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The present study aimed to explore the clinical significance of miR-372 and miR-495 in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Eighty-one AML patients (research group) admitted to the First Hospital of Lanzhou University from March 2012 to January 2014 were selected, and 60 healthy persons (control group) were selected. The expression levels of miR-372 and miR-495 in the peripheral blood of the subjects were detected by reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR, and their diagnostic and prognostic values in AML were analyzed. The miR-372 expression level in the peripheral blood of patients in the research group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05), and the miR-495 level was significantly lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). The area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity of miR-372 combined with miR-495 in the diagnosis of AML were 0.925, 86.43, and 93.33% respectively. The 5-year survival rate of patients with high expression of miR-372 was lower than that of those with low expression of miR-372 (P<0.05), and the 5-year survival rate of patients with high expression of miR-495 was higher than that of those with low expression of miR-495 (P<0.05). miR-372 and miR-495 were independent risk factors for the prognosis and survival of AML patients. miR-372 expression increased in AML, while miR-495 decreased. miR-372 and miR-495 are effective indicators for the early diagnosis and prognosis of AML. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD) is a painful and fatal disease that undoubtedly remains a health care priority and offers significant therapeutic challenges. The significance of epigenetic modifications, including DNA methylation in tumor development, has gained the attention of researchers. Identifying DNA methylation-driven genes and investigating the mechanisms underlying the tumorigenesis of PAAD are of substantial importance for developing methods of physiological evaluation, treatment planning and prognostic prediction for PAAD. In the present study, a comprehensive analysis of DNA methylation and gene expression data from 188 clinical samples was performed to identify DNA methylation-driven genes in PAAD. In addition, the diagnostic and prognostic value of DNA methylation-driven genes was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curve, survival and recurrence analyses. A total of 7 DNA methylation-driven genes, namely zinc finger protein 208 (ZNF208), eomesodermin (EOMES), prostaglandin D2 receptor (PTGDR), chromosome 12 open reading frame 42 (C12orf42), integrin subunit α 4 (ITGA4), dedicator of cytokinesis 8 and protein phosphatase 1 regulatory inhibitor subunit 14D (PPP1R14D), were identified. All of them may be used to diagnose PAAD with excellent specificity and sensitivity (area under curve, >0.8). Of the 7 DNA methylation-driven genes, 6 were significantly associated with overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) P<0.05). Among them, ZNF208, EOMES, PTGDR, C12orf42 and ITGA4 were significantly negatively associated with the OS rate and positively associated with the recurrence rate, while PPP1R14D was significantly positively associated with the OS rate and negatively associated with the recurrence rate. The present study provides novel insight into the epigenetic alterations associated with the occurrence and progression of PAAD, thereby increasing the mechanistic understanding of this disease, offering potential novel molecular biomarkers and contributing to the development of therapeutic targets for PAAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phospholipase C (PLC) is a membrane-associated enzyme that regulates several cellular behaviors including cell motility, growth, transformation and differentiation. PLC is involved in cancer migration, invasion and drug resistance. However, the expression status and prognostic role of PLCB4 in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remain unclear. In the present study, the complete clinical and mRNA expression data of 285 pediatric patients with de novo AML were obtained from the Therapeutically Available Research to Generate Effective Treatments database. The association between PLCB4 expression and clinical and molecular features was explored. The expression of PLCB4 was significantly higher in patients with AML who relapsed compared with those with long-term complete remission. Patients with PLCB4 upregulation had significantly lower overall survival (OS) and event free survival (EFS) rate compared with those with low PLCB4 expression. Multivariate Cox's regression analyses demonstrated that high PLCB4 expression was an independent risk factor of adverse OS (P<0.01; HR, 2.081) and EFS (P<0.01; HR, 2.130). Following stratification analysis according to transplant status in cases of first complete remission, the patients with high expression of PLCB4 had significantly lower OS and EFS rate in the chemotherapy group, but not the stem cell transplant group. Furthermore, PLCB4-associated genes were identified using Spearman's rank correlation analysis. KEGG pathway analysis revealed that PLCB4 and its associated genes were mainly involved in three potential pathways, including the Rap1 signaling pathway. Overall, the findings of the present study suggest that increased PLCB4 expression is associated with poor clinical outcome in pediatric patients with AML, and thus may represent a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for AML. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lung adenocarcinoma (LAD) is difficult to diagnose as it tends to be small in size and metastasize early. The aim of the present study was to investigate prognostic factors for patients with LAD and establish a prognosis risk model. A training set consisting of clinical and RNA sequencing data from 503 patients with LAD, as well as expression data from a further 59 LAD and adjacent tissues, was obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Additionally, a validation dataset was acquired from the Gene Expression Omnibus database (GSE26939), which included clinical and gene expression data from 115 patients. Using the DESeq2 package to compare expression between LAD and adjacent tissues, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. On the basis of survival and the random forests for survival, regression and classification package, genes for constructing the prognosis risk model were selected. The prognosis risk model was constructed and validated using the survival package. Subsequently, high- and low-risk groups were compared using the Limma package to identify DEGs, and enrichment analysis was performed using the web-based gene set analysis toolkit. A protein-protein interaction network was visualized using Cytoscape software. There were 18,567 DEGs between the LAD samples and the adjacent tissues, and 363 DEGs between the high- and low-risk groups. Of these, four genes were selected for constructing the prognosis risk model, myosin IE (MYO1E), endoplasmic reticulum oxidoreductase 1α (ERO1L), C1q and tumor necrosis factor-related protein 6 (C1QTNF6) and family with sequence similarity 83, member A (FAM83A). The survival time of high- and low-risk groups in the validation set were significantly different. Functional enrichment revealed that the genes that interacted with MYO1E, ERO1L, C1QTNF6 and FAM83A separately were enriched in 'cell cycle regulation', 'synthesis and assembly of nucleic acids', 'histone modification and cell cycle progression' and 'cell secretion process'. The four-gene prognosis risk model could potentially be used for predicting the survival of patients with LAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expression of microRNA (miR)-26b in ovarian carcinoma tissues, its correlation with clinicopathology, and its effect on diagnostic value and prognosis of ovarian cancer was investigated. A total of 74 patients with ovarian cancer (the study group) and 30 patients with benign ovarian tumors (the control group) in the Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University from July 2011 to June 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. The expression of miR-26b in ovarian carcinoma tissues was detected by fluorescence reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and the correlation between the expression of miR-26b and the pathological features of ovarian carcinoma tissues and prognosis of patients was analyzed. The expression level of miR-26b in the study group (0.28±0.07) was significantly lower than that in the control group (0.54±0.11; P<0.050). There was no significant correlation between miR-26b expression and age, tumor type, exercise habit, smoking habit of patients with ovarian cancer (P>0.050), but there was close correlation between the miR-26b expression and lymph node metastasis, differentiation degree and pathological stage of patients with ovarian cancer (P<0.001). ROC curve showed that the area under curve (AUC) was 0.839, and when the maximum cut-off value was 0.815, the sensitivity and specificity of miR-26b in diagnosing the ovary was 84.932% and 77.936%, respectively. The 5-year overall survival rate in the low-expression group (61.54%) was significantly lower than that in the high-expression group (84.85; P=0.028). miR-26b is under-expressed in the ovary and has a close relationship with pathological stage, differentiation degree, and lymph node metastasis of ovarian cancer, which indicates that miR-26b is involved in the occurrence and development of ovarian cancer and is expected to be an effective indicator for treatment and diagnosis of ovarian cancer and the prognosis of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common primary tumor of the liver, has a poor prognosis, rapid progression. The aim of the current study was to establish a stable lentiviral expression vector for enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and to evaluate biological characteristics on HCC growth and migration following transfection of HCC cells with EGFP. McA-RH7777 cells were transfected with EGFP overexpression lentiviral vector. Cell activity and mobility were monitored with a Cell-IQ Analyzer. Transwell assays were performed to detect invasiveness and flow cytometry was performed for cell cycle analysis. A subcutaneous tumor rat model was established to analyze the stability of fluorescent protein expression. The result suggested no significant differences between wild-type and EGFP-overexpressing McA-RH7777 cells with regards to cell proliferation, activity, mobility, invasiveness and cell cycle. Green fluorescence was detected over 108 days of culturing. The subcutaneous tumor rat model demonstrated that EGFP expression had no influence on tumor growth and long-term expression was stable. The stable EGFP expression of the HCC transplanted tumor rat model may share biological characteristics with human liver cancer. The model established in the current study may be suitable for various applications, including research focusing on liver cancer metastasis and recurrence, interventional therapy, imaging diagnosis and drug screenings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endothelial selectin (ELAM1 or CD62E) has been previously reported as being associated with the prognosis of multiple types of cancer. However, its prognostic value in breast cancer (BC) remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prognostic value of ELAM1 mRNA expression in BC tissue. The prognostic value of ELAM1 mRNA was assessed in patients with BC using the Kaplan‑Meier plotter (KM‑plot) database. The KM‑plot generated updated ELAM1 mRNA expression data and survival analysis from a total of 3,951 patients with BC, gathered from 35 datasets. Low expression of ELAM1 mRNA was correlated with a poorer overall survival in 1,402 patients with BC followed for 20 years [hazard ratio (HR), 0.71; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.57‑0.88; log‑rank P=0.0016]. Low expression of ELAM1 was also correlated with poorer relapse‑free survival (HR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.62‑0.77; log‑rank P=2.2e‑11) in 3,951 patients and poorer distant metastasis‑free survival (HR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.65‑0.96; log‑rank P=0.02) in 1,746 patients with BC followed for 20 years. Results from the Metabolic gEne RApid visualizer database indicated that ELAM1 mRNA expression was elevated in normal tissue. The results of the present study suggest that ELAM1 mRNA is a potential prognostic and metastatic marker in patients with BC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pathogenesis and progression of follicular lymphoma (FL) depends on immune evasion mechanisms. The gut microbiota has been reported to be associated with the development and outcome of several human diseases by modulating host immunity. Thus, the present study investigated the characteristics and prognostic value of the gut microbiota in FL. Fecal samples from treatment-naïve patients with FL (n=28) and healthy controls (n=18) were prospectively collected. The gut microbiota diversity and composition were examined by 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing. The results demonstrated that patients with FL had distinct microbiota compositions. The relative abundance of the Ruminococcaceae family was significantly increased in patients with FL (P=0.01). Furthermore, a high level of Ruminococcus was identified as a strong indicator of tumor burden (P=0.001), and was related to the FL International Prognostic Index score and serum lactate dehydrogenase levels. The present results indicated an association between the gut microbiota and FL prognosis. Findings from the present study may provide a rational foundation for further investigation of the role of gut microbiota in lymphoma management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breast cancer (BC) is the most frequent cancer for women worldwide. Recently, a spectrum of cell-free circulating microRNAs (miR) has been recognized as promising biomarkers for BC diagnosis and prognosis, among which miR-103a-3p has been reported in several types of human cancer. However, the role of miR-103a-3p in BC remains unknown. A total of 112 patients with BC and 59 healthy controls were recruited into the present study. The expression level of serum miR-103a-3p was evaluated using reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. Receiver operating characteristic curves were utilized to calculate diagnostic accuracy. Survival curves were generated to analyze survival outcomes. It was found that circulating miR-103a-3p level was upregulated in patients with BC compared with that in healthy controls, and its expression was decreased following surgery. In addition, miR-103a-3p expression level was also associated with advanced clinicopathological features, including positive epidermal growth factor receptor 2 status, metastasis and an advanced TNM stage. The circulating serum miR-103a-3p level could be used to discriminate between patients with BC and the healthy controls prior to surgery using an area under curve [(AUC), 0.697; 95% confidence intervals (CI), 0.615-0.778], and distinguish patients with BC and metastasis from those without metastasis (AUC, 0.936; 95% CI, 0.892-0.980). In addition, high expression level of miR-103a-3p was associated with worse survival outcomes in patients with BC. In conclusion, the present study suggests that miR-103a-3p could be a potential non-invasive diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for BC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the prevalence and prognostic value of myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MYD88) expression and mutational status in diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), a total cohort of 100 patients with DLBCL were studied using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (DDPCR), and the association between MYD88 expression and clinicopathological parameters was analyzed. Overall, the positive expression rate of MYD88 protein was 38% and the gene mutation rate was 29%. The positive expression and mutation rates were the highest in the primary central nervous system lymphomas (58.33 and 66.67%, respectively). The coincidence rate of the results of MYD88 expression between IHC and DDPCR results was 73% (73/100). Univariate survival analysis showed that age (≥60 years old), high neutrophil/lymphocyte count ratio, low lymphocyte count, c-Myc ≥40%, positive MYD88 protein expression, and gene mutation were associated with poorer prognosis rates. Multivariate survival analysis revealed that MYD88 expression was an independent prognostic factor affecting overall survival. In conclusion, the results of this study demonstrated that MYD88 mutation was a valuable index to evaluate the prognosis of DLBCL. DDPCR can be used as a method for detecting MYD88 mutations, although it was not completely consistent with the results of IHC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) risk score and the mean platelet volume to lymphocyte count ratio (MPVLR) can be used independently to predict adverse outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndromes. However, the level of MPVLR in relation to the GRACE score, and whether a combination of these methods can better predict the clinical adverse outcome of patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), have not been previously examined. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate whether the combination of GRACE risk score and MPVLR is a good predictor of a 30-day major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients with STEMI. A total of 464 patients with STEMI undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were enrolled, and divided into four groups based on the optimal cut-off values for GRACE score and MPVLR. GRACE score and MPVLR levels were separately recorded during admission. Spearman's rank correlation analysis showed a positive correlation between GRACE score and MPVLR (ρ=0.304; P<0.001). Both GRACE score [hazard ratio (HR), 1.706; 95% CI, 1.435-3.058; P<0.001] and MPVLR level (HR, 1.668; 95% CI, 1.202-2.170; P<0.001) were found to be independent predictors of a 30-day MACE. Additionally, the high MPVLR + high GRACE score group of patients had an HR of 2.455 (95% CI, 1.736-3.188) for a 30-day MACE, when using the low MPVLR + low GRACE score group as a reference. Based on the area under the curve, MPVLR combined with GRACE scores achieved an improved performance in differentiating angiographic no-reflow during a 30-day MACE, compared with individual MPVLR and GRACE scores. Therefore, the present results suggested that the GRACE score may be positively correlated with MPVLR and that their combination accurately predicted the occurrence of short-term MACE in patients with STEMI after PCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The function of runt-related transcription factor 3 (RUNX3) in oral cancer remains controversial. The present study aimed to determine the status of RUNX3 protein expression and its association with clinicopathological characteristics in tongue squamous cell carcinomas (SCC). The present study used three pairs of tongue SCC and non-cancerous tissues to assess RUNX3 protein expression by western blot analysis, and two tongue SCC cell lines to determine RUNX3 protein localization by immunofluorescence and immunocytochemistry. Tissue microarray immunohistochemistry was performed to detect the clinical relevance of RUNX3 in 79 patients with tongue SCC. The results demonstrated that RUNX3 protein expression was reduced in tongue SCC tissues compared with in paired non-cancerous tissues. Similarly, the expression of RUNX3 was low in SCC25 and Cal27 cells, and was predominantly localized to the cytoplasm. In the 79 patients with tongue SCC, RUNX3 protein expression was presented in different manners in carcinoma nests and tumor stroma. RUNX3 in carcinoma nests (nRUNX3) exhibited nuclear positive staining in 24/79 samples, cytoplasmic mislocalization in 41/79 samples and was undetectable in 14/79 samples. RUNX3 in stroma (sRUNX3) exhibited nuclear positive staining in 40/79 samples and nuclear negative staining in 39/79 samples. Negative nRUNX3 expression was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis (P=0.014), clinical stage (P=0.027), and overall and disease-free survival (P=0.008 and P=0.007, respectively). In addition, negative sRUNX3 expression was associated with lymph node metastasis (P=0.003) and clinical stage (P=0.003); however, not with overall survival. The findings of the present study preliminarily suggested that cytoplasmic mislocalization of RUNX3 protein may be a common event in tongue SCC, and that sRUNX3 protein expression may be a potential prognostic biomarker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long non‑coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are primary regulators of cancer development via their involvement in almost every aspect of cell biology. Recent studies have indicated that lncRNAs serve pivotal roles in breast cancer (BC) progression; however, to the best of our knowledge, the role of the lncRNA BRAF‑regulated lncRNA 1 (BANCR) in BC has not yet been elucidated. The present study revealed that BANCR was overexpressed in BC cell lines and tissues, and could promote the clinical progression of disease, including increases in tumor size, lymph node metastasis and Tumor‑Node‑Metastasis stage. Furthermore, high BANCR expression was demonstrated to be associated with poor overall survival rates and early recurrence of BC in patients. Additionally, univariate and multivariate COX regression analyses identified high BANCR expression as an independent risk factor of poor prognosis of patients with BC. In addition, to verify the function of BANCR in BC cell lines, BANCR expression was silenced using short hairpin RNAs in MDA‑MB‑231 cells and overexpressed in MDA‑MB‑468 cells. An MTT assay and colony formation assay indicated that BANCR knockdown could suppress the proliferation of BC cells, whereas BANCR upregulation induced the proliferation of BC cells. Furthermore, BANCR silencing also reduced the migration and invasion of BC cells, as demonstrated via transwell migration and invasion assays. Consistently, the migration and invasion of BC cells increased upon BANCR ectopic overexpression in MDA‑MB‑468 cells. Mechanistically, matrix metallopeptidase 2/9 and epithelial‑mesenchymal transition markers may be the potential targets of BANCR in regulating BC metastasis. In conclusion, BANCR overexpression could promote the clinical progression, metastasis and proliferation of BC and indicate poor prognosis of patients with BC. BANCR may therefore be a potential prognostic marker and therapeutic target of patients with BC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) is a rare soft tissue neoplasm. The incidence of orbital involvement is the highest in ASPS arising in the head and neck region. However, limited information is available regarding its clinical characteristics. The present study presents the clinical manifestations, imaging findings, pathological features, treatment strategies and prognosis records of 8 cases of orbital ASPS over the last 15 years in a single hospital, along with a review of the literature. Included were 3 male and 5 female patients, with the median age at presentation being 9.5 years. The mean average largest tumour diameter was 3.6 cm. A total of 5 patients underwent surgical excision of the tumour, with 2 undergoing orbital exenteration and 1 undergoing partial orbital exenteration. In total, 6 patients received postoperative radiotherapy and 2 received chemotherapy. Upon follow-up, 6 patients were doing well with no evidence of recurrence or metastasis. Local recurrence developed in 2 patients, of whom 1 succumbed following withdrawal from treatment. According to the present series and the cases mentioned in the literature, orbital alveolar soft part sarcoma has characteristics distinct from those of alveolar soft part sarcoma which arises in other locations. Orbital alveolar soft part sarcoma presents itself in a younger population with a shorter course of disease, smaller tumour size, improved prognosis, a marked association with the extraocular muscles and with the Ki-67 proliferation index possibly associated with prognosis of the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies have explored the mechanisms of C-C motif chemokine ligand (CCL)2/CC receptor (R)2 function in tumorigenesis and inflammation. However, little is known about the role of CCL2/CCR2 in tumor recurrence, especially after radiotherapy. The present study aimed to determine the association between CCL2/CCR2 and glioma relapse. Moreover, the difference in the expression of CCL2/CCR2 between post-radiation and non-radiation recurrent glioma tissues was compared. A retrospective analysis of 80 patients with glioma who underwent tumor resection twice was performed. Primary group refers to glioma patients who received glioma resection surgery for the first time. Recurrent group refers to glioma patients who received glioma resection surgery after first relapse. In total, 10 patients with brain trauma who underwent partial resection of the normal brain as decompression treatment were used as controls. Protein expression levels of CCL2 and CCR2 were evaluated using immunohistochemistry. Prognostic analyses of patient survival using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression models were performed. The expression levels of CCL2 and CCR2 were higher in recurrent glioma compared with the primary group. There was a positive correlation between tumor grade and protein expression of CCL2/CCR2. Furthermore, irradiation had a significant effect on CCR2 protein expression (P=0.014), but not on CCL2 protein expression (P=0.626). However, the expression of CCL2 and CCR2 showed no significant difference between primary and secondary glioblastoma. After adjusting for sex, radiotherapy and location of tumors in these gliomas, CCL2 was a prognostic factor for disease-free and overall survival (OS) times, as well as age and tumor grade. In the multivariate Cox modeling for glioma, CCR2 was significantly associated with OS rather than DFI. The significant correlations between CCL2/CCR2 expression and glioma tumor grade suggested that CCL2/CCR2 has a role in glioma progression. Combined with previous in vitro experiments, it was proposed that irradiation (radiotherapy)-induced expression of CCL2 is transient, while irradiation-induced expression of CCR2 is lasting. Therefore, CCL2/CCR2 is a potential therapeutic target for patients with glioma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herpesvirus entry mediator (HVEM) displays dual signals in T-cell activation according to the ligands and intracytoplasmic effectors it interacts with. High HVEM expression may play an immunosuppressive role in several malignancies. The present study investigated the clinical impact of HVEM on intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), including its prognostic value, and association with clinicopathological features and immune status. The clinical data of 102 consecutive patients with ICC who underwent surgical treatment from January 2012 to December 2017 were collected. The expression of HVEM and different types of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) were investigated in ICC tissue samples by immunohistochemical staining. HVEM expression was detected in the tumor tissues of 92 (90.2%) patients with ICC. Patients with high HVEM expression were more likely to have increased peripheral blood lymphocyte (PBL) concentrations (P=0.031), decreased CEA (P=0.036), low TNM stage (P=0.043) and high frequencies of small-duct histological type (P=0.021) and BAP1 retained expression (P=0.010). Survival analysis showed that high HVEM expression was a favorable independent predictor of overall postoperative survival (P=0.034, hazard ratio=0.486, 95% confidence interval=0.249–0.945). In addition, no significant association of HVEM expression with CD4+ (P=0.512), CD8+ (P=0.750) or CD45RO+ (P=0.078) TILs was identified in the ICC tissues. These results indicate that HVEM may serve as a favorable prognostic marker for ICC. Furthermore, co-stimulatory signals from HVEM may play a dominant role in the progression of ICCs, which can be explained by an increase in the number of PBLs rather than a change in the number of TILs. However, the function of the HVEM network in ICC progression is complex and requires further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]