Prognostic and clinicopathological value of NM23 expression in patients with breast cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Metastasis suppressor genes in clinical practice: are they druggable?

Since the identification of NM23 (now called NME1) as the first metastasis suppressor gene (MSG), a small number of other gene products and non-coding RNAs have been identified that suppress specific parameters of the metastatic cascade, yet which have little or no ability to regulate primary tumor initiation or maintenance. MSG can regulate various pathways or cell biological functions such as those controlling mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway mediators, cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix protein adhesion, cytoskeletal architecture, G-protein-coupled receptors, apoptosis, and transcriptional complexes. One defining facet of this gene class is that their expression is typically downregulated, not mutated, in metastasis, such that any effective therapeutic intervention would involve their re-expression. This review will address the therapeutic targeting of MSG, once thought to be a daunting task only facilitated by ectopically re-expressing MSG in metastatic cells in vivo. Examples will be cited of attempts to identify actionable oncogenic pathways that might suppress the formation or progression of metastases through the re-expression of specific metastasis suppressors.

Valproic Acid and Breast Cancer: State of the Art in 2021

Valproic acid (2-propylpentanoic acid, VPA) is a short-chain fatty acid, a member of the group of histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDIs). VPA has been successfully used in the treatment of epilepsy, bipolar disorders, and schizophrenia for over 50 years. Numerous in vitro and in vivo pre-clinical studies suggest that this well-known anticonvulsant drug significantly inhibits cancer cell proliferation by modulating multiple signaling pathways. Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy affecting women worldwide. Despite significant progress in the treatment of BC, serious adverse effects, high toxicity to normal cells, and the occurrence of multi-drug resistance (MDR) still limit the effective therapy of BC patients. Thus, new agents which improve the effectiveness of currently used methods, decrease the emergence of MDR, and increase disease-free survival are highly needed. This review focuses on in vitro and in vivo experimental data on VPA, applied individually or in combination with other anti-cancer agents, in the treatment of different histological subtypes of BC.

Anti-tumor peptide SA12 inhibits metastasis of MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 breast cancer cells via increasing expression of the tumor metastasis suppressor genes, CDH1, nm23-H1 and BRMS1

In recent years, there has been progress in the treatment of breast cancer; however, the prognosis is still poor due to recurrence and metastasis following conventional treatment. The anti-tumor peptide SA12 has been demonstrated to inhibit proliferation and arrest the cell cycle in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 breast cancer cells. In the present study, whether SA12 was able to inhibit the metastasis of breast cancer cells was investigated. Wound healing and Transwell assays were used to investigate the inhibition of SA12 on cell migration while, reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and western blot assays were used to identify the mechanism of action behind the effects of SA12 on cell migration. Results from the wound healing and Transwell assays revealed that SA12 significantly inhibited the migration of MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 breast cancer cells following treatment with 100 µM SA12. Compared with that in the controls, the mRNA expression levels of cadherin 1 (CDH1), non-metastasis 23-H1 (nm23-H1) and breast cancer metastasis suppressor 1 (BRMS1) were increased in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells following treatment with 100 µM SA12. Furthermore, the protein expression levels of E-cadherin, NM23A and BRMS1 were also increased in MDA-MB-231 cells and MCF-7 cells following treatment with 100 µM SA12. In conclusion, SA12 inhibited the migration of MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 breast cancer cells and enhanced the expression of the tumor metastasis suppressor genes, CDH1, nm23-H1 and BRMS1, which may be responsible for the SA12-induced inhibition of breast cancer cell metastasis.

DNASE1L2, as a Carcinogenic Marker, Affects the Phenotype of Breast Cancer Cells Via Regulating Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition Process

Purpose: The authors explore the role of DNASE1L2 in breast cancer (BC) and its affect on the cell phenotype. Methods: Breast invasive ductal carcinoma RNA-Seq data set was downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas database for analyzing DNASE1L2 levels. Overall survival curve was plotted by Kaplan-Meier methods. The correlations between DNASE1L2 expression and clinical characteristics were analyzed by chi-square tests. Cox regression models were implemented for analyzing the potential prognosticators of BC. Small interference RNA-DNASE1L2 and pcDNA3.1-DNASE1L2 were transfected into BC cells to silence and overexpress DNASE1L2, respectively. Relative mRNA and protein levels were determined by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blot, respectively. Cell counting Kit-8, clone formation, and Transwell assays were employed to measure the proliferative, invasive, and migratory abilities. Results: Bioinformatics analysis showed that the levels of DNASE1L2 were found to be elevated in BC tissues, which was further proved by qRT-PCR tests. Besides, high expression of DNASE1L2 was dramatically led to a poor overall survival. Furthermore, DNASE1L2 expression was remarkably associated with age and pathologic-stage. Silencing DNASE1L2 showed an inhibitory effect on the proliferation, invasion, and migration of MCF7 cells, whereas overexpression of DNASE1L2 in BT549 cells presented the opposite results. Mechanistically, downregulation of DNASE1L2 could significantly enhance the levels of E-cadherin, as well as suppress the levels of Vimentin, N-cadherin and Snail, whereas upregulation of DNASE1L2 showed the reverse outcomes. Conclusion: This study for the first time demonstrated that DNASE1L2 was upregulated in BC cells, and acted as an oncogene to affect the phenotype of BC cells by modulating the epithelial-mesenchymal transition process, which suggested that DNASE1L2 might be considered as a useful biomarker for BC therapeutics.

nm23, TOP2A and VEGF expression: Potential prognostic biologic factors in peripheral T-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified

Peripheral T-cell lymphoma not otherwise specified (PTCL-NOS) is an aggressive lymphoma associated with a poor outcome. To date, the factor consistently associated with prognosis is the International Prognostic Index (IPI) score; however, it is considered that the IPI score cannot be beneficial for guiding potential targeted therapies. New scoring systems have recently been developed. The aim of the present study was to observe the expression of NME/NM23 nucleoside diphosphate kinase 1 (nm23), nuclear DNA topoisomerase 2-α (TOP2A), multiple myeloma oncogene-1 (MUM-1) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and evaluate their prognostic value in PTCL-NOS. A retrospective analysis of 124 cases of PTCL-NOS showed that 70/122 (57.4%) cases were positive for nm23, 71/122 (58.2%) for TOP2A, 30/119 (25.2%) for MUM-1 and 64/122 (52.5%) for VEGF. Of note, 50/122 cases concurrently expressed nm23, TOP2A and VEGF. The univariate analysis results revealed that the nm23 (P=0.012), TOP2A (P=0.002) and VEGF (P=0.008) expression had a negative prognostic effect in patients with PTCL-NOS, while the MUM-1 expression did not have a significant prognostic value (P=0.918). In addition, the concurrent expression of nm23, TOP2A and VEGF was significantly associated with a worse prognosis (P=0.002). However, in multivariate Cox regression analysis, the concurrent expression of nm23, TOP2A and VEGF tended to predict a worse prognosis, however the P-value was borderline (hazard ratio, 1.495; 95% confidence interval, 0.993-2.250; P=0.054). It is speculated that there may be an association among the expression of nm23, TOP2A and VEGF, and that their expression may serve as a promising prognostic factor for PTCL-NOS.

High Survivin and Low Zinc Finger of the Cerebellum 1 Expression Indicates Poor Prognosis in Triple-negative Breast Carcinoma

Purpose

Triple-negative breast carcinoma (TNBC) is accompanied with high risk of metastasis and recurrence. The present study aimed to explore the clinicopathological and prognostic roles of putative tumor-related genes in patients with TNBC.

Methods

Thirty pairs of frozen-thawed tumors were used to select reliable indicators via real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Then, 150 pathology specimens were used to evaluate the expression of proteins in TNBC through immunohistochemistry. In addition, Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression analysis were also performed to analyze the overall survival and disease-free survival.

Results

RT-qPCR results indicated that among all the proteins analyzed using fresh-frozen TNBC samples, the expression levels of only Survivin and zinc finger of the cerebellum 1 (ZIC1) were obviously different from those in the corresponding normal tissues. Survivin and ZIC1 expression had opposite effects on the clinicopathological diagnosis and prognostic assessment in TNBC patients. Further, there was a negative correlation between Survivin and ZIC1 expression. In addition, the “Survivin-positive ZIC1-negative group” was associated with histologic grade, lymph node metastasis, and TNM staging (p < 0.001) and this was also an independent factor for evaluating the prognosis of TNBC in patients.

Conclusion

In summary, the expression levels of Survivin and ZIC1 in TNBC are different from those in normal tissues and are negatively correlated mutually. The combined detection of Survivin and ZIC1 expression levels could allow better comprehensive diagnosis and prognostic evaluation for TNBC patients.

Correlation of nm 23 expression with pharyngeal cancer and patient prognoses

The present study investigated the expression of non-metastasis 23 (nm 23) in laryngeal cancer tissues and analyzed its correlation with the prognoses of laryngeal cancer patients. A total of 122 laryngeal cancer patients who were admitted to The Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical College from June 2009 to June 2012, and 30 normal laryngeal mucosal tissues were selected as the control group. Immunohistochemical staining method was used to test the expression of nm 23 in tissues. Quantitative-polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR) and western blotting were conducted to test the expression of nm 23 in tissues at the gene and protein levels, respectively. Moreover, the prognoses of patients were analyzed. The positive expression rate (90.00%) of nm 23 in the normal laryngeal mucosal tissues was markedly higher than that in laryngeal cancer tissues (56.56%) (p<0.05). The expression of nm 23 proteins was correlated with the clinical staging of laryngeal cancer and the metastasis of lymph nodes (p<0.05). The expression of both nm 23 genes and proteins in the laryngeal cancer tissues were significantly lower than those in the normal laryngeal mucosal tissues (p<0.05). The survival rate of the positive nm 23 expression was substantially higher than that of the negative expression with a statistically significant difference (p<0.01). In conclusion, the expression of nm 23 proteins plays an important role in the development and metastasis of laryngeal cancer and may be taken as one of the indicators to evaluate the prognoses of such patients.

Identification of Circulating Long Noncoding RNA HOTAIR as a Novel Biomarker for Diagnosis and Monitoring of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Long noncoding RNA (LncRNA) homeotic genes (HOX) transcript antisense RNA (HOTAIR) has been reported to play a vital role in various cancers. It has been found that HOTAIR was upregulated in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and involved in cell invasion and metastasis. The aberrant expression of HOTAIR is expected to serve as a potential biomarker for patients with NSCLC. Our aim in this study was to detect the plasma levels of HOTAIR and further evaluate its diagnostic value for NSCLC. The levels of HOTAIR were measured in 105 patients with NSCLC and 80 healthy controls by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. The results indicated that plasma HOTAIR levels were higher in NSCLC than in healthy controls. Besides, plasma HOTAIR levels were associated with histology subtype (P = .039) and tumor-node-metastasis stage (P = .022). The ROC curves showed that plasma HOTAIR has high diagnostic accuracy for NSCLC, and the area under curve (AUC) for NSCLC versus healthy was 0.791 (95% CI: 0.727-0.855) which was higher than carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) (AUC = 0.737, 95% CI: 0.666-0.808). Moreover, the combination of HOTAIR and CEA could provide a more accurate diagnosis than HOTAIR or CEA alone (AUC = 0.841, 95% CI: 0.783-0.898). Plasma HOTAIR levels were significantly lower in postoperative samples than in preoperative samples. Plasma HOTAIR could serve as a promising biomarker for diagnosing and monitoring NSCLC.