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Bladder cancer (BCa) is the most common cancer in the urinary system with high recurrence rate and poor prognosis. Circular RNA (circRNA) is a novel subclass of noncoding-RNA which participate in progression of BCa. Here, we identified a novel circRNA–circ3323 and aimed to investigate the role of circ3323 in progression of BCa. Public data of RNA sequencing was used to identify significant circRNA related to BCa. The role of circRNAs in progression of BCa was assessed in cytotoxicity assay, transwell assay and flow cytometry. Biotin-coupled RNA pull-down and fluorescence in situ hybridization were performed to evaluate the interaction between circRNAs and miRNAs. The expression of circ3323 was higher in BCa tissues and cells than in normal samples. Experiments in vitro showed that the knockdown of circ3323 inhibited cell proliferation and impeded the metastasis of BCa cells. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that circ3323 acts as a sponge for miR-186-5p and promotes host gene APP's expression. Clinically, circ3323 predicts worse overall survival of BCa patients, indicating its prognostic value. Our study identified that circ3323 modulates metastasis of BCa through miR-186-5p/APP axis and may serve as a promising prognostic biomarker for BCa, which provides novel insights into treatment of BCa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The risk factors for the survival of elderly patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) are multifarious. Here, we developed a novel clinical signature to serve as an indicator of prognosis in these patients. Materials and methods: Clinicopathological data were collected for 554 patients aged ≥ 60 years who were treated for primary OSCC. Overall survival (OS), disease-specific survival, and disease-free survival were the primary outcomes. Results: Multivariate cox regression analysis showed that high N stage, low hemoglobin level, low body mass index (BMI), and high neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) showed a poor survival (P < 0.05). A nomogram was constructed with a c-index of 0.702. Conclusion: A novel clinical signature including hemoglobin level, BMI, and NLR, which are obtained through noninvasive examinations can be used as prognostic indicators in clinical practice for elderly patients with OSCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) is one of the most common lethal cancers in the human urogenital system. As members of the Homeobox (HOX) family, Homeobox-A (HOXA) cluster genes have been reported to be involved in the development of many cancer types. However, the expression and clinical significance of HOXA genes in KIRC remain largely unknown. Materials and methods: In this study, we comprehensively analyzed the mRNA expression and prognostic values of HOXA genes in KIRC using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) analysis databases online. Colony formation assay, flow cytometry and Western blot were used to detect cell proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle, and protein level of the indicated gene. Results: We found that the HOXA genes were differentially expressed in KIRC tissues when compared with normal tissues. The expression of HOXA4 and HOXA13 were significantly up-regulated, while HOXA7 and HOXA11 were down-regulated in KIRC. High mRNA levels of HOXA2, HOXA3 and HOXA13, and low level of HOXA7 predicted poor overall survival (OS) of KIRC patients. High mRNA level of HOXA13 further indicated a poor disease-free survival (DFS) of KIRC patients. Functionally, knockdown of HOXA13 significantly suppressed cell proliferation of KIRC in vitro, increased the protein level of p53 and decreased the protein level of cyclin D1 in KIRC cells. Over-expression of HOXA13 had the opposite effects on KIRC cells. Conclusion: Collectively, our findings suggest that HOXA13 functions as a novel oncogene in KIRC and may be a potential biomarker for this malignancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatoma-derived growth factor (HDGF), a potential predictive and prognostic marker in several human cancers, is the firstly reported member of the HDGF family of proteins containing a well-conserved N-terminal amino acid sequence. HDGF is implicated in tumorigenesis by direct angiogenic activity, and its expression is correlated with aggressive biological ability of cancer cells including proliferation and angiogenesis. So, we propose that HDGF may be a valuable factor in progression and prognosis for primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) through its angiogenic and proliferative activity. So, HDGF, CD31 and Ki67 expression in the specimens of 60 patients suffering from PCNSL was investigated by immunohistochemistry in this study. Their correlations with clinicopathologic features and prognosis were evaluated to determine whether HDGF, CD31 and Ki67 expression levels correlate with the prognosis of the 60 patients suffering from PCNSL. We found that all PCNSL specimens showed HDGF, CD31 and Ki67 expression with different expression levels. Statistical analysis showed that HDGF had a positive correlation with CD31, but not with Ki67. Patients with higher HDGF and CD31 expression level had poorer overall survival rates than those with lower expression levels of HDGF and CD31, while Ki67 expression level did not correlate with overall survival. Multivariate analysis revealed that postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy and high expression of HDGF was independent prognostic indicator of patient survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the value of vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) expression and other confirmed prognostic factors in predicting clinical outcomes after the resection of gallbladder carcinoma (GBC). Between January 1999 and January 2006, a total of 84 consecutive and non-selected patients who underwent resection for GBC were retrospectively reviewed. Of the 84 patients studied, 45 cases (53.6%) exhibited high expression of VEGF-A and were placed into the high expression group. The 14 cases (16.7%) that showed no VEGF expression and the 25 cases (29.7%) that had lower VEGF-A levels were pooled into the low expression group (46.4%). There was a relationship between VEGF-A status and pM stage ( P = 0.027) as well as histologic differentiation ( P < 0.001). In univariate analysis by log-rank test, ECOG performance status, CA 19-9, pN stage, pM stage, histologic differentiation, and VEGF-A expression were significant prognostic factors ( P = 0.015, 0.001, 0.020, <0.001, 0.040, and <0.001, respectively). Multivariate analysis revealed that pN status and VEGF-A expression maintained independent prognostic influence on overall survival ( P < 0.001 and P = 0.013, respectively). VEGF-A expression has a positive correlation with pM stage and histologic differentiation. pN status and VEGF-A expression were independent prognostic factors of overall survival in patients with resected GBC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]