated uniformly with standard rituximab and anthracycline containing regimens. All tumors were subjected to whole exome and transcriptome sequencing (RNAseq), as well as SNP arrays to confirm genetic alterations. ABC (38%) and GCB DLBCL (36%) subtypes were defined using microarrays and RNAseq in these patients to examine subgroup-based differences in mutations and outcome. MYC and BCL2 expression were quantified separately. Results Gene discovery analysis of somatic mutations and copy number alterations in exome sequencing data from 502 tumor-normal pairs of DLBCL identified 197 recurrently mutated genes, including 155 genes previously identified to be mutated in DLBCLs. In addition, our study uncovered 42 novel driver genes in DLBCL (e.g. BTK, SPEN, CD70). Exome sequencing results were validated by Sanger sequencing of 1120 variants with over 90% concordance. We also identified copy number alterations in these genes, with strong agreement (90%) of amplifications and/or deletions to those detected on Illumina high resolution SNP microarrays. These 197 genes were found to comprise 15 functionally related subnetworks, including those related to histone modification, NFkB, B cell receptor, PI3K and cell cycle (Figure 1). Within each subnetwork, the vast majority of the gene alterations occurred in a mutually exclusive (P 〈 10-3) fashion in patterns consistent with their described functions within the subnetworks. For instance, among genes comprising the NFkB subnetwork, positive regulators of the pathway such as MYD88 and CARD11 showed activating patterns (copy number gains and recurrent hotspot mutations), whereas negative regulators such as TNFAIP3, NFKBIE, and NFKBIA were inactivated through genetic deletions or frequent nonsense or frameshift mutations. We examined the associations between the mutations and clinical outcome in all 1001 patients. All survival analyses were conducted using nearly equally split training and validation sets, corrected for multiple comparisons with significance of P 〈 0.01 in the validation set (Figure 2). The cell of origin classification was strongly associated with survival in our cases and was independent of MYC and BCL2 co-expression, which was separately associated with survival (Figure 2A). Figure 2B shows hazard ratios for select genes, as well as associated Kaplan-Meier survival curves for a subset of those genes. We further identified combinations of different genetic and expression features that point to context dependence for survival associations (Figure 2C). For instance, mutations in KLHL14 were associated with a particularly poor prognosis in ABC DLBCL, while CREBBP mutations in ABC DLBCL patients were associated with better prognosis than average GCB DLBCLs. Mutations in EZH2 and CD70 were associated with a highly favorable prognosis within the GCB DLBCL subgroup. TP53 mutations were found to be prognostic only in the presence of MLL2 mutations and high BCL2 expression. Importantly, these risk groups are mutually exclusive and inform clinical outcome significantly better than existing metrics. Conclusion To our knowledge, this is the largest whole exome sequencing study in any single cancer. Our study answers many long-standing questions in the disease, informing a comprehensive understanding of genetic drivers of DLBCL, their organization into pathways, and their relationship to clinical outcome. Disclosures Leppä: Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel expenses, Research Funding; Takeda Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel expenses; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; CTI Bio Pharma: Consultancy; Mundipharma: Research Funding; Bayer: Other: Travel expenses, Research Funding. Flowers:ECOG: Research Funding; Gilead: Consultancy, Research Funding; Millenium/Takeda: Research Funding; Pharmacyclics, LLC, an AbbVie Company: Research Funding; TG Therapeutics: Research Funding; Mayo Clinic: Research Funding; NIH: Research Funding; Infinity: Research Funding; AbbVie: Research Funding; Genentech: Consultancy, Research Funding; Roche: Consultancy, Research Funding; Acerta: Research Funding. Hsi:Seattle Genetics: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; HTG Molecular Diagnostics: Consultancy, Honoraria; Eli Lilly: Research Funding; Cellerant Therapeutics: Honoraria, Research Funding; Abbvie: Honoraria, Research Funding. Evens:Takeda: Other: Advisory board. Reddy:GILEAD: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; INFINITY: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; KITE: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.