Joaquim Majo

Publications (4)22.33 Total impact

• Article: Clinical significance of hypoxia-inducible factor-1a messenger RNA expression in locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer after platinum agent and gemcitabine chemotherapy followed by surgery.

  Enriqueta Felip, Miquel Taron, Rafael Rosell, Pedro Mendez, Cristina Queralt, Maria Sanchez Ronco, Jose Javier Sanchez, Jose Miguel Sanchez, Jose Maestre, Joaquim Majo
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  ABSTRACT: Hypoxia-inducible factor-1a (HIF-1a) is a key regulator of the angiogenic cascade. This study analyzed HIF-1a messenger RNA expression levels using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in paraffin-embedded surgical specimens from 54 stage IIB-III patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with induction platinum/gemcitabine followed by surgery between September 1998 and December 2002. Radiographic response was observed in 61% of patients. Median survival was 37.8 months. Forty-five patients with complete resection attained a 52-month median survival, whereas 8 patients with incomplete resection had a 12-month median survival, and 1 unresectable patient had a survival of 14 months. No significant differences were observed in overall survival (OS) or event-free survival (EFS) according to HIF-1a expression levels. Patients were divided into quartiles according to HIF-1a gene expression levels. Median EFS for the 13 patients in the lowest quartile has not been reached yet, whereas median EFS for the 13 patients in the top quartile was 9 months (P = 0.192). Similarly, median OS for the 13 patients in the lowest quartile has not been reached yet, whereas median OS for the 13 patients in the top quartile was 52 months (P = 0.297). The cisplatin/gemcitabine combination is highly active in neoadjuvant treatment. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1a expression levels analyzed by real-time quantitative PCR in surgery specimens after platinum/gemcitabine therapy do not correlate with the outcome of patients with stage II/III NSCLC.
  Clinical Lung Cancer 04/2005; 6(5):299-303. · 2.94 Impact Factor
• Article: Tuberculosis in lung transplant recipients.

  Carlos Bravo, Juan Roldán, Antonio Roman, Javier Degracia, Joaquim Majo, Javier Guerra, Víctor Monforte, Rafael Vidal, Ferran Morell
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  ABSTRACT: Post-lung transplant infection is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. The cause and incidence are similar in many series; however, infections such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis are influenced by the epidemiologic situation. The authors present a prospective and observational study to define the incidence, clinical presentation, and course of tuberculosis in a cohort of lung transplant patients at a single center in Spain. Between 1990 and 2002, cutaneous delayed-type hypersensitivity testing and pathologic and microbiologic study of explanted lungs were conducted in 187 lung transplant patients. Serial bronchoscopies with transbronchial biopsy and bronchioalveolar lavage were performed during follow-up. The diagnosis of tuberculosis was established only when M. tuberculosis was identified in any sample or when histopathologic study was conclusive. Forty-eight patients were classified as anergic (25.6%) and 61 (32.6%) were classified as having a positive tuberculin skin test. Of the 109 patients, 95 received latent tuberculosis infection prophylaxis. Tuberculosis was diagnosed in 12 patients (6.41%); in six of them, diagnosis was determined from the explanted lungs. The remainder were diagnosed during follow-up. Fever and dyspnea were the most common symptoms. Chest radiographic findings presented an alveolar pattern. All patients responded well to antituberculous therapy; no deaths were attributable to tuberculosis. In the authors' experience, tuberculosis is not rare in lung transplant patients and can be managed successfully with antituberculous therapy without rifampin. A systematic protocol for diagnosing tuberculosis of the explanted lung is useful for reducing tuberculous complications of the implanted lung.
  Transplantation 02/2005; 79(1):59-64. · 4.00 Impact Factor
• Article: BRCA1 mRNA expression levels as an indicator of chemoresistance in lung cancer.

  Miquel Taron, Rafael Rosell, Enriqueta Felip, Pedro Mendez, John Souglakos, Maria Sanchez Ronco, Cristina Queralt, Joaquim Majo, Jose Miguel Sanchez, Jose Javier Sanchez, Jose Maestre
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  ABSTRACT: Lung cancer is the most common cancer, with dismal outcome. Treatment approaches, including cisplatin-based chemotherapy and surgery, are currently based on the clinical classification of the tumor, without genetic assessment for predicting differential chemosensitivity. BRCA1 plays a central role in DNA repair, and decreased BRCA1 mRNA expression in the human breast cancer HCC1937 cell line caused cisplatin hypersensitivity, but the relation between BRCA1 and survival in lung cancer patients has never been examined. We used real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction to determine BRCA1 mRNA levels in 55 surgically resected tumors of non-small-cell lung cancer patients who had received neoadjuvant gemcitabine/cisplatin chemotherapy, and divided the gene expression values into quartiles. When results were correlated with outcome, two cut-offs were observed; patients with levels <0.61 had better outcome, and those >2.45 had poorer outcome. Median survival was not reached for the 15 patients in the bottom quartile, whereas for the 28 in the two middle quartiles, it was 37.8 months (95% CI, 10.6-65), and for the 12 patients in the top quartile, it was 12.7 months (95% CI, 0.28-28.8) (P=0.01). Moreover, when patients were stratified by pathologic stage, those in the bottom quartile had a decreased risk of death (HR=0.206; 95% CI, 0.05-0.83; P=0.026) compared with those in the top quartile, and those in the two middle quartiles also had a decreased risk of death (HR=0.294; 95% CI, 0.10-0.83; P=0.020) compared with those in the top quartile. BRCA1 expression is potentially an important tool for use in cancer management and should be assessed for predicting differential chemosensitivity and tailoring chemotherapy in lung cancer.
  Human Molecular Genetics 10/2004; 13(20):2443-9. · 7.64 Impact Factor
• Article: Gene expression as a predictive marker of outcome in stage IIB-IIIA-IIIB non-small cell lung cancer after induction gemcitabine-based chemotherapy followed by resectional surgery.

  Rafael Rosell, Enriqueta Felip, Miquel Taron, Joaquim Majo, Pedro Mendez, Maria Sanchez-Ronco, Cristina Queralt, Jose Javier Sanchez, Jose Maestre
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  ABSTRACT: The first suggestions of a relationship between gene mRNA expression and differential sensitivity to gemcitabine/cisplatin are now emerging. ERCC1, RRM1, and XPD are involved in the nucleotide excision repair pathways, and tumor up-regulation of these genes leads to chemotherapy failure. In the present study, we have examined the potential correlation and predictive value of ERCC1, RRM1, and XPD mRNA expression in resected specimens from 67 stage IIB, IIIA, and IIIB non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant gemcitabine/platinum followed by surgery. ERCC1, RRM1, and XPD expression was quantified using real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR. A good correlation was found between mRNA expression levels of the three genes. For RRM1 levels, patients in the bottom quartile had a decreased risk of death compared with those in the top quartile (risk ratio = 0.30; P = 0.033). Median survival for the 17 patients in the bottom quartile was 52 months, whereas for the 15 in the top quartile, it was 26 months (P = 0.018). When the characteristics of these 17 patients were compared with all of the other 50 patients, no differences in initial staging were observed. However, the 17 patients in the bottom quartile had better outcomes, including more radiographic responses (65% versus 54%; P = 0.24), complete resections (94% versus 72%; P = 0.03), lobectomies (71% versus 34%; P = 0.004), and pathological complete responses (29% versus 0%; P = 0.00001). Patients with RRM1 levels in the bottom quartile benefited significantly from gemcitabine/cisplatin neoadjuvant chemotherapy, leading us to conclude that RRM1 mRNA levels should be additionally validated to proceed with tailored chemotherapy.
  Clinical Cancer Research 07/2004; 10(12 Pt 2):4215s-4219s. · 7.74 Impact Factor