Background: Thrombocytosis is triggered by and promotes tumor growth. The relationship between the change in circulating platelets after chemoradiation therapy (CRT) or adjuvant temozolomide (TMZ) and survival in glioblastoma remains unclear. We hypothesized that an increase in platelets after these treatments would be predictive of a shorter survival. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed data on 122 patients with newly diagnosed, pathologically proven glioblastoma who had been treated with surgery, followed by CRT and adjuvant TMZ, from 2007 to 2016. The association between the changes in blood count levels and survival was analyzed by the log-rank test. To adjust for confounding, we performed a multivariate analysis using known prognostic co-variates. Results: Patients were dichotomized on the basis of the relative change in platelets after CRT from the baseline: ≤30% increase, low (n = 101) vs >30% increase, high (n = 12). The median survival for high vs. low platelets were 11 vs 28 months (p = 0.0062). No significant survival differences were observed on the basis of platelet changes during adjuvant TMZ. Similarly, changes in lymphocyte counts were not significantly prognostic. On multivariate analysis, MGMT, performance status, and an increase in platelets after CRT were significantly associated with survival (HR for platelets, 4.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.6-12.6). Conclusions: Increased platelet counts after CRT are predictive of poor survival in glioblastoma. The effect is platelet specific and does not reflect bone marrow changes, as lymphocyte changes were not significantly prognostic. These results suggest an interaction between platelets and tumor aggressiveness. Thus, platelets serve as a novel, minimally invasive liquid biopsy for predicting outcome.

Our data suggest that deregulation of proapoptotic FOXO3 represents a central step in PI3K/Akt-mediated thyroid carcinogenesis. Thus, SS might represent an attractive pharmacological tool for targeting thyroid neoplasia with aberrant PI3K/Akt/FOXO3 signaling.

The prognostic value of p53 and p21 expression in colorectal cancer is still under debate. We hypothesize that the prognostic impact of p53 expression is dependent on p21 status. The expression of p53 and p21 was immunohistochemically investigated in a prospective cohort of 116 patients with UICC stage II and III sporadic colorectal cancer. The results were correlated with overall and recurrence-free survival. The mean observation period was 51.8 ± 2.5 months. Expression of p53 was observed in 72 tumors (63%). Overall survival was significantly better in patients with p53-positive carcinomas than in those without p53 expression (p = 0.048). No differences were found in recurrence-free survival (p = 0.161). The p53+/p21− combination was seen in 68% (n = 49), the p53+/p21+ combination in 32% (n = 23). Patients with p53+/p21− carcinomas had significantly better overall and recurrence-free survival than those with p53+/p21+ (p < 0.0001 resp. p = 0.003). Our data suggest that the prognostic impact of p53 expression on sporadic colorectal cancer is dependent on p21 status.