Search

Cervical cancer (CC), one of the most common types of cancer of the female population, presents an enormous challenge in diagnosis and treatment. Long non-coding (lnc)RNAs, non-coding (nc)RNAs with length >200 nucleotides, have been identified to be associated with multiple types of cancer, including CC. This class of nc transcripts serves an important role in tumor suppression and oncogenic signaling pathways. In the present study, the microarray method was used to obtain the expression profile of lncRNAs and protein-coding mRNAs and to compare the expression of lncRNAs between CC tissues and corresponding adjacent non-cancerous tissues in order to screen potential lncRNAs for associations with CC. Overall, 3356 lncRNAs with significantly different expression pattern in CC tissues compared with adjacent non-cancerous tissues were identified, while 1,857 of them were upregulated. These differentially expressed lncRNAs were additionally classified into 5 subgroups. Reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reactions were performed to validate the expression pattern of 5 random selected lncRNAs, and 2lncRNAs were identified to have significantly different expression in CC samples compared with adjacent non-cancerous tissues. This finding suggests that those lncRNAs with different expression may serve important roles in the development of CC, and the expression data may provide information for additional study on the involvement of lncRNAs in CC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNA damage-inducing agents are among the most effective treatment regimens in clinical chemotherapy. However, drug resistance and severe side effects caused by these agents greatly limit their efficacy. Sensitizing malignant cells to chemotherapeutic agents has long been a goal of chemotherapy. In the present study, suppression of STN1, a gene important for safeguarding genome stability, potentiated the anticancer effect of chemotherapeutic agents in tumor cells. Using multiple cancer cells from a variety of origins, it was observed that downregulation of STN1 resulted in a significant decrease in the half maximal inhibitory concentration values of several conventional anticancer agents. When cells are treated with anticancer agents, STN1 suppression leads to a decline in colony formation and diminished anchorage-independent growth. Furthermore, it was additionally observed that STN1 knockdown augmented the levels of DNA damage caused by damage-inducing agents. The present study concluded that suppression of STN1 enhances the cytotoxicity of damage-inducing chemotherapeutic agents by increasing DNA damage in cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study reports a rare case of a renal clear cell carcinoma with thyroid and parotid metastases. A 56-year-old female, with a painless, right preauricular mass present for 6 months was referred to Renji Hospital (Shanghai, China). Physical examination revealed a mass of 3x3 cm, which was smooth, firm, immobile and non-tender. There was no accompanying facial weakness. Parotid ultrasonography revealed a hypoechoic mass within the right parotid gland, which was potentially a parotid mixed tumor. In July 2011, the patient underwent a superficial parotidectomy with preservation of the facial nerve. Pathology confirmed as right parotid clear cell carcinoma (metastasis). The patient's relevant medical history included a right radical nephrectomy for renal clear cell carcinoma (clinical stage III) in 2004. Additionally, in 2009, the patient underwent a resection of thyroid metastatic renal cell carcinoma. To the best of our knowledge, no similar case has previously been reported in English-language literature. The present study discusses a case report, and investigates the clinical features and treatment strategy. Introduction [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]