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Nan Li, Guang-Wei Tian, Ling-Rong Tang, Guang Li Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China Purpose: Human males absent on the first (hMOF) is a histone acetyltransferase (HAT) and is responsible for acetylating histone H4 at lysine 16 (H4K16). Recent studies have indicated that hMOF is overexpressed in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as an oncogene. The aim of this study is to profile the prognostic roles of hMOF in patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC undergoing definitive radiotherapy (RT) and in the radiosensitivity of human NSCLC cells. Materials and methods: The expression of hMOF was detected in 24 normal and tumor-paired fresh-frozen NSCLC tissue samples. The immunohistochemistry was conducted, and the correlation of hMOF with clinicopathological parameters was studied in tissues from 90 patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC who underwent definitive RT. Radiation sensitivity was monitored using clonogenic assays in NCI-H1299 and A549 NSCLC cell lines with hMOF knockdown. Results: hMOF was overexpressed in NSCLC tissues compared with non-cancerous tissues. Compared to patients with downregulated hMOF, upregulated hMOF was observed in 51.1% (46/90) of the patients, who showed a significantly worse 5-year survival rate (5.4% vs 22.9%, P=0.025). hMOF expression was an independent prognostic factor of unresectable stage III NSCLC patients who underwent definitive RT. Silencing hMOF increased in vitro the sensitive enhancing ratio (SER) of NSCLC cell lines and downregulated the expression of phospho-ataxia telangiectasia mutated (p-ATM) and RAD51 after irradiation (IR). Conclusion: Overexpression of hMOF predicts poor prognosis in patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC undergoing definitive RT. Downregulating hMOF might be a promising intervention to improve the outcome after RT. Keywords: prognosis, NSCLC, hMOF, radiosensitivity, HATs

Background: Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), Malaysia 2011 reported that the prevalence of smoking was highest among Malays male i.e., 24.6% (CI:22.1,27.3). The aim of this study was to evaluate the perception of a group of smokers towards various national anti-smoking initiatives as well as its association with age and education level. Methods: The study was conducted in a randomly selected pre-dominantly Malay settlement in Malaysia using a validated self-administered questionnaire. The national anti-smoking initiatives assessed were ‘anti-smoking campaign’, ‘labelling on cigarette pack’, ‘increment of cigarette price’, ‘smoke free zone policies’ and ‘Quit smoking clinic’ initiatives. Results: A total of 136 Malay male smokers participated in this study. The percentage of respondents agreeing with the questions asked were very low, ranging from only 5.9% to 24.3%, except for one i.e., 99.3% agreed that the information on cigarette packs can be trusted. Assessing the success of various types of national anti-smoking initiatives in helping smokers to quit, the percentage of those who agreed ranged between 17.6% - 24.3% and in helping to reduce numbers of cigarette smoked, the range was from 12.5% to 18.4%. There was a significant association between ‘increment of cigarette price’ initiative with level of education (P=0.02). Conclusion: The percentage of positive perceptions towards all anti-smoking efforts was low and perception towards ‘increment of cigarette price’ was associated with level of education.

Background: Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), Malaysia 2011 reported that the prevalence of smoking was highest among Malays male i.e., 24.6% (CI:22.1,27.3). The aim of this study was to evaluate the perception of a group of smokers towards various national anti-smoking initiatives as well as its association with age and education level. Methods: The study was conducted in a randomly selected pre-dominantly Malay settlement in Malaysia using a validated self-administered questionnaire. The national anti-smoking initiatives assessed were ‘anti-smoking campaign’, ‘labelling on cigarette pack’, ‘increment of cigarette price’, ‘smoke free zone policies’ and ‘Quit smoking clinic’ initiatives. Results: A total of 136 Malay male smokers participated in this study. The percentage of respondents agreeing with the questions asked were very low, ranging from only 5.9% to 24.3%, except for one i.e., 99.3% agreed that the information on cigarette packs can be trusted. Assessing the success of various types of national anti-smoking initiatives in helping smokers to quit, the percentage of those who agreed ranged between 17.6% - 24.3% and in helping to reduce numbers of cigarette smoked, the range was from 12.5% to 18.4%. There was a significant association between ‘increment of cigarette price’ initiative with level of education (P=0.02). Conclusion: The percentage of positive perceptions towards all anti-smoking efforts was low and perception towards ‘increment of cigarette price’ was associated with level of education.