Association between five polymorphisms in vascular endothelial growth factor gene and urinary bladder cancer risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis involving 6671 subjects

The Relation of VEGFA, VEGFR2, VEGI, and HIF1A Genetic Variants and Their Serum Protein Levels with Breast Cancer in Egyptian Patients

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in Egyptian females. Polymorphisms in the angiogenesis pathway have been implicated previously in cancer risk and prognosis. The aim of the current study was to determine whether certain polymorphisms in the genes of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA), vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2), vascular endothelial growth inhibitor (VEGI), and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF1A) associated with breast cancer development. The study included 154 breast cancer patients and 132 apparently healthy age-matched females as a control group. VEGFA rs25648 genotyping was performed using (ARMS) PCR technique; while VEGFR2 rs2071559, VEGI rs6478106, and HIF-1α rs11549465 were genotyped by the PCR-RFLP method. Serum levels of VEGF, VEGFR2, VEGI, and HIF1A proteins in breast cancer patients and controls were measured by ELISA. There was a significant association between the VEGFA rs25648 C allele and breast cancer risk (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.7-3.6, p < 0.001). VEGFA rs25648 C/C genotype was statistically significantly higher in breast cancer patients vs. control (p < 0.001). Participants with the T/T and T/C VEGFR2 rs2071559 genotypes had 5.46 and 5 higher odds, respectively, of having breast cancer than those with the C/C genotype. For the VEGI rs6478106 polymorphism, there was a higher proportion of C allele in breast cancer patients vs. control (p = 0.003). Moreover, the C/C genotype of VEGI rs6478106 was statistically significantly higher in breast cancer patients vs. control (p = 0.001). There was no significant difference in genotypes and allele frequencies of HIF1A rs11549465 polymorphism between breast cancer cases and control individuals (p > 0.05). Serum levels of VEGFA, VEGI, and HIF1A were considerably greater in women with breast cancer than in the control (p < 0.001). In conclusion, the genetic variants VEGFA rs25648, VEGFR2 rs2071559, and VEGI rs6478106 revealed a significant association with increased breast cancer risk in Egyptian patients.

Genetic Polymorphisms Involved in Bladder Cancer: A Global Review

Bladder cancer (BC) has been associated with genetic susceptibility. Single peptide polymorphisms (SNPs) can modulate BC susceptibility. A literature search was performed covering the period between January 2000 and October 2020. Overall, 334 articles were selected, reporting 455 SNPs located in 244 genes. The selected 455 SNPs were further investigated. All SNPs that were associated with smoking and environmental exposure were excluded from this study. A total of 197 genes and 343 SNPs were found to be associated with BC, among which 177 genes and 291 SNPs had congruent results across all available studies. These genes and SNPs were classified into eight different categories according to their function.

The Evaluation of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A (VEGFA) and VEGFR2 Receptor as Prognostic Biomarkers in Bladder Cancer

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptors (VEGFR1 and VEGFR2) are the most important tissue factors involved in tumor growth and angiogenesis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the promoter mutational status of VEGFA and the expression levels of VEGFA, VEGFR1, and VEGFR2 in bladder cancer (BC) tissues and to correlate the results with the clinical-pathological parameters of BC patients. A total of 70 BC patients were recruited at the Urology Department of the Mohammed V Military Training Hospital in Rabat, Morocco. Sanger sequencing was performed to investigate the mutational status of VEGFA, and RT-QPCR was used to evaluate the expression levels of VEGFA, VEGFR1, and VEGFR2. Sequencing of the VEGFA gene promoter revealed the presence of -460T/C, -2578C/A, and -2549I/D polymorphisms, and statistical analyses showed a significant correlation between -460T/C SNP and smoking (p = 0.02). VEGFA and VEGFR2 expressions were significantly up-regulated in patients with NMIBC (p = 0.003) and MIBC (p = 0.03), respectively. Kaplan-Meier analyses showed that patients with high VEGFA expression had significantly longer disease-free survival (p = 0.014) and overall survival (p = 0.009). This study was very informative, showing the implication of VEGF alterations in BC, suggesting that VEGFA and VEGFR2 expressions could be promising biomarkers for the better management of BC.

Genetic susceptibility of bladder cancer in the Lebanese population

Background

Bladder cancer (BC) is the 10^th most frequent tumor worldwide. Evidence shows an association between elevated risk of BC and various single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP). BC incidence was the highest in Lebanon according to Globocan 2018 report, but little is known about the genetic susceptibility of Lebanese people to this disease. We aim to evaluate whether this prominent incidence of BC in Lebanon is attributable to known coding genetic variants.

Methods

A case-control study was conducted at Hotel-Dieu de France Hospital, Beirut. A cohort of 51 Lebanese patients with BC were recruited between 2017 and 2020. Whole Exome Sequencing (WES) was performed on peripheral blood samples to detect coding genetic variants in the patients. An in-house database including WES data from 472 Lebanese individuals served as control. Literature review of the genetic predisposition to BC was conducted to establish a database of variants known to influence the risk of BC. In-common SNPs were identified between cases and the aforecited database, and their allelic frequencies was quantified in the former and in controls. Comparative analysis of the allelic frequencies of each in-common SNP was carried out between cases, controls, and the genome aggregation database (gnomAD). Analysis was performed by applying the binomial law and setting the p-value to 10^− 10.

Results

484 polymorphisms associated with BC were extracted from the literature review ;151 of which were in-common with the 206 939 variations detected by WES in our cases. Statistically significant differences (p-value < 10^− 10) in allelic frequencies was seen in 11 of the 151 in-common SNPs, but none of which corresponds with a higher BC risk. Moreover, rs4986782 variant in the NAT1 gene is not associated with BC in the Lebanese population. `.

Conclusion

This is the first next-generation sequencing (NGS)- based study investigating BC risk in a Lebanese cohort of 51 patients. The majority of known exonic variants in the literature were not associated with BC in our patients. Further studies with larger sample sizes are warranted to explore the association of BC in our population with known non-coding genetic variants, and the remainder of WES-generated private Lebanese variants.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12920-022-01372-z.

VEGFA Haplotype and VEGF-A and VEGF-R2 Protein Associations with Exudative Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Our study aimed to reveal the associations between VEGFA SNPs (rs1570360, rs699947, rs3025033, and rs2146323), their haplotypes, VEGF-A and VEGF-R2 serum concentrations, and early and exudative AMD. A total of 339 subjects with early AMD and 419 with exudative AMD groups, and 374 healthy subjects, were genotyped for four VEGFA SNPs (rs1570360, rs699947, rs3025033, and rs2146323). VEGF-A and VEGFR-2 serum concentrations were measured in exudative AMD and controls. The results revealed that rs3025033 G allele was significantly associated with lower odds of exudative AMD under the dominant model (OR = 0.67; 95% CI: 0.49–0.80; p = 0.0088) and additive (OR = 0.7; 95% CI: 0.54–0.90; p = 0.0058) models after Bonferroni correction. In the female group, rs3025033 AG genotype was associated with exudative AMD under the codominant model (OR = 0.57; 95% CI: 0.37–0.87; p = 0.009) and G allele under the dominant (OR = 0.55; 95% CI: 0.37–0.82; p = 0.0032) and additive models (OR = 0.60; 95% CI: 0.42–0.84; p = 0.0028). Haplotype analysis revealed that individuals carrying rs1570360, rs699947, rs3025033, and rs2146323 haplotype A-A-G-A had decreased risk of exudative AMD (OR = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.23–0.90; p = 0.023). The VEGF-A and VEGF-R2 serum concentrations did not differ between study groups; we found that patients with exudative AMD carrying at least one C allele at rs699947 have statistically significantly higher VEGF-A serum concentrations compared to AA genotype carriers (485.95 (945.93) vs. 194.97 (-), respectively, p = 0.046). In conclusion, we found that VEGFA rs3025033 and haplotype rs1570360A-rs699947A-rs3025033G- rs2146323A play a protective role for exudative AMD in the Caucasian population. Furthermore, rs699947 is associated with elevated VEGF-A serum concentrations in exudative AMD.

Haplotypes of single cancer driver genes and their local ancestry in a highly admixed long-lived population of Northeast Brazil

Admixed populations have not been examined in detail in cancer genetic studies. Here, we inferred the local ancestry of cancer-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and haplotypes of a highly admixed Brazilian population. SNP array was used to genotype 73 unrelated individuals aged 80-102 years. Local ancestry inference was performed by merging genotyped regions with phase three data from the 1000 Genomes Project Consortium using RFmix. The average ancestry tract length was 9.12-81.71 megabases. Strong linkage disequilibrium was detected in 48 haplotypes containing 35 SNPs in 10 cancer driver genes. All together, 19 risk and eight protective alleles were identified in 23 out of 48 haplotypes. Homozygous individuals were mainly of European ancestry, whereas heterozygotes had at least one Native American and one African ancestry tract. Native-American ancestry for homozygous individuals with risk alleles for HNF1B, CDH1, and BRCA1 was inferred for the first time. Results indicated that analysis of SNP polymorphism in the present admixed population has a high potential to identify new ancestry-associated alleles and haplotypes that modify cancer susceptibility differentially in distinct human populations. Future case-control studies with populations with a complex history of admixture could help elucidate ancestry-associated biological differences in cancer incidence and therapeutic outcomes.

Brain Immunoinformatics: A Symmetrical Link between Informatics, Wet Lab and the Clinic

Breakthrough advances in informatics over the last decade have thoroughly influenced the field of immunology. The intermingling of machine learning with wet lab applications and clinical results has hatched the newly defined immunoinformatics society. Immunoinformatics of the central neural system, referred to as neuroimmunoinformatics (NII), investigates symmetrical and asymmetrical interactions of the brain-immune interface. This interdisciplinary overview on NII is addressed to bioscientists and computer scientists. We delineate the dominating trajectories and field-shaping achievements and elaborate on future directions using bridging language and terminology. Computation, varying from linear modeling to complex deep learning approaches, fuels neuroimmunology through three core directions. Firstly, by providing big-data analysis software for high-throughput methods such as next-generation sequencing and genome-wide association studies. Secondly, by designing models for the prediction of protein morphology, functions, and symmetrical and asymmetrical protein–protein interactions. Finally, NII boosts the output of quantitative pathology by enabling the automatization of tedious processes such as cell counting, tracing, and arbor analysis. The new classification of microglia, the brain’s innate immune cells, was an NII achievement. Deep sequencing classifies microglia in “sensotypes” to accurately describe the versatility of immune responses to physiological and pathological challenges, as well as to experimental conditions such as xenografting and organoids. NII approaches complex tasks in the brain-immune interface, recognizes patterns and allows for hypothesis-free predictions with ultimate targeted individualized treatment strategies, and personalizes disease prognosis and treatment response.

N-acetyltransferase 2 polymorphism is associated with bladder cancer risk: An updated meta-analysis based on 54 case-control studies

OBJECTIVE

N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) polymorphism could participate in the metabolism of carcinogens through regulating the activity of a series of critical enzymes. However, the effects of NAT2 polymorphism on bladder cancer (BCa) risk were still inconclusive. In order to illustrate whether NAT2 polymorphism may influence the susceptibility to BCa, we conducted this updated meta-analysis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Databases including PubMed, Medline, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI) were systematically retrieved and we applied MetaGenyo to perform final meta-analysis. Odds ratios (ORs) as well as 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated and Bonferroni method was applied to correct the P-value for multiple comparisons. The registration of this study protocol is at PROSPERO and ID is CRD42019133957.

RESULTS

Ultimately, 54 case-control studies were identified for final meta-analysis (13343 BCa cases and 18,586 controls). Overall analysis indicated that the slow genotype in NAT2 polymorphism was obviously associated with BCa risk (P_Bonferroni < 0.001). Subgroup analyses demonstrated that significant risk with the slow genotype was observed in Caucasians, Asians, smokers, non-exposed individuals, high grade bladder cancer (HGBC) patients and muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) patients. In addition, the intermediate NAT2 genotype was revealed to increase the BCa risk of Asians and transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) patients. However, no correlation was identified in Africans with the NAT2 polymorphism.

CONCLUSIONS

The slow NAT2 genotype was identified to be the risk genotype for BCa. The intermediate genotype could serve as the candidate risk genotype. The gene-smoking interaction with NAT2 polymorphism might accelerate the tumor progression.

Association between VEGF gene promoter polymorphisms and bladder cancer: An updated meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is the key regulator of angiogenesis in the development of various cancers. Previous studies have examined the relationship between VEGF gene promoter polymorphisms such as -2578C/A and -460C/T and bladder cancer risk; however, these results are inconclusive. Therefore, we performed this meta-analysis to investigate the association between VEGF gene promoter polymorphisms and bladder cancer risk.

METHODS

PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library and Web of Science databases were searched for studies published before September 2018. The methodological quality assessment of included studies was performed based on the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Scale (NOS). We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis using both fixed- and random-effect model. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to assess the strength of the relationship. In addition, the stability of our analysis was evaluated by heterogeneity, sensitivity, subgroup of ethnicity, and publication bias analysis.

RESULTS

We finally included 7 case-control studies with a total of 2412 bladder cancer patients and 3157 cancer-free controls. In Asian population with the VEGF -2578C/A polymorphism, significantly higher bladder cancer risks of 1.55 (95% CI = 1.25-1.93) and 1.53 (95% CI = 1.11-2.10) were found in the heterozygous model (AC vs CC) and the dominant model (AA + AC vs CC), respectively. Though there was no statistical association between VEGF -460C/T polymorphism and bladder cancer, a tendency to higher bladder cancer risk was observed in various genetic models (T vs C; TT vs CC; TC vs CC and TT + TC vs CC).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that VEGF -2578C/A polymorphism might be a risk factor with a modest significance for bladder cancer only in Asian population. Further studies with a larger sample size and other functional polymorphisms are needed to explore the effects of VEGF gene on the risk of bladder cancer.

The role of gadolinium in magnetic resonance imaging for early prostate cancer diagnosis: A diagnostic accuracy study

Objective

Prostate lesions detected with multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) are classified for their malignant potential according to the Prostate Imaging-Reporting And Data System (PI-RADS™2). In this study, we evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the mpMRI with and without gadolinium, with emphasis on the added diagnostic value of the dynamic contrast enhancement (DCE).

Materials and methods

The study was retrospective for 286 prostate lesions / 213 eligible patients, n = 116/170, and 49/59% malignant for the peripheral (Pz) and transitional zone (Tz), respectively. A stereotactic MRI-guided prostate biopsy served as the histological ground truth. All patients received a mpMRI with DCE. The influence of DCE in the prediction of malignancy was analyzed by blinded assessment of the imaging protocol without DCE and the DCE separately.

Results

Significant (CSPca) and insignificant (IPca) prostate cancers were evaluated separately to enhance the potential effects of the DCE in the detection of CSPca. The Receiver Operating Characteristics Area Under Curve (ROC-AUC), sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Spe) of PIRADS-without-DCE in the Pz was 0.70/0.47/0.86 for all cancers (IPca and CSPca merged) and 0.73/0.54/0.82 for CSPca. PIRADS-with-DCE for the same patients showed ROC-AUC/Se/Spe of 0.70/0.49/0.86 for all Pz cancers and 0.69/0.54/0.81 for CSPca in the Pz, respectively, p>0.05 chi-squared test. Similar results for the Tz, AUC/Se/Spe for PIRADS-without-DCE was 0.75/0.61/0.79 all cancers and 0.67/0.54/0.71 for CSPca, not influenced by DCE (0.66/0.47/0.81 for all Tz cancers and 0.61/0.39/0.75 for CSPca in Tz). The added Se and Spe of DCE for the detection of CSPca was 88/34% and 78/33% in the Pz and Tz, respectively.

Conclusion

DCE showed no significant added diagnostic value and lower specificity for the prediction of CSPca compared to the non-enhanced sequences. Our results support that gadolinium might be omitted without mitigating the diagnostic accuracy of the mpMRI for prostate cancer.

Association of rs8444 polymorphism in the LASS2 3'-UTR and bladder cancer risk in Chinese population

The aim of the present study was to explore the correlations between single nucleotide polymorphisms in LASS2 gene 3'-untranslated regions and bladder cancer risk in Chinese population. We first performed PCR and sequence for LASS2-3'-UTR in 105 bladder cancer patients and 100 control subjects. Next, multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the relationship between single nucleotide polymorphisms frequency and susceptibility of bladder cancer, and clinical features in 105 cases. In addition, survival curves and Cox Regression analysis were used to investigate the effect of single nucleotide polymorphisms on clinical outcome in 58 cases. Finally, quantitative reverse-transcription PCR and immunohistochemical were performed to explore the influence of single nucleotide polymorphisms on LASS2 expression. We found that a single nucleotide polymorphism (rs8444 C>T) located in the 3'-UTR of LASS2 was significantly associated with the risk of bladder cancer. We also showed the frequency of rs8444 T genotype was higher in bladder cancer group and correlated with the risk of clinical prognosis. Yet, there were no significant correlations between T/C allele frequencies and the distributions of rs8444 genotype and tumor-node-metastasis stage, histological grade and distant metastasis in bladder cancer. Furthermore, we demonstrated that rs8444 C>T could affect LASS2 expression by single nucleotide polymorphism-related mRNA stability. Our results showed that LASS2-3'-UTR rs8444 C>T polymorphism was significantly associated with the individual risk and the poor overall survival of bladder cancer, suggesting that rs8444 TT genotype maybe act as an independent risk factor of susceptibility and clinical prognosis for bladder cancer in Chinese population.

KDR (VEGFR2) Genetic Variants and Serum Levels in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

We investigated kinase insert domain-containing receptor (KDR) polymorphisms and protein levels in relation to susceptibility to and severity of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). 641 RA patients and 340 controls (HC) were examined for the rs1870377 KDR variant by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method and for rs2305948 and rs2071559 KDR single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) by TaqMan SNP genotyping assay. KDR serum levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The rs1870377 KDR variant has shown association with RA under the codominant (p = 0.02, OR = 1.76, 95% CI = 1.09–2.85) and recessive models (p = 0.019, OR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.07–2.20). KDR rs2305948 was associated with RA under the dominant model (p = 0.005, OR = 1.38, 95% CI = 1.10–1.73). Under the codominant model, the frequency of the rs2071559 TC and GG genotypes were lower in RA patients than in controls (p < 0.001, OR = 0.51, 95% CI = 0.37–0.69, and p = 0.002, OR = 0.57, 95% CI = 0.39–0.81). KDR rs2071559 T and rs2305948 A alleles were associated with RA (p = 0.001, OR = 0.60, 95% CI = 0.45–0.81 and p = 0.008, OR = 1.71, CI = 1.15–2.54). KDR rs2305948SNP was associated with Disease Activity Score (DAS)-28 score (p < 0.001), Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score (p < 0.001), number of swollen joints (p < 0.001), mean value of CRP (p < 0.001). A higher KDR serum level was found in RA patients than in HC (8018 pg/mL versus 7381 pg/mL, p = 0.002). Present results shed light on the role of KDR genetic variants in the severity of RA.

Genetic polymorphisms of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) associated with gastric cancer recurrence after curative resection with adjuvant chemotherapy

Background

The relationship between polymorphisms in vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and gastric cancer is still inconclusive. We investigated whether there is an association between VEGF genetic polymorphisms and risk of gastric cancer, and evaluated the recurrence of advanced gastric cancer after curative resection with adjuvant chemotherapy according to VEGF genetic polymorphisms.

Methods

The association of functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the VEGF gene (+936C > T, − 634G > C, − 2578C > A, + 1612G > A) were evaluated. Genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis. A total of 151 patients with gastric cancer were enrolled, and the control group consisted of 413 individuals with esophago-gastroduodenoscopy who were randomly selected through health screening. All of the enrolled patients had curative resections with completion of adjuvant capecitabine and oxaliplatin combination chemotherapy and the initial metastatic cases were excluded. During the regular follow-up protocol, the episodes of the recurrence were documented and the specific genotype and allelic frequencies were evaluated.

Results

As for the cancer risk, there were no significant differences in specific genotypes and allelic frequencies. The mean follow-up period was 28.82 ± 30.92 (12 ~ 72) months and the recurrence rate was 28.3%. In the patients carrying the 936-C allele, the recurrence rate of gastric cancer was high (P = 0.02). Disease-free interval was significantly different between the patients carrying the 936-CC and 936-CT/TT genotype (P = 0.02).

Conclusions

VEGF 936-C allele is associated with poor prognosis, but not risk of gastric cancer. In the patients carrying the 936-C allele, more potent adjuvant treatment would be considered.