Diagnostic and prognostic value of placental growth factor serum concentration in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

Neuropilin-1 and placental growth factor as prognostic factors in metastatic breast cancer

BACKGROUND

Angiogenesis is crucial for tumor development, progression, and metastasizing. The most important regulator of angiogenesis is the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family, which is involved in multiple pathways in tumor microenvironment. The objective of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of the VEGF family in patients treated for metastatic breast cancer. The emphasis was on neuropilin-1 (NRP-1) and placental growth factor (PlGF).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

An analysis of eight members of the VEGF family was performed using baseline plasma samples of 65 patients treated for metastatic HER2 negative breast cancer in a phase II first-line bevacizumab plus chemotherapy trial. The patients were divided into two groups, high or low, according to the median for each VEGF family member. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were determined for each VEGF family member.

RESULTS

The patients with low plasma levels of NRP-1 and PlGF had a longer OS than those with high plasma levels [multivariable adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) 2.54 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.11-5.82, p = 0.02) and 3.11 (95% CI 1.30-7.47, p = 0.01), respectively]. The patients with low levels of both NRP-1 and PlGF had a remarkably long OS with HR of 6.24, (95% CI 1.97-19.76, p = 0.002). In addition, high baseline NRP-1 level was associated with a significantly shorter PFS [multivariable adjusted HR 2.90 (95% CI 1.02-8.28, p = 0.04)] than that in the low-level group, and a high baseline vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 level was associated with a longer PFS [multivariable adjusted HR 0.43 (95% CI 0.19-0.98, p = 0.04)].

CONCLUSION

Especially NRP-1 and PlGF have prognostic potential in metastatic breast cancer patients treated with a bevacizumab-taxane combination. Patients with low plasma levels of NRP-1 or PlGF have longer OS than patients with high levels. Patients with both low NRP-1 and PlGF levels appear to have excellent long-term survival.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00979641, registration date 18/09/2009. The regional Ethics Committee: R08142M, registration date 18/11/2008.

Construction of a 12-Gene Prognostic Risk Model and Tumor Immune Microenvironment Analysis Based on the Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Model

OBJECTIVES

Accurate survival predictions and early interventional therapy are crucial for people with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC).

METHODS

In this retrospective study, we identified differentially expressed immune-related (DE-IRGs) and oncogenic (DE-OGs) genes from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset to construct a prognostic risk model using univariate Cox regression and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) analysis. We compared the immunogenomic characterization between the high- and low-risk patients in the TCGA and the PUCH cohort, including the immune cell infiltration level, immune score, immune checkpoint, and T-effector cell- and interferon (IFN)-γ-related gene expression.

RESULTS

A prognostic risk model was constructed based on 9 DE-IRGs and 3 DE-OGs and validated in the training and testing TCGA datasets. The high-risk group exhibited significantly poor overall survival compared with the low-risk group in the training (P < 0.0001), testing (P = 0.016), and total (P < 0.0001) datasets. The prognostic risk model provided accurate predictive value for ccRCC prognosis in all datasets. Decision curve analysis revealed that the nomogram showed the best net benefit for the 1-, 3-, and 5-year risk predictions. Immunogenomic analyses of the TCGA and PUCH cohorts showed higher immune cell infiltration levels, immune scores, immune checkpoint, and T-effector cell- and IFN-γ-related cytotoxic gene expression in the high-risk group than in the low-risk group.

CONCLUSION

The 12-gene prognostic risk model can reliably predict overall survival outcomes and is strongly associated with the tumor immune microenvironment of ccRCC.

A review on the role of long non-coding RNA and microRNA network in clear cell renal cell carcinoma and its tumor microenvironment

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the second lethal urogenital malignancy with the increasing incidence and mortality in the world. Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is one major subtype of RCC, which accounts for about 70 to 80% of all RCC cases. Although many innovative therapeutic options have emerged during the last few decades, the efficacy of these treatments for ccRCC patients is very limited. To date, the prognosis of patients with advanced or metastatic ccRCC is still poor. The 5-year survival rate of these patients remains less than 10%, which mainly attributes to the complexity and heterogeneity of the tumor microenvironment (TME). It has been demonstrated that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) perform an indispensable role in the initiation and progression of various tumors. They mostly function as sponges for microRNAs (miRNAs) to regulate the expression of target genes, finally influence the growth, metastasis, apoptosis, drug resistance and TME of tumor cells. However, the role of lncRNA/miRNA/mRNA axis in the TME of ccRCC remains poorly understood. In this review, we summarized the biological function of lncRNA/miRNA/mRNA axis in the pathogenesis of ccRCC, then discussed how lncRNA/miRNA/mRNA axis regulate the TME, finally highlighted their potential application as novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets for ccRCC.

Cytokines: Can Cancer Get the Message?

Simple Summary

Cytokines are important molecular players in cancer development, progression, and potential targets for treatment. Despite being small and overlooked, research has revealed that cytokines influence cancer biology in multiple ways. Cytokines are often found to contribute to immune function, cell damage, inflammation, angiogenesis, metastasis, and several other cellular processes important to tumor survival. Cytokines have also proven to have powerful effects on complex tumor microenvironment molecular biology and microbiology. Due to their heavy involvement in critical cancer-related processes, cytokines have also become attractive therapeutic targets for cancer treatment. In this review, we describe the relationship between several cytokines and crucial cancer-promoting processes and their therapeutic potential.

Abstract

Cytokines are small molecular messengers that have profound effects on cancer development. Increasing evidence shows that cytokines are heavily involved in regulating both pro- and antitumor activities, such as immune activation and suppression, inflammation, cell damage, angiogenesis, cancer stem-cell-like cell maintenance, invasion, and metastasis. Cytokines are often required to drive these cancer-related processes and, therefore, represent an important research area for understanding cancer development and the potential identification of novel therapeutic targets. Interestingly, some cytokines are reported to be related to both pro- and anti-tumorigenicity, indicating that cytokines may play several complex roles relating to cancer pathogenesis. In this review, we discuss some major cancer-related processes and their relationship with several cytokines.

Long non-coding RNA ARAP1-AS1 contributes to cell proliferation and migration in clear cell renal cell carcinoma via the miR-361-3p/placental growth factor axis

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is an aggressive malignancy with a poor prognosis. Therefore, investigating the molecular mechanism of ccRCC is important for ccRCC treatment. Here, we aimed to explore the effect of the long non-coding RNA ARAP1-AS1/miR-361-3p/PGF axis on ccRCC. The expression of lncRNA ARAP1-AS1, miR-361-3p, and placental growth factor (PGF) in ccRCC cells was verified by real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). The influence of the ARAP1-AS1/miR-361-3p/PGF axis on ccRCC cells was identified using the Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, colony formation assay, flow cytometry, and wound healing assay. The interaction between ARAP1-AS1, miR-361-3p, and PGF was confirmed by bioinformatics analysis and luciferase assay. The results showed that the levels of ARAP1-AS1 and PGF increased in ccRCC cells, while miR-361-3p expression decreased. Cell functional experiments showed that cell proliferation and migration were inhibited by silencing ARAP1-AS1 or PGF, while miR-361-3p inhibitor or PGF overexpression could relieve the inhibitory effect of silencing ARAP1-AS1 on ccRCC cells. Moreover, ARAP1-AS1 sponges miR-361-3p to increase PGF expression. In conclusion, our study revealed that ARAP1-AS1 enhanced the malignancy of ccRCC cells by regulating the miR-361-3p/PGF axis.