Correlation of polymorphism of IL-8 and MMP-7 with occurrence and lymph node metastasis of early stage cervical cancer

Application progress of liquid biopsy in gastric cancer

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignant tumors globally. Guiding the individualized treatment of GC is the focus of research. Obtaining representative biological samples to study the biological characteristics of GC is the focus of diagnosis and treatment of GC. Liquid biopsy technology can use high-throughput sequencing technology to detect biological genetic information in blood. Compared with traditional tissue biopsy, liquid biopsy can determine the dynamic changes of tumor. As a noninvasive auxiliary diagnostic method, liquid biopsy can provide diagnostic and prognostic information concerning the progression of the disease. Liquid biopsy includes circulating tumor cells, circulating tumor DNA, circulating tumor RNA, tumor educated platelets, exosomes, and cytokines. This article describes the classification of liquid biopsy and its application value in the occurrence, development, and therapeutic efficacy of GC.

Prioritization and Meta-analysis of regulatory SNPs identified IL6, TGFB1, TLR9 and MMP7 as significantly associated with cervical cancer

Cervical cancer is a leading women cancer globally with respect to both incidence and mortality. Its increased risk has been linked with HPV infection and genetic variations like single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Although, studies have been published which evaluates the effect of SNPs in a few candidate genes, however the role of number of regulatory SNPs (rSNPs) in cervical cancer is not available. As literature evidence has shown that non-coding rSNPs are related with increasing cervical cancer risk, we undertook this study to prioritize the important rSNPs and elucidate their role. A search was conducted in PubMed up to December 2020, which led to the identification of 263 articles and 969 SNPs in the non-coding region. These 969 SNPs were analysed through rSNPBase and RegulomeDB, leading to identification of 105 rSNPs. Afterwards, a regulatory module was constructed using protein-protein interaction data and a hub of highly interacting 23 target genes (corresponding to 34 rSNPs) was identified using MCODE. To further understand the mechanism of action of the 34 rSNPs, their transcription factor information with respect to cervical cancer was retrieved. To evaluate the pooled effect of these prioritized polymorphisms in cervical cancer patients, a meta-analysis was performed on 10,537 cases and 11,252 controls from 30 studies corresponding to 8 rSNPs. It led to identification of polymorphisms in IL6 (rs2069837), TGFB1 (rs1800469), TLR9 (rs187084) and MMP7 (rs11568818) which are significantly (p < 0.05) associated with increased cervical cancer risk at the population level. Overall, the study demonstrates that rSNPs targeting immune and inflammatory genes (IL1B, IL6, IL10, IL18, TGFB1, CCR5, CD40, TLR9, and MMP7) are associated with cervical cancer.

A comprehensive meta-analysis of non-coding polymorphisms associated with precancerous lesions and cervical cancer

OBJECTIVES

To study the risk of polymorphisms present in the non-coding regions of genes related with cervical cancer.

METHODS

The PubMed database was extensively searched using text-mining techniques to identify literature containing the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms and cervical cancer. Case-control studies published till June 2020 were considered for the meta-analysis if they fulfilled the selection criteria. The polymorphisms within each case-control study were checked for the presence of genotype data and then divided into groups based on the precancerous and cancerous conditions of the cervix. Odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to study the effects of polymorphisms with the help of different genetic models (allele, dominant, recessive, heterozygous and homozygous). Also checked heterogeneity along with publication bias and statistical significance using the p-value.

RESULTS

120 papers covering 48 unique non-coding SNPs having 37,123 cases and 39,641 control data was considered for the meta-analysis. The genotype data was categorised into Cancer, Precancer and "Cancer + Precancer" groups, for 43, 8 and 11 SNPs respectively. The meta-analysis identified 21 and 1 SNPs as significant in the Cancer and "Cancer + Precancer" groups. Among all the polymorphisms, rs1143627 (IL1B), rs1800795 (IL6), rs1800871 (IL10), rs568408 (IL12A), rs3312227 (IL12B), rs2275913 (IL17A), rs5742909 (CTLA4), rs1800629 (TNFα), and rs4646903 (CYP1A1) were found to increase risk of cervical cancer in at least three of the five genetic models.

CONCLUSION

We identified potential non-coding SNPs corresponding to various cytokines like interleukins (ILs), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interferon (IFN) and other immune related genes like toll like receptor (TLR), cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein (CTLA) and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP), as significant with increased pooled OR in this meta-analysis pointing to risk association of the immune-related genes in cervical carcinogenesis.

Molecular landscape of recurrent cervical cancer

Cervical cancer (CC) is a major gynecological problem in developing and underdeveloped countries. Despite the significant advancement in early detection and treatment modalities, several patients recur. Moreover, the molecular mechanisms responsible for CC recurrence remains obscure. The patients with CC recurrence often show poor prognosis and significantly high mortality rates. The clinical management of recurrent CC depends on treatment history, site, and extent of the recurrence. Owing to poor prognosis and limited treatment options, recurrent CC often presents a challenge to the clinicians. Several in vitro, in vivo, and patient studies have led to the identification of the critical molecular changes responsible for CC recurrence. Both aberrant genetic and epigenetic modifications leading to altered cell signaling pathways have been reported to impact CC recurrence. Researchers are currently trying to dissect the molecular pathways in CC and translate these findings for better management of disease. This article attempts to review the existing knowledge of disease relapse, accompanying challenges, and associated molecular players in CC.

Novel Genomic Biomarker Candidates for Cervical Cancer As Identified by Differential Co-Expression Network Analysis

Cervical cancer is the second most common malignancy and the third reason for mortality among women in developing countries. Although infection by the oncogenic human papilloma viruses is a major cause, genomic contributors are still largely unknown. Network analyses, compared with candidate gene studies, offer greater promise to map the interactions among genomic loci contributing to cervical cancer risk. We report here a differential co-expression network analysis in five gene expression datasets (GSE7803, GSE9750, GSE39001, GSE52903, and GSE63514, from the Gene Expression Omnibus) in patients with cervical cancer and healthy controls. Kaplan-Meier Survival and principle component analyses were employed to evaluate prognostic and diagnostic performances of biomarker candidates, respectively. As a result, seven distinct co-expressed gene modules were identified. Among these, five modules (with sizes of 9-45 genes) presented high prognostic and diagnostic capabilities with hazard ratios of 2.28-11.3, and diagnostic odds ratios of 85.2-548.8. Moreover, these modules were associated with several key biological processes such as cell cycle regulation, keratinization, neutrophil degranulation, and the phospholipase D signaling pathway. In addition, transcription factors ETS1 and GATA2 were noted as common regulatory elements. These genomic biomarker candidates identified by differential co-expression network analysis offer new prospects for translational cancer research, not to mention personalized medicine to forecast cervical cancer susceptibility and prognosis. Looking into the future, we also suggest that the search for a molecular basis of common complex diseases should be complemented by differential co-expression analyses to obtain a systems-level understanding of disease phenotype variability.

Increasing aggressiveness of patient-derived xenograft models of cervix carcinoma during serial transplantation

Four patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models (BK-12, ED-15, HL-16, LA-19) of carcinoma of the uterine cervix have been developed in our laboratory, and their stability during serial transplantation in vivo was investigated in this study. Two frozen cell stocks were established, one from xenografted tumors in passage 2 (early generation) and the other from xenografted tumors transplanted serially in mice for approximately two years (late generation), and the biology of late generation tumors was compared with that of early generation tumors. Late generation tumors showed higher incidence of lymph node metastases than early generation tumors in three models (ED-15, HL-16, LA-19), and the increased metastatic propensity was associated with increased tumor growth rate, increased microvascular density, and increased expression of angiogenesis-related and cancer stem cell-related genes. Furthermore, late generation tumors showed decreased fraction of pimonidazole-positive tissue (i.e., decreased fraction of hypoxic tissue) in two models (HL-16, LA-19) and decreased fraction of collagen-I-positive tissue (i.e., less extensive extracellular matrix) in two models (ED-15, HL-16). This study showed that serially transplanted PDXs may not necessarily mirror the donor patients’ diseases, and consequently, proper use of serially transplanted PDX models in translational cancer research requires careful molecular monitoring of the models.

Nucleotide variation in ATG4A and susceptibility to cervical cancer in Southwestern Chinese women

Early detection of human papillomavirus (HPV) is important for the clinical diagnosis of cervical cancer. However, to date, the pathogenesis of cervical cancer is still unclear. Autophagy is a dynamic process that contributes to the maintenance of cellular homeostasis. Here, we investigate whether variants of autophagy genes affect the occurrence of cervical cancer. In this study, our results indicate that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of autophagy-related protein 4 (ATG4), including rs4036579, rs5973822, rs807181, rs807182 and rs807183, have a significant relationship with cervical cancer risk. Furthermore, stratified analysis suggests that the homozygous variant genotype could decrease the risk of cervical cancer and should be considered when investigating the role of HPV in cervical cancer. We aim to investigate whether SNPs of ATG4A contribute to HPV infection in the population of Southwestern China. The association of both single SNPs and SNP-SNP interactions with HPV was evaluated in a sample of cancer cases and healthy control subjects. The interaction of rs807181 and rs807183 was associated with HPV infection in case and control subjects (combined P=2.00×10⁻³ and 3.22×10⁻², respectively). This result showed that ATG4A SNP interactions may affect HPV infection in the population of Southwestern China. Notably, the autophagy gene ATG4A may contribute to cervical cancer.

Role of Intracystic Cytokines and Nitric Oxide in Ovarian Neoplasms

The development of new biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of ovarian cancer may provide an opportunity for new therapies. In this study, we aimed to compare cytokines (interleukin [IL]-2, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and tumour necrosis factor [TNF]-α) and nitric oxide (NO) metabolite levels in non-neoplastic tumours, benign primary ovarian tumours and malignant primary ovarian neoplasms. The secondary aim was to relate cytokine and intracystic NO metabolite levels to clinical, laboratory and pathologic characteristics for patients with primary ovarian malignancies. We evaluated 110 patients with adnexal masses. Cytokine concentrations were quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and nitrate concentrations by enzymatic reduction of nitrite by nitrate reductase. Patients with malignant neoplasms had higher IL-6, IL-8 and NO levels compared to patients with benign neoplasms. Histologic grade 1 tumours were associated with elevated IL-2 levels, whereas anaemia was associated with elevated IL-6 levels. On average, those patients with elevated IL-8 levels also had a neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) greater than 2.6 and less than 36 months of disease-free survival (DFS). Patients with normal CA 19-9 levels had elevated IL-10 levels. TNF-α was elevated in patients with two carcinogenesis and those with a platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) less than 300. NO levels were higher in patients with an NLR less than 2.6 and CA 19-9 greater than 35 U/ml. Elevated intracystic cytokine levels, especially IL-6 and IL-8, are associated with worse prognosis in ovarian cancer.

A/G polymorphism of matrix metalloproteinase 7 gene promoter region and cancer risk: A meta-analysis

This meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the effect of the matrix metalloproteinase 7 (MMP7)-181A/G polymorphism on cancer risk. Twenty-seven case-control studies were identified via a literature search through PubMed, Web of Science and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases. Odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were applied to assess the strength of the association between MMP7-181A/G polymorphism and cancer risk. The 27 studies were further assessed according to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) and Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium (HWD), with 24 case-control studies found to be under HWE. A significant association was observed between MMP7-181A/G polymorphism and increased cancer risk (cervical and other types of cancer) in Asian, but not in European populations.

Interleukin-1 beta polymorphisms are associated with lymph node metastasis in Korean patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma

In this study, we investigated whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the interleukin-1 beta (IL-1B) were associated with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). We also assessed the relationships between IL-1B SNPs and the clinicopathologic characteristics of PTC patients. Ninety-three PTC patients and 324 controls were recruited. The patients with PTC were dichotomized and compared with respect to the clinicopathologic characteristics of PTC. Seven SNPs in the IL-1B gene were selected and genotyped using direct sequencing. Four SNPs (rs1143627, rs3136558, rs1143633, and rs1143643) in the IL-1B gene were significantly associated with PTC (p < 0.05). In clinicopathologic features, 3 SNPs (rs1143630, rs1143633, and rs1143643) showed a strong relationship with lymph node metastasis of PTC. The genotype and allele frequencies of rs1143630 and rs1143643 remained significantly associated with lymph node metastasis after Bonferroni correction for multiple testing. In haplotype analysis, two linkage disequilibrium blocks (block 1 consisted of rs1143627, rs3917356, and rs1143630; block 2 consisted of rs1143633 and rs1143643) also revealed significant associations with lymph node metastasis. Our results suggest that IL-1B polymorphisms may be associated with the risk of PTC in the Korean population. Especially, IL-1B polymorphisms might be a predictive factor for lymph node metastasis of PTC patients.

Association between polymorphisms in the promoter regions of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and risk of cancer metastasis: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

A variety of studies have evaluated the associations between polymorphisms in the promoter regions of Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and cancer metastasis. However, the results remain inconclusive. To better understand the roles of MMP polymorphisms in metastasis, we conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis.

METHODS

Electronic databases were searched (from January 2000 to June 2011) for any MMP genetic association studies in metastasis. Overall and subgroup analyses were performed. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to evaluate the associations between MMP polymorphisms and metastasis. Statistical analysis was performed with Review Manager 5.0 and STATA11.0.

RESULTS

Thirty-three studies addressing five MMP polymorphisms were analyzed among 10,516 cancer cases (4,059 metastasis-positive cases and 6,457 metastasis-negative cases). For MMP1 (-1607)1G/2G, genotype 2G/2G increased the overall risk of metastasis under the recessive model (OR = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.05-1.98). In subgroup analysis based on cancer type, associations were found in head/neck and breast cancer under the recessive model, and also in breast cancer under the dominant model. For MMP3 (-1171) 5A/6A, the polymorphism decreased the overall risk of metastasis under two genetic models (recessive: OR = 0.80, 95%CI = 0.64-0.99, dominant: OR = 0.72, 95%CI = 0.56-0.93). The polymorphisms of MMP7 (-181) A/G and MMP9 (-1562) C/T increased metastatic risk. However, no association was observed between MMP2 (-1306) C/T and metastasis.

CONCLUSIONS

Our investigations demonstrate that polymorphisms in the promoter regions of MMP1, 3, 7 and 9 might be associated with metastasis in some cancers. Further studies with large sample size for MMP2 should be conducted.