A Six-microRNA Signature Nomogram for Preoperative Prediction of Tumor Deposits in Colorectal Cancer

The past, present, and future of tumour deposits in colorectal cancer: Advancing staging for improved prognosis and treatment decision-making

Tumour deposits (TDs) significantly impact colorectal cancer (CRC) prognosis. Integrating TDs into the TNM staging system can enhance individualized disease management. Keeping abreast of evolving TDs research is pivotal for clinical advancement. We comprehensively reviewed both recent and popular literature to grasp the field's essence. Subsequently, a data retrieval sourced articles on TDs in CRC for bibliometric analysis, spanning from 1 January 1935 to 30 April 2023. Bibliometrix software facilitated paper analysis and visualization. Bibliometric indicators, the trends and hotspots were determined. A total of 2147 articles were successfully retrieved. Brown G emerged as the most productive author, and the USA as the most prolific country. Central South University and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center led productivity. Bradford's law categorized 48 journals into zone 1. Keywords co-occurrence analysis identified three main clusters: the application of TDs in TNM staging, the pathogenesis of TDs, and the assessment of TDs. The trend topic analysis highlighted research focused on refining TDs incorporation into tumour staging. TDs wield enduring medical significance, shaping ongoing research. Much literature focused on confirming TD's prognostic value and optimizing TNM integration. Additionally, it is worth highlighting that TD's enigmatic pathogenesis demands research priority, as it holds the potential to unveil concealed knowledge regarding their development.

Study of miRNA and lymphocyte subsets as potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of gastric cancer

Objective

The aim of this study was to identify the expression of miRNA and lymphocyte subsets in the blood of gastric cancer (GC) patients, elucidate their clinical significance in GC, and establish novel biomarkers for the early diagnosis and prognosis of GC.

Methods

The expression of miRNAs in the serum of GC patients was screened using second-generation sequencing and detected using qRT-PCR. The correlation between miRNA expression and clinicopathological characteristics of GC patients was analyzed, and molecular markers for predicting cancer were identified. Additionally, flow cytometry was used to detect the proportion of lymphocyte subsets in GC patients compared to healthy individuals. The correlations between differential lymphocyte subsets, clinicopathological features of GC patients, and their prognosis were analyzed statistically.

Results

The study revealed that hsa-miR-1306-5p, hsa-miR-3173-5p, and hsa-miR-296-5p were expressed at lower levels in the blood of GC patients, which is consistent with miRNA-seq findings. The AUC values of hsa-miR-1306-5p, hsa-miR-3173-5p, and hsa-miR-296-5p were found to be effective predictors of GC occurrence. Additionally, hsa-miR-296-5p was found to be negatively correlated with CA724. Furthermore, hsa-miR-1306-5p, hsa-miR-3173-5p, and hsa-miR-296-5p were found to be associated with the stage of the disease and were closely linked to the clinical pathology of GC. The lower the levels of these miRNAs, the greater the clinical stage of the tumor and the worse the prognosis of gastric cancer patients. Finally, the study found that patients with GC had lower absolute numbers of CD3+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, CD19+ B cells, and lymphocytes compared to healthy individuals. The quantity of CD4+ T lymphocytes and the level of the tumor marker CEA were shown to be negatively correlated. The ROC curve and multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that lymphocyte subsets can effectively predict gastric carcinogenesis and prognosis.

Conclusion

These miRNAs such as hsa-miR-1306-5p, hsa-miR-3173-5p, hsa-miR-296-5p and lymphocyte subsets such as the absolute numbers of CD3+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, CD19+ B cells, lymphocytes are down-regulated in GC and are closely related to the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of GC patients. They may serve as new molecular markers for predicting the early diagnosis and prognosis of GC patients.

Identification of characteristic genes and construction of regulatory network in gallbladder carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) is a highly malignant tumor with a poor overall prognosis. This study aimed to identify the characteristic microRNAs (miRNAs) of GBC and the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulatory mechanisms.

METHODS

The microarray data of GBC tissue samples and normal gallbladder (NGB) tissue samples from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database was downloaded. GBC-related differentially expressed miRNAs (DE-miRNAs) were identified by inter-group differential expression analysis and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). Machine learning algorithms were used to screen the characteristic miRNA based on the intersect between least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and Support vector machine-recursive feature elimination (SVM-RFE). Based on the differential expression analysis of GEO database, the ceRNA network of characteristic miRNA was predicted and constructed. The biological functions of the ceRNA network were revealed by carrying out the gene enrichment analysis was implemented. We further screened the key genes of ceRNA network and constructed a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, and predicted and generated the transcription factors (TFs) network of signature miRNAs. The expression of characteristic miRNA in clinical samples was verified by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).

RESULTS

A total of 131 GBC-related DE-miRNAs were obtained. The hsa-miR-4770 was defined as characteristic miRNA for GBC. The ceRNA network containing 211 mRNAs, one miRNA, two lncRNAs, and 48 circRNAs was created. Gene enrichment analysis suggested that the downstream genes were mainly involved in actin filament organization, cell-substrate adhesion, cell-matrix adhesion, reactive oxygen species metabolic process, glutamine metabolic process and extracellular matrix (ECM)-receptor interaction pathway. 10 key genes in the network were found to be most correlated with disease, and involved in cell cycle-related processes, p53, and extrinsic apoptotic signaling pathways. The qRT-PCR result demonstrated that hsa-miR-4770 is down-regulated in GBC, and the expression trend is consistent with the public database.

CONCLUSIONS

We identified hsa-miR-4770 as the characteristic miRNA for GBC. The ceRNA network of hsa-miR-4770 may play key roles in GBC. This study provided some basis for potential pathogenesis of GBC.

ncRNA-mediated low expression of P2RY14 correlates with poor prognosis and tumor immune infiltration in ovarian carcinoma

Background

Ovarian cancer (OV) has been puzzling clinicians because of its poor prognosis. More and more evidence show that the G protein coupled receptor P2RY14 plays a key role in the initiation and progression of various types of human cancer. The purpose of our study is to explore the correlation between P2RY14 and the prognosis of ovarian cancer patients and the relevant mechanism.

Methods

First, the differentially expressed gene P2RY14 was screened from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Explored possible P2RY14 related miRNAs and lncRNAs through multiple public databases, predicted and analyzed the expression level of candidate miRNAs and candidate lncRNAs that can bind to candidate miRNAs in OV through StarBase database. The TIMER database was used to comprehensively analyze the expression of tumor infiltrating immune cells, and to analyze the correlation between the expression level of P2RY14 and the level of immune cell infiltration in OV or the expression level of immune checkpoints.

Results

Patients with P2RY14 overexpression had better overall survival (OS) and progression-free interval (PFI). In the Targetscan database, 22 upstream miRNAs that may bind to P2RY14 were predicted. According to the regulatory network constructed by the Cytoscape software, correlation analysis and the role of miRNAs in the prognosis of OV, we first determined that the candidate miRNAs were miR-34c-5p. Then, we predicted the upstream lncRNAs of miR-34c-5p in the StarBase database, the expression level of these lncRNAs in OV in the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) database, and the role in prognosis. We determined that LINC00665 is the most potential lncRNA upstream of ovarian cancer miRNA (hsa-miR-34c-5p)-P2RY14. Then, we analyzed the results in the Timer database, suggesting that P2RY14 expression was positively correlated with CD8⁺T Cell, CD4⁺T Cell, Macrophage, Neutral and Dendritic cells, and negatively correlated with B cells. Meanwhile, P2RY14 was positively correlated with CD274 and PDCD1.

Conclusions

P2RY14 can be used as a new predictive biomarker of ovarian cancer. Intervention of P2RY14 can affect the prognosis of ovarian cancer by affecting LINC00665-miR-34c-5p-P2RY14 axis. These findings provide a potential target for the development of anti-cancer strategies for ovarian cancer.