Role of serum Metadherin mRNA expression in the diagnosis and prediction of survival in patients with colorectal cancer

A study on the correlation of Doppler ultrasound in the diagnosis of cervical lymph nodes in patients with laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers: An observational study

The objective was to assess the diagnostic efficacy of Doppler ultrasound in detecting cervical lymph nodes in patients diagnosed with laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers. Patients undergoing surgery for laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers in the Otolaryngology Department from January 2021 to January 2023 were included. Two groups, with equal numbers, underwent ultrasound examination and intensive CT examination in the experimental and control groups, respectively, along with routine cervical lymph node dissection. A resident with over 6 years of clinical experience in the otolaryngology department performed routine bilateral cervical lymph node palpation. Sensitivity, specificity, and validity were compared among different examination methods. The McNemar test assessed specificity and sensitivity between palpation, color Doppler ultrasonography, and enhanced CT, while the Kappa concordance test evaluated the concordance between the 2 examination methods. Data were statistically analyzed using SPSS 23.0. Palpation showed a diagnostic sensitivity (DS) of 52.83% and specificity of 91.11% for all patients with cervical lymph node metastasis. Ultrasonography demonstrated a DS of 77.78% and specificity of 81.82% in patients with cervical lymph node metastasis, while intensive CT had a DS of 75.86% and specificity of 60.00%. Statistical significance (P < .05) was observed in the sensitivity between palpation and ultrasonography, and between palpation and enhanced CT. The specificity between enhanced CT and ultrasonography (P = .021) and between palpation and enhanced CT scan (P = .003) both showed statistical significance (P < .05). Doppler ultrasound yields diagnostic results highly consistent with pathological diagnoses in patients with laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers. Utilizing Doppler ultrasound can enhance the accuracy of diagnosing these cancers, aiding physicians in devising more suitable treatment plans for patients.

Association of leptin receptor polymorphisms with susceptibility of non-small cell lung cancer: Evidence from 2249 subjects

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is increasing dramatically. It is believed that energy metabolism-related genes could play an important role in etiology of NSCLC. In this study, we sought to assess the correlation between three LEPR single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs1137101, rs1137100 and rs6588147) with NSCLS susceptibility. In total, 1193 NSCLC cases and 1056 controls were included. SNPscan™ genotyping method was used to analyze the genotypes of LEPR polymorphisms. Compared to rs6588147 GG in LEPR gene, this study identified a protective role of LEPR rs6588147 GA and GA/AA for the occurrence of NSCLC (GA vs. GG [p = 0.021] and GA/AA vs. GG [p = 0.030]). As well, we found that a protective role of LEPR rs6588147 for the occurrence of non-SCC subgroup (p < 0.05). By logistic regression analysis, we found that the rs6588147 A allele related genotypes might play a protective role for the occurrence of NSCLC in drinking, BMI ≥24 kg/m2, smoking and male subgroups. We also found that the rs1137101 A allele related genotypes played a protective role for the occurrence of NSCLC in male, younger participants (under 59 years) and overweight/obesity (BMI ≥24 kg/m2) subgroups. We found that LEPR Ars1037100Ars1037101Ars6588147 haplotype might play a protective role for the occurrence of NSCLC (p = 0.013). In addition, our findings indicated that LEPR rs1137100 G>A SNP might increase the risk of lymph node metastases (p = 0.038). This study highlights that LEPR rs6588147, rs1137101 genotypes and LEPR Ars1037100Ars1037101Ars6588147 haplotype are correlated with the occurrence of NSCLC. LEPR rs1137100 G>A SNP increases the risk of lymph node metastases.

[Clinical significance of monitoring NUP98::NSD1 fusion genes before and after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation]

Objective: This study aimed to observe the dynamic changes of NUP98::NSD1 expression before and after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) . Moreover, the clinical value of measurable residual disease (MRD) was analyzed. Methods: Sixteen AML patients who were diagnosed with the NUP98::NSD1 fusion gene and received allo-HSCT at Peking University People's Hospital were included. The NUP98::NSD1 fusion gene and leukemia-associated immunophenotype (LAIP) were monitored before and after transplantation to evaluate their MRD status. Results: The median follow-up time for all patients was 526 days (139-1136 days) , with four patients (25.0%) experiencing hematological recurrence at a median of 474 days (283-607 days) after transplantation. Three patients (18.8%) died, two of whom (12.5%) died of leukemia recurrence. The median expression level of NUP98::NSD1 in newly diagnosed patients with complete data was 78.5% (18.9%-184.4%) at the time of initial diagnosis. The recurrence rate was higher in NUP98::NSD1-positive patients after transplantation, with 44.4% of patients experiencing recurrence, whereas no recurrence occurred in NUP98::NSD1-negative patients after transplantation. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve predicted by the NUP98::NSD1 level after transplantation was 1.000 (95% confidence interval: 1.000-1.000, P=0.003) . Among the four patients with recurrence, NUP98::NSD1 was more sensitive than flow cytometry residual (FCM) and Wilms' tumor gene 1 (WT1) . Conclusions: The NUP98::NSD1 fusion gene can be used to evaluate the MRD status of allo-HSCT. NUP98::NSD1-positive patients after transplantation have a high relapse rate and poor prognosis. NUP98::NSD1 was more sensitive than FCM and WT1 in predicting posttransplant relapse.

Cell-free RNA for the liquid biopsy of gastrointestinal cancer

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancer includes many cancer types, such as esophageal, liver, gastric, pancreatic, and colorectal cancer. As the cornerstone of personalized medicine for GI cancer, liquid biopsy based on noninvasive biomarkers provides promising opportunities for early diagnosis and dynamic treatment management. Recently, a growing number of studies have demonstrated the potential of cell-free RNA (cfRNA) as a new type of noninvasive biomarker in body fluids, such as blood, saliva, and urine. Meanwhile, transcriptomes based on high-throughput RNA detection technologies keep discovering new cfRNA biomarkers. In this review, we introduce the origins and applications of cfRNA, describe its detection and qualification methods in liquid biopsy, and summarize a comprehensive list of cfRNA biomarkers in different GI cancer types. Moreover, we also discuss perspective studies of cfRNA to overcome its current limitations in clinical applications. This article is categorized under: RNA in Disease and Development > RNA in Disease.

LncRNA NNT-AS1/hsa-miR-485-5p/HSP90 axis in-silico and clinical prospect correlated-to histologic grades-based CRC stratification: A step toward ncRNA Precision

The oncogenic effects of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) Nicotinamide Nucleotide Transhydrogenase-antisense RNA1 (NNT-AS1) role in colorectal cancer (CRC) hasn't been sufficiently inspected in relation to the Homo sapiens (hsa)-microRNA (miR)- 485-5p/ heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) axis, clinically. qRT-PCR was performed to detect lncRNA NNT-AS1 and hsa-miR-485-5p expression levels in 60 Egyptian patients' sera. HSP90 serum level was quantified using Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The relative expression level of the studied non-coding RNAs as well as the HSP90 ELISA concentration were correlated with patients clinicopathological characteristics and correlated to each other. The axis diagnostic utility in comparison with carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) tumor markers (TMs) was studied by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. The relative lncRNA NNT-AS1 expression level fold change 56.7 (13.5-112) and HSP90 protein ELISA level 6.68 (5.14-8.77) (ng/mL) were elevated, while, for hsa-miR-485-5p 0.0474 (0.0236-0.135) expression fold change was repressed in CRC Egyptian patients' cohort sera, being compared to 28 apparently healthy control subjects. LncRNA NNT-AS1 specificity is 96.4% and a sensitivity of 91.7%, hsa-miR-485-5p showed 96.4% specificity, 90% sensitivity, and for HSP90 89.3%, 70% specificity and sensitivity, respectively. Those specificities and sensitivities were superior to the classical CRC TMs. A significant negative correlation was found between hsa-miR-485-5p with lncRNA NNT-AS1 (r = -0.933) expression fold change or with HSP90 protein blood level (r = -0.997), but, significant positive correlation was there between lncRNA NNT-AS1 and HSP90 (r = 0.927). LncRNA NNT-AS1/hsa-miR-485-5p/HSP90 axis could be a prospect for CRC development as well as diagnosis. Being correlated and related to CRC histologic grades 1-3, therefore, lncRNA NNT-AS1/hsa-miR-485-5p/HSP90 axis (not individually) expression approved clinically and in silico, could aid treatment precision.

Ferroptosis open a new door for colorectal cancer treatment

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third highest incidence and the second highest mortality malignant tumor in the world. The etiology and pathogenesis of CRC are complex. Due to the long course of the disease and no obvious early symptoms, most patients are diagnosed as middle and late stages. CRC is prone to metastasis, most commonly liver metastasis, which is one of the leading causes of death in CRC patients. Ferroptosis is a newly discovered cell death form with iron dependence, which is driven by excessive lipid peroxides on the cell membrane. It is different from other form of programmed cell death in morphology and mechanism, such as apoptosis, pyroptosis and necroptosis. Numerous studies have shown that ferroptosis may play an important role in the development of CRC. For advanced or metastatic CRC, ferroptosis promises to open a new door in the setting of poor response to chemotherapy and targeted therapy. This mini review focuses on the pathogenesis of CRC, the mechanism of ferroptosis and the research status of ferroptosis in CRC treatment. The potential association between ferroptosis and CRC and some challenges are discussed.

Predicting the predisposition to colorectal cancer based on SNP profiles of immune phenotypes using supervised learning models

This study explores the machine learning-based assessment of predisposition to colorectal cancer based on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP). Such a computational approach may be used as a risk indicator and an auxiliary diagnosis method that complements the traditional methods such as biopsy and CT scan. Moreover, it may be used to develop a low-cost screening test for the early detection of colorectal cancers to improve public health. We employ several supervised classification algorithms. Besides, we apply data imputation to fill in the missing genotype values. The employed dataset includes SNPs observed in particular colorectal cancer-associated genomic loci that are located within DNA regions of 11 selected genes obtained from 115 individuals. We make the following observations: (i) random forest-based classifier using one-hot encoding and K-nearest neighbor (KNN)-based imputation performs the best among the studied classifiers with an F1 score of 89% and area under the curve (AUC) score of 0.96. (ii) One-hot encoding together with K-nearest neighbor-based data imputation increases the F1 scores by around 26% in comparison to the baseline approach which does not employ them. (iii) The proposed model outperforms a commonly employed state-of-the-art approach, ColonFlag, under all evaluated settings by up to 24% in terms of the AUC score. Based on the high accuracy of the constructed predictive models, the studied 11 genes may be considered a gene panel candidate for colon cancer risk screening.

Rapamycin Liposomes Combined with 5-Fluorouracil Inhibits Angiogenesis and Tumor Growth of APC (Min/+) Mice and AOM/DSS-Induced Colorectal Cancer Mice

BACKGROUND

Transgenic C57BL/6-APC^(Min/+) spontaneous cancer mouse model and the Azoxymethane (AOM)/Dextran Sulfate Sodium (DSS) chemically induced orthotopic colorectal cancer mouse model represented distinct pathogenesis of colorectal cancers. Our previous study revealed that the combination of Rapamycin liposomes (Rapa/Lps) and 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) has anti-colorectal cancer effects. However, the therapeutic efficacy of Rapa/Lps and 5-FU in other colorectal cancer mice models is yet to be thoroughly explored. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-tumor effect of Rapa/Lps combined with 5-FU in vivo and in vitro.

METHODS

In this study, we evaluated the effect of Rapa/Lps and 5-FU on APC ^(Min/+) mice and AOM/DSS-induced colorectal cancer mice. The small intestine, colorectum, serum, and plasma of mice in each group were collected following sacrifice to record the number of tumors. HE staining was utilized for observing pathological damage to intestine tissues. Tube formation assay, Transwell assay, wound healing assay, Western Blot were used to explore the anti-angiogenesis effect of drugs in HUVECs.

RESULTS

As expected, Rapa/Lps and 5-FU significantly suppressed tumor formation, decreased the number of tumors, and tumor load both in two mouse models, and had no influence on mouse weight. Mechanically, the anti-tumor effect of the drug also was associated in inhibiting angiogenesis and proliferation. Furthermore, we found that Rapa/Lps obviously inhibited HUVECs tube formation and migration.

CONCLUSION

Altogether, we revealed the Rapa/Lps synergism with 5-FU decreased colon and small intestinal tumorigenesis in AOM/DSS-treated and APC ^(Min/+) mice, respectively, and correlated with anti-angiogenesis.

The efficacy of irinotecan supplementation for colorectal cancer: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies

BACKGROUND

The efficacy of irinotecan as the adjunctive therapy to fluorouracil and leucovorin remains controversial in patients with colorectal cancer. We conduct this meta-analysis to explore the efficacy of irinotecan supplementation for colorectal cancer.

METHODS

We have searched PubMed, EMBASE, Web of science, EBSCO, and Cochrane library databases through March 19, 2020, and included randomized controlled trials assessing the efficacy of irinotecan plus fluorouracil and leucovorin for colorectal cancer.

RESULTS

Five randomized controlled trials were included in the meta-analysis. Compared with fluorouracil and leucovorin for colorectal cancer, irinotecan supplementation could significantly improve progression-free survival rate (hazard ratio = 0.72; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.58-0.90; P = .003), median progression-free survival (standard mean difference = -0.30; 95% CI = -0.44 to -0.15; P < .0001), overall survival rate (hazard ratio = 0.77; 95% CI = 0.66-0.90; P = .001), and objective response (risk ratio [RR] = 0.57; 95% CI = 0.49-0.66; P < .00001) and decrease progressive disease (RR = 2.10; 95% CI = 1.40-3.14; P = .0003), but revealed no obvious effect on complete response (RR = 0.88; 95% CI = 0.33-2.29; P = .79). The incidence of grade ≥3 adverse events in irinotecan supplementation group was increased compared to control group (RR = 0.67; 95% CI = 0.57-0.79; P < .00001).

CONCLUSIONS

Irinotecan as the adjunctive therapy to fluorouracil and leucovorin can increase the survival and objective response of patients with colorectal cancer, but the incidence of grade ≥3 adverse events is found to be increased after irinotecan supplementation.

Forkhead Box S1 mediates epithelial-mesenchymal transition through the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway to regulate colorectal cancer progression

Background

Recent studies have shown that the fox family plays a vital role in tumorigenesis and progression. Forkhead Box S1 (FOXS1), as a newly identified subfamily of the FOX family, is overexpressed in certain types of malignant tumors and closely associated with patient's prognosis. However, the role and mechanism of the FOXS1 in colorectal cancer (CRC) remain unclear.

Method

FOXS1 level in CRC tissues and cell lines was analyzed by western blot and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to detect the relationship between FOXS1 expression and clinicopathological features in 136 patients in our unit. The expression of FOXS1 was knocked down in CRC cells using small interfering RNA (siRNA) technology. Cell proliferation was assessed by CCK8 assay, colony formation, and 5-Ethynyl-20-deoxyuridine (EdU) incorporation assay. Flow cytometry detected apoptosis and wound healing, and Transwell assays determined cell migration and invasion. Western blotting was used to detect the levels of proteins associated with the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Then, we used short hairpin RNA (shRNA) to knock down FOXS1 to see the effect of FOXS1 on the proliferation, migration, invasion, and metastasis of CRC cells in vivo. Finally, we investigated the impact of Wnt activator LiCl on the proliferation, migration, invasion, and metastasis of CRC cells after FOXS1 knockdown.

Result

Compared to those in normal groups, FOXS1 overexpressed in CRC tissues and CRC cells (P < 0.05). Upregulation of FOXS1 association with poor prognosis of CRC patients. si-FOXS1 induced apoptosis and inhibited proliferation, migration, invasion, the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in vitro; sh-FOXS1 inhibited the volume and weight of subcutaneous xenografts and the number of lung metastases in vivo. LiCl, an activator of Wnt signaling, partially reversed the effect of FOXS1 overexpression on CRC cells.

Conclusion

FOXS1 could function as an oncogene and promote CRC cell proliferation, migration, invasion and metastasis through the Wnt/βcatenin signaling pathway, FOXS1 may be a potential target for CRC treatment.

Circulating miR-627-5p and miR-199a-5p are promising diagnostic biomarkers of colorectal neoplasia

BACKGROUND

Early detection of colorectal neoplasms, including colorectal cancers (CRCs) and advanced colorectal adenomas (AAs), is crucial to improve patient survival. Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) in peripheral blood are emerging as noninvasive diagnostic markers for multiple cancers, but their potential for screening colorectal neoplasms remains ambiguous.

AIM

To identify candidate circulating cell-free miRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers in patients with colorectal neoplasms.

METHODS

The study was divided into three phases: (1) Candidate miRNAs were selected from three public miRNA datasets using differential gene expression analysis methods; (2) an independent set of serum samples from 60 CRC patients, 60 AA patients and 30 healthy controls (HCs) was included and analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction for miRNAs, and their diagnostic power was detected by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis; and (3) the origin and function of miRNAs in cancer patients were investigated in cancer cell lines and tumor tissues.

RESULTS

Based on bioinformatics analysis, miR-627-5p and miR-199a-5p were differentially expressed in both the serum and tissues of patients with colorectal neoplasms and HCs and were selected for further study. Further validation in an independent cohort revealed that both circulating miR-627-5p and miR-199a-5p were sequentially increased from HCs and AAs to CRCs. The diagnostic power of miR-672-5p yielded an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.90, and miR-199a-5p had an AUC of 0.83 in discriminating colorectal neoplasms from HCs. A logistic integrated model combining miR-199a-5p and miR-627-5p exhibited a higher diagnostic performance than either miRNA. Additionally, the levels of serum miR-627-5p and miR-199a-5p in CRC patients were significantly lower after surgery than before surgery and the expression of both miRNAs was increased with culture time in the culture media of several CRC cell lines, suggesting that the upregulated serum expression of both miRNAs in CRC might be tumor derived. Furthermore, in vitro experiments revealed that miR-627-5p and miR-199a-5p acted as tumor suppressors in CRC cells.

CONCLUSION

Serum levels of miR-199a-5p and miR-627-5p were markedly increased in patients with colorectal neoplasms and showed strong potential as minimally invasive biomarkers for the early screening of colorectal neoplasms.

Circular RNA dehydrodolichyl diphosphate synthase facilitated triple-negative breast cancer progression via miR-362-3p/DDX5 axis

BACKGROUND

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a common hypotype of breast cancer. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are burgeoning serve as vital controllers in numerous tumors. Nevertheless, the expression and regulatory mode of circRNAs in TNBC are still indistinct. This paper aimed to reveal the function and molecular mechanism of circular RNA dehydrodolichyl diphosphate synthase (circDHDDS) in TNBC.

METHODS

The contents of circDHDDS, DHDDS mRNA, microRNA-362-3p (miR-362-3p) and DEAD (Asp-Glu-Ala-Asp) box polypeptide 5 (DDX5) were indicated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blot. The colony formation assay and 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) assay were executed to assess cell proliferation. The flow cytometry assay was utilized to detect cell apoptosis. The transwell assay and tube formation assay were applied to measure cell migration, invasion and angiogenesis. The targeted relationships of miR-362-3p and circDHDDS or DDX5 were forecasted and detected by dual-luciferase reporter assay. The in vivo test was implemented to confirm the effect of circDHDDS.

RESULTS

The contents of circDHDDS and DDX5 were increased, and miR-362-3p level was decreased in TNBC. CircDHDDS deficiency reserved cell proliferation, migration, invasion and angiogenesis, while facilitated cell apoptosis in TNBC cells. Furthermore, miR-362-3p was validated to exert a tumor repressive effect in TNBC cells by suppressing DDX5. Moreover, DDX5 could regulate the development of TNBC. The experimental data exposed that levels of miR-362-3p presented noteworthy negative correlation with circDHDDS and DDX5, while circDHDDS and DDX5 exhibited significant positive correlation. In mechanism, circDHDDS bound to miR-362-3p to modulate DDX5 expression. In addition, circDHDDS knock-down also attenuated tumor growth.

CONCLUSION

CircDHDDS expedited TNBC by swelling DDX5 via adapting miR-362-3p.

Metadherin (AEG-1/MTDH/LYRIC) expression: Significance in malignancy and crucial role in colorectal cancer

Metadherin (AEG-1/MTDH/LYRIC) is a 582-amino acid transmembrane protein, encoded by a gene located at chromosome 8q22, and distributed throughout the cytoplasm, peri-nuclear region, nucleus, and nucleolus as well as the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). It contains several structural and interacting domains through which it interacts with transcription factors such as nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger (PLZF), staphylococcal nuclease domain containing 1 (SND1) and lung homing domain (LHD). It is regulated by miRNAs and mediates its oncogenic function via activation of cell proliferation, survival, migration and metastasis, as well as, angiogenesis and chemoresistance via phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase/AKT (PI3K/AKT), NF-κB, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and Wnt signaling pathways. In this chapter, metadherin is reviewed highlighting its role in mediating growth, metastasis and chemoresistance in colorectal cancer (CRC). Metadherin, as well as its variants, and antibodies are associated with CRC progression, poorer prognosis, decreased survival and advanced clinico-pathology. The potential of AEG-1/MTDH/LYRIC as a diagnostic and prognostic marker as well as a therapeutic target in CRC is explored.

Harnessing the immune system against cancer: current immunotherapy approaches and therapeutic targets

Cancer immunotherapy is a rapidly evolving concept that has been given the tag "fifth pillar" of cancer therapy while radiation therapy, chemotherapy, surgery and targeted therapy remain the other four pillars. This involves the stimulation of the immune system to control tumor growth and it specifically targets the neoplastic cells rather than the normal cells. Conventional chemotherapy has many limitations which include drug resistance, recurrence of cancer and severe adverse effects. Immunology has made major treatment breakthroughs for several cancers such as colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, liver cancer, kidney cancer, stomach cancer, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia etc. Currently, therapeutic strategies harnessing the immune system involve Checkpoint inhibitors, Chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR T cells), Monoclonal antibodies, Cancer vaccines, Cytokines, Radio-immunotherapy and Oncolytic virus therapy. The molecular characterization of several tumor antigens (TA) indicates that these TA can be utilized as promising candidates in cancer immunotherapy strategies. Here in this review, we highlight and summarize the different categories of emerging cancer immunotherapies along with the immunologically recognized tumor antigens involved in the tumor microenvironment.

miR-3065-3p promotes stemness and metastasis by targeting CRLF1 in colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common malignancy in the world. It has been reported that cancer stem cells (CSCs) serve as the primary drivers of tumorigenesis and tumor progression. There is an urgent need to explore novel molecules that regulate CSCs or their signatures. Increasing evidence has shown that miRNAs are involved in tumorigenesis and progression. Here, we aim to explore the regulatory effect and mechanism of miR-3065-3p on the stemness of colorectal cancer.

METHODS

The expression of miR-3065-3p in colorectal cancer and the association of miR-3065-3p expression with prognosis of patients with colorectal cancer were analyzed using TCGA dataset or clinical cases. Gain or loss of function in different models, including colorectal cancer cell lines and orthotopic xenograft or liver metastatic mouse model, were used to investigate the effects of miR-3065-3p on colorectal cancer stemness and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Cancer stemness was analyzed by detecting the ability of migration and invasion, NANOG, OCT4, and SOX2 expression, ALDH activity and sphere formation. In addition, the interaction of miR-3065-3p and cytokine receptor-like factor 1 (CRLF1) was analyzed theoretically and identified by the luciferase reporter assay. Moreover, the correlation between CRLF1 expression and miR-3065-3p was analyzed in colorectal cancer tissues. Finally, the effect of CRLF1 on the stemness and metastasis of colorectal cancer in vitro and in vivo was assessed.

RESULTS

In this report, we found that miR-3065-3p was overexpressed in colorectal cancer and that its high expression was associated with poor prognosis of patients with colorectal cancer. miR-3065-3p promotes the stemness and metastasis of colorectal cancer. Furthermore, CRLF1 was the downstream target of miR-3065-3p and inhibited the stemness of colorectal cancer. In addition, CRLF1 expression was negatively correlated with miR-3065-3p in colorectal cancer tissues. And, CRLF1 mediated the effects of miR-3065-3p on promoting stemness of colorectal cancer cells.

CONCLUSION

Our data suggest that miR-3065-3p promoted the stemness and metastasis of colorectal cancer by targeting CRLF1. miR-3065-3p might serve as a promising prognostic marker as well as a therapeutic target for colorectal cancer.

Long non-coding RNA SNHG16 as a potential biomarker in hepatocellular carcinoma: A meta-analysis

Small nucleolar RNA host gene 16 (SNHG16) has recently been reported as a potential biomarker in various cancers. However, the prognostic value of SNHG16 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not been investigated yet. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to reveal the association between SNHG16 expression and clinicopathological characteristics of HCC.Standards-compliant literature was retrieved from multiple public databases, and data on overall survival, disease-free survival, and clinicopathological characteristics related to SNGH16 were extracted and meta-analysis was performed. Additionally, the Cancer Genome Atlas data were analyzed through the gene expression profiling interactive analysis database to verify previous results.A total of 5 reports involving 410 patients with HCC were enrolled. The high expression of SNHG16 indicated worse overall survival (hazard ratio, 2.10; 95% CI, 1.22-3.60; P = .007) and disease-free survival (hazard ratio, 3.38; 95% CI, 1.10-10.40; P = .03). Additionally, the high expression of SNHG16 predicted a larger tumor size, metastasis, and advanced TNM stage.SNHG16 could serve as a potential biomarker of poor prognosis in HCC.

Multiple genetic variants predict the progression-free survival of bevacizumab plus chemotherapy in advanced ovarian cancer: A retrospective study

Bevacizumab (BV) plus chemotherapy is broadly used in advanced ovarian cancer (OC). However, the efficacy of BV-based regimens for advanced OC patients is not satisfactory. Therefore, it is urgent to explore the predictive genetic biomarkers for BV.Tumor tissues from advanced OC patients receiving BV-based regimens were analyzed with a 150-gene targeted panel for next generation sequencing. The associations between gene alterations or clinicopathology features and progression-free survival (PFS) were analyzed by Kaplan-Meier curves or Cox regression. The association of the genetic alteration in potential predictive genes and expressions of 11 vascular endothelial growth factor-related genes were analyzed in The Cancer Genome Atlas cohort using 292 OC cases.Sixty two Chinese advanced OC patients treated with BV-based therapy were included. The median PFS of was 6.9 months, and objective response rate was 14.5%. In multivariate Cox regression analysis, the status of endothelial growth factor receptor (EGFR) (hazard ratio = 6.39, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.25-18.13, P < .001) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) (hazard ratio = 3.58, 95% CI 1.27-10.08, P = .016) were significantly correlated with PFS. MYC Proto-Oncogene amplification seemed to have a positive trend (hazard ratio = 0.21, 95% CI 0.05-1.02, P = .052). Moreover, EGFR and HER2 alterations were not prognostic factors of overall survival for OC in The Cancer Genome Atlas OC cohort. The vascular endothelial growth factor-related signature analysis indicated vascular endothelial factor A expression was upregulated with EGFR alterations (P = .034) which may be involved in BV resistance, and HER2 alterations were associated with hypoxia inducible factor 1 subunit alpha overexpression significantly (P = .029).EGFR or HER2 alterations are negative predictors of PFS for OC patient treated with BV plus chemotherapy. Therefore, the clinicians may consider to use alternative regimens such as anti-EGFR or anti-HER2 targeted therapy instead of BV-based regimens on these patients when standard care fail.

The Expression of Circulating miR-497 and Metadherin in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Relation to the Tumor Characteristics and Patients' Survival

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic significance and relationship of miR-497 and metadherin to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tumor characteristics and patients’ survival. Methods: This study enrolled 120 (60 HCC patients and 60 healthy) subjects. Serum miR-497 and metadherin mRNA relative expression were analyzed by real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The overall survival (OS) of HCC patients was assessed using the Kaplan–Meier curve and log-rank test. Results: Serum miR-497 showed statistically significant downregulation in HCC patients compared to controls (p < 0.001). Serum metadherin mRNA relative expression was significantly upregulated in HCC patients compared to controls (p < 0.001). Both serum miR-497 and metadherin mRNA expression were significantly associated with the number of tumor foci (p = 0.028 and 0.001, respectively), tumor size (p = 0.022 and <0.001, respectively), nodal metastasis (p = 0.003 and 0.003, respectively), distant metastasis (p = 0.003 and 0.003, respectively), vascular invasion (p = 0.040 and <0.001, respectively), and BCLC staging (p = 0.043 and 0.004, respectively). The overall survival was lower in patients with low miR-497 expression (p = 0.046) and in patients with high metadherin expression (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The expression levels of miR-497 showed downregulation in HCC patients, but metadherin expression showed upregulation. Both markers were inversely related and closely correlated with tumor characteristics and patients’ survival.

MiR-150 Expression in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: Relation to Imatinib Response

OBJECTIVE

To assess the circulating micro-RNA-150 (miR-150) expression in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in relation to imatinib response.

METHODS

Sixty patients with CML and 20 age- and sex-matched control subjects were enrolled. Circulating miR-150 levels were assessed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction on days 0, 14, and 90 of imatinib therapy for patients and once for control subjects.

RESULTS

The baseline miR-150 expression was significantly lower in patients with CML than in control subjects with subsequent elevation at 14 and 90 days after the start of imatinib treatment. Early treatment response (ETR) at 90 days was the main study outcome. The miR-150 expression had a significantly higher level in patients with CML with ETR. On multivariate analysis, miR-150 on day 14 was significantly related to ETR in patients with CML with predictive efficacy (area under the curve = 0.838, 72.9% sensitivity, and 84.2% specificity).

CONCLUSION

We found that miR-150 expression on day 14 of imatinib treatment is a useful early predictive candidate for imatinib response in patients with CML.

Prognostic value of HHLA2 expression in solid tumors: A meta-analysis based on the Chinese population

BACKGROUND

Human endogenous retrovirus-H long terminal repeat-associating protein 2 (HHLA2), a newly discovered member of the B7 family, is overexpressed in numerous tumors. However, the prognostic impact of HHLA2 in human cancers remains controversial. Thus, we performed this meta-analysis to explore the prognostic value of HHLA2 in Chinese patients with solid tumors.

METHODS

PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, and WanFang databases were systematically searched for eligible studies that evaluated the impact of HHLA2 on overall survival (OS) in patients with cancer. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were combined to evaluate the association between HHLA2 expression and OS in solid tumors. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs were pooled to assess the correlation between HHLA2 expression and clinicopathological characteristics in solid tumors.

RESULTS

A total of 12 studies, including 15 cohorts and 1747 patients, were included in this meta-analysis. We found that high HHLA2 expression was significantly associated with shorter OS (HR = 1.65, 95% CI: 1.12-2.43). Subgroup analysis by cancer type demonstrated that high HHLA2 expression was associated with poor OS in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (HR = 3.42, 95% CI: 2.39-4.91), gastric cancer (HR = 2.03, 95% CI: 1.31-3.16), intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (HR = 1.77, 95% CI: 1.24-2.53), lung cancer (HR = 2.14, 95% CI: 1.33-3.44) and other cancer types (HR = 2.08, 95% CI: 1.34-3.24), but not in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (HR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.08-3.56). Nevertheless, high HHLA2 expression was associated with better OS in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (HR = 0.45, 95% CI: 0.32-0.64). Furthermore, high HHLA2 expression was associated with old age (OR = 1.30, 95% CI: 1.03-1.63), lymph node metastasis (OR = 1.99, 95% CI: 1.41-2.81), and vascular invasion (OR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.18-2.42).

CONCLUSIONS

HHLA2 may serve as a potential prognostic biomarker for solid tumors in Chinese population, by predict the prognosis of cancer patients based on their tumor types.

Clinical significance of YAP1 and TAZ in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Esophageal cancer is the eighth most frequent and sixth most fatal cancer worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics and prognostic significance of yes related protein 1 (YAP1) and transcriptional co-activator with PDZ binding motif (TAZ) in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

METHODS

A total of 306 ESCC pathological specimens and adjacent tissues (as control; tissues from the esophageal mucosa >5 cm from the edge of the tumor) were collected between January, 2008 and December, 2018. Immunohistochemical staining was used to assess the expression of YAP1 and TAZ proteins in the ESCC and adjacent tissues, and their relationship with clinicopathological parameters was evaluated using SPSS 21.0 software.

RESULTS

YAP1 and TAZ proteins were highly expressed in ESCC, and their expression was closely related to TNM stage and lymph node metastasis. Expression of YAP1 was associated with tumor size (P = .029), differentiation (P = .000), depth of invasion (P = .001), and TNM stage (P = .000). Expression of TAZ was associated with tumor size (P = .034), differentiation (P = .000), depth of invasion (P = .029), lymph node metastasis (P = .006), and ethnicity (P < .001). The expression of YAP1 protein was positively correlated with the expression of TAZ protein (r = 0.257, P < .05). YAP1 and TAZ expression (P = .039 and .000, respectively), tumor size (P = .041), and lymph node metastasis (P = .001) significantly affected the overall survival of patients with ESCC, and represent independent factors for overall survival.

CONCLUSION

YAP1 and TAZ proteins are highly expressed in ESCC, and closely related to the clinical and pathological parameters such as the diameter of the tumor, degree of differentiation, and depth of invasion, indicating that YAP1 and TAZ may be involved in the development of ESCC. YAP1 and TAZ may be used as prognostic markers in ESCC.

Over-expressed RHEB promotes the progression of pancreatic adenocarcinoma

AIMS

Mammalian/mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) is essential in the progression of pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD). But the role of Ras homolog enriched in brain (RHEB), a key activator of mTORC1, is unclear in this disease. This work aims to clarify the function of RHEB in PAAD.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A pan-cancer analysis of RHEB was conducted by using data from several public available databases. Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining on a tissue microarray was used to validate the expression of RHEB in PAAD. In vitro experiments were conducted to explore the function of RHEB in the disease. An integrated bioinformatics tools were used to understand the mechanism of RHEB and construct a RHEB-related prognostic signature.

KEY FINDINGS

RHEB was significantly overexpressed in PAAD and high expression of the gene was associated with poor prognosis. RHEB promoted proliferation, migration and invasion of pancreatic cancer cells. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) showed that RHEB participated in cell cycle progression and WNT signaling pathway. A RHEB-related prognostic signature was developed, and PAAD patients with high risk score had a significantly shorter overall survival.

SIGNIFICANCE

RHEB was up-regulated in PAAD and might be a useful therapeutic target.

Identification of a Seven-lncRNA-mRNA Signature for Recurrence and Prognostic Prediction in Relapsed Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Based on WGCNA and LASSO Analyses

Abnormal expressions of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and protein-encoding messenger RNAs (mRNAs) are important for the development of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). This study developed an lncRNA-mRNA integrated classifier for the prediction of recurrence and prognosis in relapsed childhood ALL by using several transcriptome data. Weighted gene coexpression network analysis revealed that green, turquoise, yellow, and brown modules were preserved across the TARGET, GSE60926, GSE28460, and GSE17703 datasets, and they were associated with clinical relapse and death status. A total of 184 genes in these four modules were differentially expressed between recurrence and nonrecurrence samples. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator analysis showed that seven genes constructed a prognostic signature (including one lncRNA: LINC00652 and six mRNAs: INSL3, NIPAL2, REN, RIMS2, RPRM, and SNAP91). Kaplan-Meier curve analysis observed that patients in the high-risk group had a significantly shorter overall survival than those of the low-risk group. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated that this signature had high accuracy in predicting the 5-year overall survival and recurrence outcomes, respectively. LINC00652 may function by coexpressing with the above prognostic genes (INSL3, SNAP91, and REN) and lipid metabolism-related genes (MIA2, APOA1). Accordingly, this lncRNA-mRNA-based classifier may be clinically useful to predict the recurrence and prognosis for childhood ALL. These genes represent new targets to explain the mechanisms for ALL.

Biomarkers involved in evaluation of platelets function in South-Eastern Romanian patients with hematological malignancies subtypes

ABSTRACT

At present, various researches presented how subtypes of hematological malignancies are related to stages of the immune response, because the activated immune system represents a promising form in cancer treatment. This study explores the relationship between the adaptive immune system (T cells), and the coagulation system (platelets, platelet membrane glycoproteins, platelets derivate microparticles) which seems to play an important role in host immune defense of patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML) or B cell lymphoma (BCL), 2 of the most common hematological malignancies subtypes.Blood samples (n = 114) obtained from patients with AML or BCL were analyzed for platelet membrane glycoproteins (CD42b, CD61), glycoprotein found on the surface of the T helper cells (CD4+), protein complex-specific antigen for T cells (CD3+), platelet-derived microparticles (CD61 PMP) biomarkers by flow cytometry, and hematological parameters were quantified by usual methods.In patients with AML, the means of the percentage of the expressions of the molecules on platelet surfaces (CD61 and CD42b, P < .01; paired T test) were lower as compared to both control subgroups. The expression of cytoplasmic granules content (CD61 PMP) had a significantly higher value in patients with AML reported to controlling subgroups (P < .01; paired T test), which is suggesting an intravascular activation of platelets.The platelet activation status was presented in patients with low stage BCL because CD61 and CD42b expressions were significantly higher than control subgroups, but the expression of CD 61 PMP had a significantly decreased value reported to control subgroups (all P < .01; paired T test). T helper/inducer lineage CD4+ and T lymphoid lineage CD3+ expressions presented significant differences between patients with AML or low stage BCL reported to control subgroups (all P < .01; paired T test).Platelet-lymphocyte interactions are involved in malignant disorders, and CD61, CD42b present on platelet membranes, as functionally active surface receptors mediate the adhesion of active platelets to lymphocytes, endothelial cells, and cancer cells.

The clinical prognostic value of lncRNA LINC00675 in cancer patients: A meta-analysis

A newly discovered long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) is associated with the progression of a variety of tumors. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to explore further the relationship between clinicopathological features and the prognostic value of LINC00675 in caners.We searched the various database, including PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase together with Wanfang, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure for articles on LINC00675 and clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients with cancers before February 20, 2020. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the studies that meet the criteria were systematically collected through search keywords. The Newcastle Ottawa document quality assessment system was used to evaluate the quality of documents. The required data from literature were extracted, and the hazard ratio (HR), odds ratio (OR), and 95confidence interval (CI) were calculated using stata12.0 software and RevMan5.3 software.A total of 5 studies covering 462 patients were included in this meta-analysis to evaluate the prognostic value of LINC00675 in cancers. Our results showed that high LINC00675 expression was significantly correlated with poor overall survival (OS) (HR = 1.60, 95% CI: 1.23-2.08, P = .0005). Additionally, upregulated expression of LINC00675 was significantly associated with tumor node metastasis stage (OR = 1.74, 95% CI: 1.18-2.58, P = .006) and distant metastasis (OR = 2.22, 95% CI: 1.21-4.08, P = .01).Our study suggests that LINC00675 could be used as a biomarker to evaluate the prognosis of cancer patients. More studies to further confirm that the clinical value of LINC00675 in cancers will be required.

Inhibition of DKC1 induces telomere-related senescence and apoptosis in lung adenocarcinoma

Background

Lung cancer is one of the most widely spread cancers in the world and half of the non-small cell lung cancers are lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Although there were several drugs been approved for LUAD therapy, a large portion of LUAD still cannot be effectively treated due to lack of available therapeutic targets. Here, we investigated the oncogenic roles of DKC1 in LUAD and its potential mechanism and explored the possibility of targeting DKC1 for LUAD therapy.

Methods

The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and The Cancer Genome Atlas Program (TCGA) databases were used to examine the DKC1 transcript levels. Gene expression with clinical information from tissue microarray of LUAD were analyzed for associations between DKC1 expression and LUAD prognosis. In addition, loss- and gain-of-function assays were used for oncogenic function of DKC1 both in vitro and in vivo.

Results

DKC1 is overexpressed in LUAD compared with adjacent normal tissues. High expression of DKC1 predicts the poor overall survival. DKC1 knockdown in LUAD cell lines induced G1 phase arrest and inhibited cell proliferation. Ectopic expression of DKC1 could rescue the growth of LUAD cell lines. In addition, the abundance of DKC1 is positively correlated with telomerase RNA component (TERC) and telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) levels in LUAD. DKC1 downregulation resulted in decreased TERC expression, reduced telomerase activity and shorten telomere, and thus eventually led to cell senescence and apoptosis.

Conclusions

Our results show that high DKC1 expression indicates poor prognosis of LUAD and DKC1 downregulation could induce telomere-related cell senescence and apoptosis. This study suggests that DKC1 could serve as a candidate diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target for LUAD.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12967-021-02827-0.

Prognostic value of lactate dehydrogenase for melanoma patients receiving anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Several studies indicate the level of pretreatment lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) may be associated with the prognosis of patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors targeting programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1)/programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) which had been reported to dramatically improve the survival of patients with advanced or metastatic melanoma; however, no consensus has been reached because the presence of controversial conclusions. This study was to perform a meta-analysis to comprehensively explore the prognostic values of LDH for melanoma patients receiving anti-PD1/PD-L1 monotherapy.

METHODS

A systematic electronic search in the databases of PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane library was performed to identify all related articles up to April, 2020. The pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were obtained to assess the prognostic values of pretreatment LDH in blood for overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS).

RESULTS

A total of 22 eligible studies involving 2745 patients were included. Of them, 19 studies with 20 results assessed the OS and the pooled analysis showed that an elevated pretreatment LDH level was significantly associated with a worse OS (HR = 2.44; 95% CI: 1.95-3.04, P < .001). Thirteen studies reported PFS and meta-analysis also revealed that a higher pretreatment LDH level predicted a significantly shorter PFS (HR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.34-1.92; P < .001). Although heterogeneity existed among these studies, the same results were acquired in subgroup analyses based on sample size, country, study design, cut-off of LDH, type of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors and statistics for HRs (all HRs > 1 and P < .05).

CONCLUSION

This meta-analysis suggests LDH may serve as a potential biomarker to identify patients who can benefit from anti-PD-1/PD-L1 and then schedule treatments.

Utility of serum neuropilin-1 and angiopoietin-2 as markers of hepatocellular carcinoma

This study aimed to assess the diagnostic value of two serum angiogenetic markers neuropilin-1 (NRP-1) and angiopoietin-2 (ANG-2) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and their relation to tumor characteristics. 149 subjects were recruited and divided into 50 patients with recently diagnosed HCC, 49 patients with cirrhosis on top of hepatitis C virus infection, and 50 healthy subjects. Serum NRP-1 and ANG-2 were estimated by ELISA. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels were measured using fluorescence immunoassay. Serum NRP-1 and ANG-2 levels were significantly higher in patients with HCC (2221.8±1056.6 pg/mL and 3018.5±841.4 pg/mL) than healthy subjects (219.3±61.8 pg/mL and 2007.7±904.8 pg/mL) and patients with cirrhosis (1108.9±526.6 pg/mL and 2179.1±599.2 pg/mL), respectively. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, NRP-1 and AFP were the only independent factors of HCC development and correlated positively with each other (r=0.781, p<0.001). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of NRP-1 was higher than that of ANG-2 in discriminating HCC from patients with cirrhosis (0.801 vs 0.748, p=0.250) and healthy subjects (0.992 vs 0.809, p<0.001). The AUC of NRP-1 was detected to be increased (0.994) when combined estimation with AFP was performed. Elevated serum NRP-1 and ANG-2 levels were detected in patients with HCC with tumor numbers >3, tumor size ≥5 cm, tumor stages B/C according to the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer staging system, vascular invasion, and distant metastasis. In conclusion, NRP-1 is a potential serological marker for HCC diagnosis and is better than ANG-2. It is feasible to be estimated in combination with AFP to enhance its diagnostic power. High serum NRP-1 and ANG-2 levels are associated with advanced HCC tumor characteristics.

Association of UGT1A1*6 polymorphism with irinotecan-based chemotherapy reaction in colorectal cancer patients: a systematic review and a meta-analysis

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths across the world. Irinotecan (IRI) is commonly used to treat CRC, and IRI-based chemotherapy is linked with adverse reaction and the efficacy of the treatment regimen. The gene UGT1A1 plays a central role in the IRI metabolic pathway. A polymorphism UGT1A1*6 has been widely researched which may be related to response of IRI-based chemotherapy in CRC. All relevant studies were strictly searched from PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library and Web of Science databases to explore the associations between UGT1A1*6 and response of IRI-based chemotherapy with CRC. Nine articles comprising 1652 patients were included in the final combination. Meta-analysis showed G allele or GG had a lower risk of severe late-onset diarrhea compared with A/AA in allele model and homozygote model (G vs. A: OR = 0.53, 95% CI: 0.28–0.99, P=0.05; GG vs. AA: OR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.23–0.99, P=0.05), no significant association was observed in other models. In addition, a significant association between UGT1A1*6 and neutropenia was observed in all models (G vs. A: OR = 0.57, 95% CI: 0.46–0.71, P=0.00; GG vs. AA: OR = 0.28, 95% CI: 0.17–0.45, P=0.01; GA vs. AA: OR = 0.42, 95% CI: 0.26–0.70, P=0.00; GG+GA vs. AA: OR = 0.32, 95% CI: 0.20–0.52, P=0.00; GG vs. AA+GA: OR = 0.40, 95% CI: 0.22–0.71, P=0.00), whereas, no relationship was found between UGT1A1*6 and clinical response among the different genotypes. UGT1A1*6 may be considered as a biomarker for IRI-based chemotherapy in CRC.

Identification of 4 immune cells and a 5-lncRNA risk signature with prognosis for early-stage lung adenocarcinoma

Background

Lung cancer is the most common cancer and cause of cancer‐related mortality worldwide, increasing evidence indicated that there was a significant correlation between tumors and the long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs), as well as tumor immune infiltration, but their role in early lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) are still unclear.

Methods

Gene expression data and corresponding clinical data of early-stage LUAD patients were downloaded from GEO and TCGA databases. 24 kinds of tumor-infiltrating immune cells were analyzed by quantity analysis and univariate cox regression analysis, we divided patients into two subgroups using consensus clustering, recognized the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the subgroups, then, established lncRNA risk signature by least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression.

Results

A total of 718 patients were enrolled in this study, including 246 from GSE31210 dataset, 127 from GSE50081 dataset and 345 from TCGA-LUAD. We identified that Th2 cells, TFH, NK CD56dim cells and Mast cells were prognosis-related(p < 0.05), then established a 5-lncRNA risk signature (risk score = 0.374600616* LINC00857 + 0.173825706* LINC01116 + (− 0.021398903)* DRAIC + (− 0.113658256)* LINC01140 + (− 0.008403702)* XIST), and draw a nomogram showed that the signature had a well prediction accuracy and discrimination.

Conclusions

We identified 4 immune infiltrating cells related to the prognosis of early-stage LUAD, and established a novel 5 immune-related lncRNA signature for predicting patients’ prognosis.

KPNA2 interaction with CBX8 contributes to the development and progression of bladder cancer by mediating the PRDM1/c-FOS pathway

BACKGROUND

Bladder cancer (BCa) is a common malignancy characterized by high heterogeneity, yet the current treatment modalities are limited. The aim of the present investigation was to unravel the functional role of Karyopherin alpha 2 (KPNA2), a tumor facilitator identified in multiple malignancies, in the progression of BCa.

METHODS

BCa tissues and adjacent normal tissues were surgically resected and analyzed from patients with BCa to determine the expression profile of KPNA2 and Chromobox 8 (CBX8) by RT-qPCR, Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. The relationship among KPNA2, CBX8 and PR domain zinc finger protein 1 (PRDM1) was explored by co-immunoprecipitation and chromatin-immunoprecipitation. The functions of KPNA2, CBX8 and PRDM1 on BCa cell proliferation, migration and invasion were evaluated. Next, a nude mouse model of BCa was established for validating the roles of KPNA2, CBX8 and PRDM1 in vivo.

RESULTS

KPNA2 and CBX8 were highly expressed in BCa and are in association with dismal oncologic outcomes of patients with BCa. KPNA2 promoted nuclear import of CBX8. CBX8 downregulated PRDM1 by recruiting BCOR in the promoter region of PRDM1. Overexpression of KPNA2 promoted the malignant behaviors of BCa cells, which was counteracted by silencing of CBX8. Overexpressing PRDM1 attenuated the progression of BCa by inhibiting c-FOS expression. The tumor-promoting effects of KPNA2 via the PRDM1/c-FOS pathway were also validated in vivo.

CONCLUSION

Collectively, our findings attached great importance to the interplay between KPNA2 and CBX8 in BCa in mediating the development and progression of BCa, thus offering a promising candidate target for better BCa patient management.

The Effect of hsa-miR-451b Knockdown on Biological Functions of Gastric Cancer Stem-Like Cells

Numerous researches have extensively studied factors such as microRNAs that lead to cancer. Thus, the current study's purpose is to investigate the biological consequences of hsa-miR-451b inhibition on the properties and functions of gastric cancer stem-like cells. First, gastric cancer stem-like cells were transfected by hsa-miR-451b inhibitor then we used real-time RT-PCR to evaluate its effect on the expression of hsa-miR-451b and two of its direct target genes, Stemness markers such as KLF4, SOX2, CD44, OCT3/4 and NANOG genes and finally Akt, PI3K, Bcl-2, Bax, CASP3 and PCNA genes involved in apoptosis. Here, we conducted a DNA Laddering assay to investigate apoptosis. The level of the MMP-2 and -9 Activities and Migration were examined by Zymography and Transwell invasion assay. HUVEC cells were used to investigate angiogenesis. The outcomes revealed that the level of the MMP-2 and -9 Activities, migration and angiogenesis decreased, but apoptosis was induced by inhibiting hsa-miR-451b. Evaluating KREMEN1 and CASK expression showed that the former increased, and the latter dropped under hsa-miR-451b inhibition. Also, upregulation of the KLF4 and SOX2 and downregulation of the CD44, OCT3/4, and NANOG decreased Self-renewal ability of gastric cancer stem cells under hsa-miR-451b inhibition. Even, under hsa-miR-451b inhibition, downregulation of Akt, PI3K, Bcl-2 and PCNA as well as upregulation of Bax and CASP3 revealed a movement towards apoptosis in MKN-45 stem-like cells. In summary, hsa-miR-451b is an oncomir in the carcinogenesis of gastric cancer stem-like cells and may be suggested as an appropriate therapeutic target for future gastric cancer treatment.

The Scope of Astrocyte Elevated Gene-1/Metadherin (AEG-1/MTDH) in Cancer Clinicopathology: A Review

Since its initial cloning in 2002, a plethora of studies in a vast number of cancer indications, has strongly established AEG-1 as a bona fide oncogene. In all types of cancer cells, overexpression and knockdown studies have demonstrated that AEG-1 performs a seminal role in regulating proliferation, invasion, angiogenesis, metastasis and chemoresistance, the defining cancer hallmarks, by a variety of mechanisms, including protein-protein interactions activating diverse oncogenic pathways, RNA-binding promoting translation and regulation of inflammation, lipid metabolism and tumor microenvironment. These findings have been strongly buttressed by demonstration of increased tumorigenesis in tissue-specific AEG-1 transgenic mouse models, and profound resistance of multiple types of cancer development and progression in total and conditional AEG-1 knockout mouse models. Additionally, clinicopathologic correlations of AEG-1 expression in a diverse array of cancers establishing AEG-1 as an independent biomarker for highly aggressive, chemoresistance metastatic disease with poor prognosis have provided a solid foundation to the mechanistic and mouse model studies. In this review a comprehensive analysis of the current and up-to-date literature is provided to delineate the clinical significance of AEG-1 in cancer highlighting the commonality of the findings and the discrepancies and discussing the implications of these observations.

Genome-wide analysis identifies critical DNA methylations within NTRKs genes in colorectal cancer

Background

Neurotrophic tropomyosin receptor kinases (NTRKs) are a gene family function as oncogene or tumor suppressor gene in distinct cancers. We aimed to investigate the methylation and expression profiles and prognostic value of NTRKs gene in colorectal cancer (CRC).

Methods

An analysis of DNA methylation and expression profiles in CRC patients was performed to explore the critical methylations within NTRKs genes. The methylation marker was validated in a retrospectively collected cohort of 229 CRC patients and tested in other tumor types from TCGA. DNA methylation status was determined by quantitative methylation-specific PCR (QMSP).

Results

The profiles in six CRC cohorts showed that NTRKs gene promoter was more frequently methylated in CRC compared to normal mucosa, which was associated with suppressed gene expression. We identified a specific methylated region within NTRK3 promoter targeted by cg27034819 and cg11525479 that best predicted survival outcome in CRC. NTRK3 promoter methylation showed independently predictive value for survival outcome in the validation cohort (P = 0.004, HR 2.688, 95% CI [1.355, 5.333]). Based on this, a nomogram predicting survival outcome was developed with a C-index of 0.705. Furthermore, the addition of NTRK3 promoter methylation improved the performance of currently-used prognostic model (AIC: 516.49 vs 513.91; LR: 39.06 vs 43.64, P = 0.032). Finally, NTRK3 promoter methylation also predicted survival in other tumors, including pancreatic cancer, glioblastoma and stomach adenocarcinoma.

Conclusions

This study highlights the essential value of NTRK3 methylation in prognostic evaluation and the potential to improve current prognostic models in CRC and other tumors.

Crosstalk of long non-coding RNAs and EMT: Searching the missing pieces of an incomplete puzzle for lung cancer therapy

BACKGROUND

Lung cancer is considered to be the first place among the cancer-related deaths worldwide and demands novel strategies in the treatment of this life-threatening disorder. The aim of this review is to explore regulation of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) by long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in lung cancer.

INTRODUCTION

LncRNAs can be considered as potential factors for targeting in cancer therapy, since they regulate a bunch of biological processes, e.g. cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. The abnormal expression of lncRNAs occurs in different cancer cells. On the other hand, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a critical mechanism participating in migration and metastasis of cancer cells.

METHOD

Different databases including Googlescholar, Pubmed and Sciencedirect were used for collecting articles using keywords such as "LncRNA", "EMT", and "Lung cancer".

RESULT

There are tumor-suppressing lncRNAs that can suppress EMT and metastasis of lung cancer cells. Expression of such lncRNAs undergoes down-regulation in lung cancer progression and restoring their expression is of importance in suppressing lung cancer migration. There are tumor-promoting lncRNAs triggering EMT in lung cancer and enhancing their migration.

CONCLUSION

LncRNAs are potential regulators of EMT in lung cancer, and targeting them, both pharmacologically and genetically, can be of importance in controlling migration of lung cancer cells.

Diagnostic value of microRNA-25 in patients with non-small cell lung cancer in Chinese population: A systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

Previous studies have shown that microRNA-25 (miR-25) plays a key role in the occurrence and development of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Many studies have shown that there is a significant increment of miR-25 in circulating blood of patients with NSCLC. The meta-analysis aims to explore diagnostic value of miR-25 in NSCLC in Chinese population.

METHODS

PubMed, Web of science, Excerpta Medica Database, China national knowledge infrastructure and China Wanfang database were searched to collect studies upon correlation between miR-25 and diagnosis of the patients with NSCLC until April 2020. Combined sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, diagnostic odds ratio and area under receiver operating characteristic curve were calculated by Stata 15.0 software. Literature assessment was conducted according to quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies, and documents with scores above or equal to 11 were included in this meta-analysis.

RESULTS

Six studies were included, including 480 cases with NSCLC and 451 healthy controls. The combined sensitivity (0.75, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.69∼0.80), specificity (0.81, 95% CI: 0.76∼0.86), positive likelihood ratio (4.04, 95% CI: 3.14∼5.20), negative likelihood ratio (0.31, 95% CI: 0.25∼0.37), diagnostic odds ratio (13.09, 95% CI: 9.37∼18.29) and area under curve (0.85, 95% CI: 0.82∼0.88) indicated that miR-25 had desirable diagnostic accuracy for NSCLC.

CONCLUSION

MiR-25 can be applied in diagnosis of NSCLC and has potential of becoming a biomarker for detection of patients with early NSCLC in Chinese population.

Prognostic significance of SET-NUP214 fusion gene in acute leukemia after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

The SET nuclear proto-oncogene (SET)-nucleoporin (NUP) 214 fusion gene (SET-NUP214) is a rare leukemia fusion gene. Due to the limited number of samples with SET-NUP214 fusion gene in previous studies, the significance of SET-NUP214 for measurable residual disease (MRD) monitoring in patients with acute leukemia (AL) is still unclear. Our study aimed to observe the dynamic changes in SET-NUP214 expression before and after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT), and analyzed whether SET-NUP214 could be used to evaluate MRD status. Our study included 24 AL patients who were newly diagnosed with SET-NUP214 fusion gene and they all received allo-HSCT. Their MRD was evaluated by monitoring SET-NUP214 fusion gene and leukemia-associated immunophenotype (LAIP). The median follow-up time was 501 days (56-2208 days). Of the enrolled patients, 6 (25%) patients died, including 3 (12.5%) patients died of leukemia relapse. Total 5 (20.8%) patients experienced hematological relapse at a median of 225 days (56-1057 days) post-transplantation. The SET-NUP214 median expression level at diagnosis was 405.1% (14.6%-1482.4%). SET-NUP214 gene expression generally became positive prior to flow cytometry results. In addition, the Kaplan-Meier survival curves analysis showed that those who had SET-NUP214 positive (SET-NUP214+) post-transplantation had a higher 2-year cumulative incidence of leukemia relapse (CIR) of 43.7 ± 18.8% (P < .05). However, there was no significant difference between SET-NUP214 positive and SET-NUP214 negative patients with regard to their 2-year overall survival (OS) (82.5 ± 11.3 vs 64.6 ± 17.5%, respectively, P = .271). ROC curve analysis turned out that the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.916 (95% CI: 0.784-1.0; P = .005). In conclusion, SET-NUP214 fusion gene determined by real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RQ-PCR) could be used to evaluate MRD status after allo-HSCT. Patients with positive SET-NUP214 expression after transplantation will have a poor prognosis.

Immune-related lncRNAs as predictors of survival in breast cancer: a prognostic signature

Background

Breast cancer is a highly heterogeneous disease, this poses challenges for classification and management. Long non-coding RNAs play acrucial role in the breast cancersdevelopment and progression, especially in tumor-related immune processes which have become the most rapidly investigated area. Therefore, we aimed at developing an immune-related lncRNA signature to improve the prognosis prediction of breast cancer.

Methods

We obtained breast cancer patient samples and corresponding clinical data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Immune-related lncRNAs were screened by co-expression analysis of immune-related genes which were downloaded from the Immunology Database and Analysis Portal (ImmPort). Clinical patient samples were randomly separated into training and testing sets. In the training set, univariate Cox regression analysis and LASSO regression were utilized to build a prognostic immune-related lncRNA signature. The signature was validated in the training set, testing set, and whole cohorts by the Kaplan–Meier log-rank test, time-dependent ROC curve analysis, principal component analysis, univariate andmultivariate Cox regression analyses.

Results

A total of 937 immune- related lncRNAs were identified, 15 candidate immune-related lncRNAs were significantly associated with overall survival (OS). Eight of these lncRNAs (OTUD6B-AS1, AL122010.1, AC136475.2, AL161646.1, AC245297.3, LINC00578, LINC01871, AP000442.2) were selected for establishment of the risk prediction model. The OS of patients in the low-risk group was higher than that of patients in the high-risk group (p = 1.215e − 06 in the training set; p = 0.0069 in the validation set; p = 1.233e − 07 in whole cohort). The time-dependent ROC curve analysis revealed that the AUCs for OS in the first, eighth, and tenth year were 0.812, 0.81, and 0.857, respectively, in the training set, 0.615, 0.68, 0.655 in the validation set, and 0.725, 0.742, 0.741 in the total cohort. Multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated the model was a reliable and independent indicator for the prognosis of breast cancer in the training set (HR = 1.432; 95% CI 1.204–1.702, p < 0.001), validation set (HR = 1.162; 95% CI 1.004–1.345, p = 0.044), and whole set (HR = 1.240; 95% CI 1.128–1.362, p < 0.001). GSEA analysis revealed a strong connection between the signature and immune-related biological processes and pathways.

Conclusions

We constructed and verified a robust signature of 8 immune-related lncRNAs for the prediction of breast cancer patient survival.

Dysregulated PDGFR alpha expression and novel somatic mutations in colorectal cancer: association to RAS wild type status and tumor size

Background

Platelet derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRα) has been considered as a relevant factor in tumor proliferation, angiogenesis and metastatic dissemination. It was a target of tyrosine kinase (TK) inhibitors emerged in the therapy of diverse cancers. In colorectal cancer, the commonly used therapy is anti-epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR). However, both RAS mutated and a subgroup of RAS wild type patients resist to such therapy. The aim of this study is to investigate PDGFRα protein expression and mutational status in colorectal adenocarcinoma and their association with clinicopathological features and molecular RAS status to provide useful information for the identification of an effective biomarker that might be implicated in prognosis and treatment prediction.

Methods

Our study enrolled 103 formalin fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) colorectal adenocarcinoma. PDGFRα expression was investigated by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Hotspot exon 18 of PDGFRA was studied by PCR followed by Sanger sequencing and RAS status was determined by real time quantitative PCR. Thirteen normal colon tissues were used as negative controls.

Results

PDGFRα staining was detected in the cytoplasm of all tissues. Low expression was observed in all normal colon mucosa. In adenocarcinoma, 45% (45/100) of cases showed PDGFRα overexpression. This overexpression was significantly associated with mutations in exon 18 (P = 0.024), RAS wild type status (P < 10^–3), tumor diameter (P = 0.048), whereas there was no association with tumor side (P = 0.13) and other clinicopathological features.

Conclusion

Overexpression of PDGFRα in adenocarcinoma suggests its potential role in tumor cells growth and invasion. The association between PDGFRα overexpression in both tumor and stromal adenocarcinoma cells with RAS wild type status suggests its potential role in anti-EGFR therapy resistance and the relevance of using it as specific or adjuvant therapeutic target.

Circulating miR-146a expression predicts early treatment response to imatinib in adult chronic myeloid leukemia

This study aimed to investigate the prognostic role of circulating miR-146a in the prediction of early response to imatinib treatment in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Sixty patients with CML and 20 healthy controls were recruited in this study. BCR-ABL was assessed by quantitative rt-PCR at days 0 and 90 of imatinib therapy. Circulating miR-146a levels were assessed by quantitative rt-PCR at days 0, 14 and 90 of imatinib therapy for patients and once for controls. At day 90 of treatment, treatment response was achieved in 48 patients (80.0%). Responders had significantly lower baseline Sokal score when compared with non-responders. They also had significantly lower BCR-ABL expression at day 90 of treatment. The circulating miR-146a level was significantly lower in patients with CML than in healthy subjects and showed a significant rise after 14 days of imatinib treatment and an inverse correlation with BCR-ABL expression levels at 90 days. Using multivariate logistic regression analysis, baseline BCR-ABL (%) (OR (95% CI) 1.09 (1.03 to 1.016), p=0.006) and miR-146a at 14 days (OR (95% CI) 0.002 (0.0 to 0.09), p=0.001) were significant predictors of treatment response. Using ROC curve analysis, it was found that miR-146a expression at 14 and 90 days could distinguish responders from non-responders (AUC (95% CI) 0.849 (0.733 to 0.928) and 0.867 (0.755 to 0.941), respectively). This study reported for the first time that measurement of the circulating miR-146a expression at 14 days can predict the early response to imatinib treatment in patients with CML. Thus, this work indicates that miR-146a should be investigated in the setting of treatment response to other tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

Application of Thromboelastography to Predict Lung Cancer Stage

Objective:

Lung cancer is often associated with hypercoagulability. Thromboelastography provides integrated information on clot formation in whole blood. This study explored the possible relationship between thromboelastography and lung cancer.

Methods:

Lung cancer was staged according to the Tumor, Node, and Metastasis (TNM) classification system. Thromboelastography parameters in different stages of disease were compared. The value of thromboelastography for stage prediction was determined by area under the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.

Results:

A total of 182 patients diagnosed with lung cancer were included. Thromboelastography parameters, including kinetics time, α-angle, and maximum amplitude, differed significantly between patients with metastatic and limited lung cancers (P < 0.05). Kinetics time was significantly reduced and maximum amplitude was significantly increased in patients with stage I and II compared with stage III and IV tumors (P < 0.05). TNM stage was significantly negatively correlated with kinetics time (r = −0.186), and significantly positively correlated with α-angle (r = 0.151) and maximum amplitude (r = 0.251) (both P < 0.05). The area under the curve for kinetics time in patients with stage I cancer was 0.637 (P < 0.05) and that for α-angle in stage ≥ II was 0.623 (P < 0.05). The areas under the curves for maximum amplitude in stage ≥ III and stage IV cancer were 0.650 and 0.605, respectively (both P < 0.05). Thromboelastography parameters were more closely associated with TNM stage in patients with lung adenocarcinoma than in the whole lung cancer population.

Conclusion:

This study identified the diagnostic value of thromboelastography parameters for determining tumor stage in patients with lung cancer. Thromboelastography can be used as an independent predictive parameter for lung cancer severity.

Integrative network analysis identifies an immune-based prognostic signature as the determinant for the mesenchymal subtype in epithelial ovarian cancer

BACKGROUND

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) has been classified into four molecular subtypes, of which the mesenchymal subtype has the poorest survival. Our goal is to develop an immune-based prognostic signature by incorporating molecular subtypes for EOC patients.

METHODS

The gene expression profiles of EOC samples were collected from seven public datasets as well as an internal retrospective validation cohort, containing 1192 EOC patients. Network analysis was applied to integrate the mesenchymal modalities and immune signature to establish an immune-based prognostic signature for EOC (IPSEOC). The signature was trained and validated in eight independent datasets.

RESULTS

Seven immune genes were identified as key regulators of the mesenchymal subtype and were used to construct the IPSEOC. The IPSEOC significantly divided patients into high- and low-risk groups in discovery (OS: P < .0001), 6 independent public validation sets (OS: P = .04 to P = .002), and an internal retrospective validation cohort (OS: P = .025). Furthermore, pathway analysis revealed that differences between risk groups were mainly activation of mesenchymal-related signalling. Moreover, a significant correlation existed between the IPSEOC values versus clinical phenotypes including late tumor stages, drug resistance.

CONCLUSION

We propose an immune-based signature, which is a promising prognostic biomarker in ovarian cancer. Prospective studies are needed to further validate its analytical accuracy and test the clinical utility.

Prognostic significance of tumor-associated macrophages in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

To explore the prognostic value of diverse subsets of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) in prognosis in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) using meta-analysis.

METHODS

Relevant studies were searched in the database of PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Wanfang till November 2019. The relationship between TAMs and survival outcomes was estimated by pooling hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs); and the correlation of TAMs and clinicopathological factors was evaluated by using odds ratios (ORs) and 95%CIs.

RESULTS

Six studies with 1549 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The high expression of CD68+ TAMs was associated with favorable disease-free survival (DFS) (HR = 0.66, 95%CI = 0.50-0.88, P = .005), whereas the density of M2-like TAMs (CD163+, CD68+CCL18+, and CD206+) was correlated to poor overall survival (OS) (HR = 1.77, 95%CI = 1.22-2.56, P = .003) and DFS (HR = 1.96, 95%CI = 1.00-3.85, P = .050) in patients with NPC.

CONCLUSIONS

CD68+ TAM density is associated with superior DFS, while CD163+ M2-like TAMs predicted poor prognosis in patients with NPC.

A serum lipidomic strategy revealed potential lipid biomarkers for early-stage cervical cancer

AIMS

Cervical cancer (CC) is a common tumor of women worldwide. Here, we conducted a non-targeted lipidomic study to discover novel lipid biomarkers for early-stage CC.

MAIN METHODS

The lipidomic analysis of 71 samples in discovery set and 72 samples in validation set were performed by coupling ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC) with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (Q-TOF-MS). Lipids with variable importance (VIP) values greater than 1, adj. p < 0.05 (the adjusted p value obtained from false discovery rate correction) and fold change (FC) higher than 1.5 were reserved as potential biomarkers. Subsequently, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and binary logistic regression were implemented to assess the diagnostic potential of these biomarkers and to acquire the best biomarker combination.

KEY FINDINGS

A lipid biomarker panel, including phosphatidylcholine (PC, PC 14:0/18:2) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE, PE 15:1e/22:6 and PE 16:1e/18:2), was established. This panel was effective in distinguishing between CC and non-CC (squamous intraepithelial lesions [SIL] and healthy controls) within the area under the ROC curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity reaching 0.966, 0.952, and 0.860 for discovery set and 0.961, 0.920, and 0.915 for external validation set. Furthermore, this panel was also capable of discriminating early-stage CC from SIL with AUC, sensitivity, and specificity reaching 0.946, 0.952, and 0.800 for discovery set and 0.956, 0.960, and 0.815 for external validation set.

SIGNIFICANCE

The combination of PC 14:0/18:2, PE 15:1e/22:6, and PE 16:1e/18:2 could serve as a promising serum biomarker for discriminating early-stage CC from SIL and healthy subjects.

Expression profile of SYNE3 and bioinformatic analysis of its prognostic value and functions in tumors

Background

Spectrin repeat containing nuclear envelope family member 3 (SYNE3) encodes an essential component of the linker of the cytoskeleton and nucleoskeleton (LINC) complex, namely nesprin-3. In a tumor, invasiveness and metastasis rely on the integrity of the LINC complex, while the role of SYNE3/nesprin-3 in cancer is rarely studied.

Methods

Here, we explored the expression pattern, prognostic value, and related mechanisms of SYNE3 through both experimental and bioinformatic methods. We first detected SYNE3 in BALB/c mice, normal human tissues, and the paired tumor tissues, then used bioinformatics databases to verify our results. We further analyzed the prognostic value of SYNE3. Next, we predicted miRNA targeting SYNE3 and built a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network and a transcriptional network by analyzing data from the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) database. Interacting genes of SYNE3 were predicted, and we further performed GO and KEGG enrichment analysis on these genes. Besides, the relationship between SYNE3 and immune infiltration was also investigated.

Results

SYNE3 exhibited various expressions in different tissues, mainly located on nuclear and in cytoplasm sometimes. SYNE3 expression level had prognostic value in tumors, possibly by stabilizing nucleus, promoting tumor cells apoptosis, and altering tumor microenvironment. Additionally, we constructed a RP11-2B6.2-miR-149-5p-/RP11-67L2.2-miR-330-3p-SYNE3 ceRNA network and a SATB1-miR-149-5p-SYNE3 transcriptional network in lung adenocarcinoma to support the tumor-suppressing role of SYNE3.

Conclusions

Our study explored novel anti-tumor functions and mechanisms of SYNE3, which might be useful for future cancer therapy.

Prognostic Value of C-Reactive Protein to Albumin Ratio in Gastric Cancer: A Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVE

C-reactive protein to albumin ratio (CRP/Alb) is investigated as a prognostic marker in gastric cancer in previous studies, with presence of inconsistent data. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the prognostic role of CRP/Alb in gastric cancer through meta-analysis.

METHODS

This meta-analysis systemically retrieved PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Wanfang up to July 4, 2020. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were conducted to evaluate the association between CRP/Alb and survival outcomes.

RESULTS

A total of nine studies with 3346 patients were included in the present meta-analysis. The pooled HR and 95%CI were: HR = 1.89, 95%CI = 1.64-2.19, p < 0.001 for overall survival (OS) and HR = 2.15, 95%CI = 1.72-2.70, p < 0.001 for disease-free survival (DFS). Subgroup analysis demonstrate that an elevated CRP/Alb remain a significant prognostic factor for poor OS and DFS irrespective of sample size, nationality of patients, or cutoff value resource (p < 0.05 in all subgroups).

CONCLUSIONS

The present meta-analysis suggests that high CRP/Alb is predictive of poor OS and DFS in gastric cancer. CRP/Alb is therefore a potential prognostic factor in the management of patients with gastric cancer.

A panel of 8 miRNAs as a novel diagnostic biomarker in pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the major causes of cancer mortality in developed countries. Therefore, there is an urgent need to derive biomarkers for early diagnosis of PC patients at high risk.This study was designed to identify a panel of miRNAs that might serve as biomarkers for the early diagnosis of PC.The data containing both PC and control samples were extracted from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. EdgeR was applied to identify the differentially expressed miRNAs and genes between PC patients and healthy controls. Then a miRNA-mRNA network was constructed based on the differentially expressed miRNAs and genes. The miRNAs-based biomarker for PC was finally constructed by random forest. Finally, AUC was used to evaluate the performance of miRNAs to classify PC and control samples.A total of 33 differentially expressed miRNAs, 753 differentially expressed genes, and 8 miRNAs (hsa-mir-139, hsa-mir-31, hsa-mir-196b, hsa-mir-221, hsa-mir-203b, hsa-mir-215, hsa-mir-144, and hsa-mir-4433b) that play important roles in PC were identified. The target genes of these miRNAs were found to be mainly enriched in negative regulation of acute inflammatory response cell-substrate responses, and o-glycan processing pathways. The constructed biomarkers based on these 8 miRNAs could distinguish samples coming from PC and healthy controls.We identified a panel of eight-miRNAs that would serve as early diagnostic biomarkers for PC patients.

Protein Kinase D1 Is Increased in Tumor Tissue, Correlates With Advanced Tumor Features and Worse Prognosis of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to assess protein kinase D1 expression and its association with tumor characteristics as well as prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

METHODS

Protein kinase D1 expression in tumor tissues and adjacent tissues from 172 patients with non-small cell lung cancer who underwent surgical resection were analyzed by immunohistochemical staining. Based on the total immunohistochemical score, protein kinase D1 expression was classified as protein kinase D1 high expression (further divided into protein kinase D1 high+++, protein kinase D1 high++, and protein kinase D1 high+ expressions) and protein kinase D1 low expression. Clinical characteristics of patients with non-small cell lung cancer were acquired from the database. Accumulating disease-free survival and overall survival were calculated based on patients' relapse/survival status.

RESULTS

Protein kinase D1 expression was increased in tumor tissues compared to adjacent tissues (P < .001). Tumor protein kinase D1 high expression correlated with poorer pathological differentiation (P = .041), increased tumor size (P = .003), the presence of lymph node metastasis (P = .001), and elevated tumor, nodes and metastases stage (P < .001). Besides, both accumulating disease-free survival and overall survival were decreased in patients with tumor protein kinase D1 high expression compared to patients with tumor protein kinase D1 low expression (P = .010 for disease-free survival and P = 0.005 for overall survival). Moreover, they were lowest in patients with tumor protein kinase D1 high+++ expression, followed by patients with tumor protein kinase D1 high++ expression, then patients with tumor protein kinase D1 high+ expression, and highest in patients with tumor protein kinase D1 low expression (P < .001 for disease-free survival and P = .001 for overall survival). Notably, higher tumor protein kinase D1 expression was an independent predictive factor for decreased disease-free survival (P = .001) and overall survival (P = .004).

CONCLUSIONS

Protein kinase D1 might be a potential marker to identify patients with non-small cell lung cancer with worse tumor features and prognosis.