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Farmland landscape fragmentation is an important problem affecting the agricultural modernization process in China. However, farmland landscape fragmentation leads to land being wasted and increases management costs, particularly in the dryland's oasis regions. Therefore, investigating the impact of farmland landscape fragmentation on agricultural irrigation is of great significance in developing oasis agriculture. This paper used the landscape quantitative index (DIVISION), the moving window method, and gradient analysis methods to study the temporal and spatial pattern changes in farmland fragmentation in the Hotan Oasis. Additionally, the impact of fragmentation on irrigation in the oasis was elaborated upon by exploring the relationship between evapotranspiration and its components in farmland fragmentation. The results showed that the farmland area of the Hotan Oasis increased from 1546.19 km2 in 2000 to 2068.23 km2 in 2020, and farmland landscape fragmentation increased with the expansion of the Hotan Oasis. In addition, a significant relationship between farmland fragmentation and evapotranspiration and its components was evident. A lower DIVISION value corresponded to a higher ET value, a lower ETs/ETc ratio, and a higher water use efficiency. When the total farmland area is assumed to remain unchanged, the irrigation water consumption is reduced by 4.82 × 108 m3 according to the size and proportion of arable land with the lowest degree of fragmentation (L1, division value of 0.46). In addition, with the increase in the proportion of farmland, the scale of oasis decreases by 2431.56 km2 for the reduction in field roads, shelterbelt, and bare land. These findings suggest that solving the problem of farmland fragmentation can effectively reduce irrigation water consumption, realize the internal expansion of the oasis through intensive land use, and relieve the pressure of the external expansion of the oasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Interleukin-16 (IL-16) plays a fundamental role in inflammatory diseases, as well as in the development and progression of tumors. A T-to-C polymorphism at the -295 position in the promoter region of the IL-16 gene has been described. This variation might lead to altered IL-16 expression, and might modulate an individual's susceptibility to cancer. The objective of the present study was to determine if IL-16 polymorphism is associated with risk of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Methods: A case–control study including 335 RCC cases and 340 cancer-free controls was carried out. All subjects were genetically unrelated ethnic Han Chinese recruited from a single institution between July 2006 and July 2009. The IL-16 -295 T>C polymorphism was determined by using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. Serum samples were available for 70 RCC cases and 96 controls to detect IL-16 concentration. Results: Compared with the IL-16 -295 TT genotype, the CC genotype had a significantly decreased RCC risk (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 0.34, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.18–0.66). Furthermore, a significant decreased risk of RCC was found in the combined variant genotypes CT + CC compared with the TT genotype (adjusted OR = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.50–0.93). In addition, the serum IL-16 levels in RCC patients were significantly lower than those in controls ( P < 0.001). Furthermore, patients carrying CC genotype or CT genotype had higher serum IL-16 levels than TT carriers. Conclusion: IL-16 -295 T>C polymorphism is significantly associated with a higher risk of developing RCC in Chinese population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Nitrogen fixation by leguminous Robinia pseudoacacia was not obvious. • Soil organic carbons stocks in the 16- and 49-year-old plantations were similar. • Soil organic carbon was negatively correlated with soil pH. • Robinia pseudoacacia plantations showed soil acidification across entire profiles. Over the past several decades, a vegetation restoration project has been conducted in the southeastern Loess Plateau of China by converting cropland into forest plantations to combat soil erosion. However, the effects of land use change on soil fertility are poorly documented. Here, we assessed soil chemical properties in areas of the southeastern Loess Plateau following afforestation of cropland with Robinia pseudoacacia plantations that had been established for 16 years and 49 years, a 49-year-old naturally restored forest, and adjacent cropland. We found that the effect of afforestation on soil organic carbon and total nitrogen mainly occurred at shallow depths. Soil organic carbon and total nitrogen concentrations in the topsoil of both 49-year-old forests were significantly higher than those in cropland. However, the highest total phosphorus concentrations were observed in the topsoil of cropland due to the application of fertilizer. The nitrogen-fixing effect of leguminous Robinia pseudoacacia was not obvious through comparisons of soil total nitrogen within 49-year-old naturally restored and planted forests. Our results indicate that both natural restoration and planting can increase soil organic carbon stocks, but that the increase after 16 years is slight. In this experiment, we found that soil organic carbon concentrations were negatively correlated with soil pH for all four land use patterns, and that the strength of the correlation increased with time since restoration. In contrast to cropland and naturally restored forest, plantations of both ages showed soil acidification across their entire profiles. This may be due to the root exudate and rhizosphere environment created by R. pseudoacacia. These results provide important insights about the impacts of ecological restoration on soil chemical properties in the Loess Plateau and elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Divide 192 months into 4 groups by PCA and CA based on 4 meteorological factors. • Any individual meteorological factor is far from adequate to determine C fluxes. • Effective accumulated temperature plays a vital role in regulating C fluxes. • Precipitation is the limiting factor in the transitional phase of growing period. • Short-term seasonal drought has significant negative impacts on C fluxes. Influences of meteorological factors on the carbon fluxes of a forest ecosystem can vary with time scales. While many studies were made on daily to annual variations of measured carbon flux of forest ecosystems, few were conducted on the variations of observed carbon fluxes over longer (decadal or more) time scale. This study quantified the influences of meteorological variables on the measured carbon fluxes in a Quercus variabilis plantation from 2006 to 2021 using principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA). PCA was used to identify the most important meteorological variables. They are monthly mean daily maximum global radiation (Rg), monthly effective accumulated temperature (Tac), monthly mean daily maximum vapor pressure deficit (VPD), and monthly precipitation (PP). CA was used to group 192 observed months into four groups based on those four meteorological variables and their effects on the observed carbon fluxes. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was then used to quantify the relative importance and direct or indirect effects of those four meteorological factors on carbon fluxes at the interannual timescale in each of the four groups. The results showed that air temperature had dominant influence on net ecosystem productivity (NEP) and ecosystem respiration (Re) with its relative importance measured by standardized coefficients (SC) of 0.59 and 0.97, respectively. PP directly impacted gross primary production (GPP) with an SC of 0.40 and indirectly influenced NEP and Re. The importance of a given meteorological factor on carbon fluxes and the dominant meteorological factors varied among the four groups. Tac mainly influenced Re with a SC of 0.79 in Group 1 (the nongrowing season). The direct effects of PP on NEP and GPP and indirect effects on Re were most prominent in Group 2 (the transition stage between the nongrowing season and the growing season). Tac and PP had greater influences than other two variables in Group 3 (the transitional stage of early growth and vigorous growth and the transitional stage of steady growth and dormant period). NEP increased with Tac, while excessive rainy weather accompanied by a decrease in temperature and radiation reduced Re and GPP in Group 4 (the wet season). The short-term seasonal droughts with warm air temperatures but little precipitation (mainly in June) led to significant reductions in both GPP and NEP of the Quercus variabilis plantation ecosystem in the warm-temperate continental monsoon climate zone. Our results can be used to guide managing forest plantations in temperate region in China to maximize their carbon sequestration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing impact of human activities on the environment, evapotranspiration (ET) has changed in arid areas, which further affects the water resources availability in the region. Therefore, understanding the impact of human activities on ET and its components is helpful to the management of water resources in arid areas. This study verified the accuracy of Fisher's model (PT-JPL model) for ET estimation in southern Xinjiang, China by using the evaporation complementarity theory dataset (AET dataset). The ET and the evapotranspiration components (T:E) of six land-use types were estimated in southern Xinjiang from 1982 to 2015, and the impact of human activities on ET was analyzed. In addition, the impact of four environmental factors (temperature (Temp), net radiation (Rn), relative humidity (RH), and NDVI) on ET were evaluated. The results showed that the calculated ET values of the PT-JPL model were close to the ET values of the AET dataset. The correlation coefficient (R 2 ) was more than 0.8, and the NSE was close to 1. In grassland, water area, urban industrial and mining land, forest land, and cultivated land, the ET values were high, and in unused land types, the ET values were the lowest. The T:E values varied greatly in urban industrial and mining land, forest land, and cultivated land, which was due to the intensification of human activities, and the values were close to 1 in summer in recent years. Among the four environmental factors, temperature largely influenced the monthly ET. These findings suggest that human activities have significantly reduced soil evaporation and improved water use efficiency. The impact of human activities on environmental factors has caused changes in ET and its components, and appropriate oasis expansion is more conducive to regional sustainable development.

Prostate cancer predisposition has been extensively investigated in European populations, but there have been few studies of other ethnic groups. To investigate prostate cancer susceptibility in the under-investigated Chinese population, we performed single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array analysis on a cohort of Chinese cases and controls and then meta-analysis with data from the existing Chinese prostate cancer genome-wide association study (GWAS). Genotyping 211,155 SNPs in 495 cases and 640 controls of Chinese ancestry identified several new suggestive Chinese prostate cancer predisposition loci. However, none of them reached genome-wide significance level either by meta-analysis or replication study. The meta-analysis with the Chinese GWAS data revealed that four 8q24 loci are the main contributors to Chinese prostate cancer risk and the risk alleles from three of them exist at much higher frequencies in Chinese than European populations. We also found that several predisposition loci reported in Western populations have different effect on Chinese men. Therefore, this first extensive single-nucleotide polymorphism study of Chinese prostate cancer in comparison with European population indicates that four loci on 8q24 contribute to a great risk of prostate cancer in a considerable large proportion of Chinese men. Based on those four loci, the top 10% of the population have six- or two-fold prostate cancer risk compared with men of the bottom 10% or median risk respectively, which may facilitate the design of prostate cancer genetic risk screening and prevention in Chinese men. These findings also provide additional insights into the etiology and pathogenesis of prostate cancer., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Background: Living-related donor kidney transplantation has become an important way to overcome the shortage of renal source. However, ethical and social factors lead to concern about the safety of live kidney donation. This study aimed to provide more evidence about the safety of living kidney transplantations., Material and Methods: 148 living kidney transplantations were performed between 2000 and 2011. Living kidney donors underwent comprehensive pre- and post-operation inspections, including blood test, serum creatinine, blood urea, glomerular filtration rate and urine protein, and were regularly followed up after the operation., Results: All 148 operations were performed successfully, and none of the living related donors died, including 52 male and 96 female donors, with mean age of 49.8 years; 120 donors underwent retroperitoneal laparoscopic nephrectomy, while the others underwent open nephrectomy. The mean follow-up was 59.6 months. The hemoglobin (HGB) decreased and had significant differences on day 1 and week 1 compared with pre-operation HGB levels. Blood urea increased significantly compared with pre-operation blood urea levels. Serum creatinine increased but did not exceed the normal range. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) increased after the operation. No urine protein was detected in any donors., Conclusions: Our study suggests that renal function in living related kidney donors is not damaged after uninephrectomy.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified ∼100 genetic loci associated with prostate cancer risk. Less than a dozen of these loci were initially identified from GWAS in two Asian populations, likely because of smaller sample sizes of these individual GWAS in Asians. Here, we conduct a large-scale meta-analysis of two GWAS from the Japanese population (1,583 cases and 3,386 controls) and the Chinese population (1,417 cases and 1,008 controls), followed by replication in three independent sample sets. We identify two independent susceptibility loci for prostate cancer at 11p15.4 (rs12791447, P=3.59 × 10(-8); PPFIBP2) and 14q23.2 (rs58262369, P=6.05 × 10(-10); ESR2). The mRNA levels of PPFIBP2 and ESR2 are differentially expressed in prostate tumours and paired normal tissues. Our study adds two new loci to the limited number of prostate cancer risk-associated variants in Asians and provides important insight into potential biological mechanisms of prostate cancer.

Objective: The influence of age on the performance of percent free prostate-specific antigen (%fPSA) in diagnosing prostate cancer (PCa) in East Asians is controversial. We tested the diagnostic performance of %fPSA in a multi-center biopsy cohort in China and identified the proper age-specific cutoff values to avoid unnecessary biopsies., Methods: Consecutive patients with a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level of 4.0-10.0 ng/ml or 10.1-20.0 ng/ml who underwent transrectal ultrasound-guided or transperineal prostate biopsy were enrolled from 22 Chinese medical centers from Jan 1, 2010 to Dec 31, 2013. The diagnostic accuracy of PSA and %fPSA was determined using the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC). Age-specific cutoff values were calculated using ROC curve analysis., Results: The median %fPSA was much lower in younger patients compared with older patients with a PSA level of 4.0-10.0 ng/ml or 10.1-20.0 ng/ml. The AUC of %fPSA was higher than PSA only in older patients. In patients aged 50 to 59 years, %fPSA failed to improve the diagnosis compared with PSA in these two PSA ranges. Age-specific cutoff values were 24%, 27% and 32% for patients aged 60-69, 70-79 and ≥80 years, respectively, to reduce unnecessary biopsies in men with PSA levels of 4.0-10.0 ng/ml to detect 90% of all PCa., Conclusions: The effectiveness of %fPSA is correlated with age in the Chinese population. Age-specific cutoff values would help avoid unnecessary biopsies in the Chinese population.

Background: The RhoA/ROCK pathway and Caveolin-1 (Cav-1) participate in the process of tumorigenesis in numerous types of cancer. Up-regulation of RhoA/ROCK and Cav-1 expression is considered to be associated with the development and progression of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). We investigated the association between genetic variations of RhoA/ROCK and Cav-1 and the risk of ccRCC in the Chinese population., Methods: Between May 2004 and March 2014, a total of 1,248 clear cell renal cell carcinoma cases and 1,440 cancer-free controls were enrolled in this hospital-based case-control study. Nine SNPs in RhoA/ROCK and Cav-1 were genotyped using the TaqMan assay., Result: We found two SNPs (Cav-1 rs1049334 and ROCK1 rs35996865) were significantly associated with the increasing risk of ccRCC (P = 0.002 and P < 0.001 respectively). The analysis of combined risk alleles revealed that patients with 2-4 risk alleles showed a more remarkable growth of ccRCC risk than the patients with 0-1 risk alleles(OR = 1.66, 95%CI = 1.31-2.11, P < 0.001). Younger subjects (P = 0.001, OR = 1.83, 95%CI = 1.30-2.57), higher weight subjects (P = 0.001, OR = 1.76, 95%CI = 1.25-2.47), female subjects (P = 0.007, OR = 1.75, 95% CI = 1.17-2.62), nonsmokers (P < 0.001, OR = 1.67, 95%CI = 1.26-2.23), drinkers (P = 0.025, OR = 1.75, 95% CI = 1.07-2.85), subjects with hypertension (P = 0.025, OR = 1.75, 95% CI = 1.07-2.85) and diabetes (P = 0.026, OR = 4.31, 95% CI = 1.19-15.62) showed a stronger association between the combined risk alleles and the risk of ccRCC by using the stratification analysis. Furthermore, we observed higher Cav-1 mRNA levels in the presence of the rs1049334 A allele in normal renal tissues., Conclusion: Our results indicate that the two SNPs (Cav-1 rs1049334 and ROCK1 rs35996865) and genotypes with a combination of 2-4 risk alleles were associated with the risk of ccRCC. The functional SNP rs1049334 may affect the risk of ccRCC by altering the expression of Cav-1 and the relevance between the risk effects and the functional impact of this polymorphism needs further validation.

Thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) is a glycoprotein that plays a major role in bladder cancer. We investigated the relationship between the distribution of the TSP-1 -696 C/T polymorphism (rs2664139) and the clinical features of bladder cancer. TaqMan assay was used to determine the genotype among the 609 cases and 670 controls in a Chinese population. Logistic regression was used to assess the association between the polymorphism and bladder cancer risk. Compared with the CT/TT genotypes, the CC genotype was associated with a significantly increased risk of bladder cancer (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.43, 95% CI 1.01-2.04), which was more prominent among the male participants (OR 1.82, 95% CI 1.20-2.76). The polymorphism was associated with a higher risk of developing grade 3 (OR 1.84, 95% CI 1.00-3.36), multiple-tumor (OR 1.81, 95% CI 1.08-3.02), and large-tumor (OR 1.94, 95% CI 1.22-3.10) bladder cancers. These observations suggest that the TSP-1 -696 C/T polymorphism may contribute to bladder cancer susceptibility in the Chinese population., (Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: One-carbon metabolism is the basement of nucleotide synthesis and the methylation of DNA linked to cancer risk. Variations in one-carbon metabolism genes are reported to affect the risk of many cancers, including renal cancer, but little knowledge about this mechanism is known in Chinese population., Methods: Each subject donated 5 mL venous blood after signing the agreement. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China. 18 SNPs in six one-carbon metabolism-related genes (CBS, MTHFR, MTR, MTRR, SHMT1, and TYMS) were genotyped in 859 clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) patients and 1005 cancer-free controls by the Snapshot., Results: Strong associations with ccRCC risk were observed for rs706209 (P = 0.006) in CBS and rs9332 (P = 0.027) in MTRR. Compared with those carrying none variant allele, individuals carrying one or more variant alleles in these two genes had a statistically significantly decreased risk of ccRCC [P = 0.001, adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 0.73, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.06-0.90]. In addition, patients carrying one or more variant alleles were more likely to develop localized stage disease (P = 0.002, adjusted OR = 1.37, 95%CI = 1.11-1.69) and well-differentiated ccRCC (P<0.001, adjusted OR = 1.42, 95%CI = 0.87-1.68). In the subgroup analysis, individuals carrying none variant allele in older group (P = 0.007, adjusted OR = 0.67, 95%CI = 0.49-0.91), male group (P = 0.007, adjusted OR = 0.71, 95%CI = 0.55-0.92), never smoking group (P = 0.002, adjusted OR = 0.68, 95%CI = 0.53-0.88) and never drinking group (P<0.001, adjusted OR = 0.68, 95%CI = 0.53-0.88) had an increased ccRCC risk., Conclusions: Our results suggest that the polymorphisms of the one-carbon metabolism-related genes are associated with ccRCC risk in Chinese population. Future population-based prospective studies are required to confirm the results.

Clusterin expression has a positive correlation with the occurrence and progression of various types of tumors from different genetic backgrounds. Clusterin overexpression may protect tumor cells from apoptosis and damage caused by autoimmunity or anti-tumor therapy. Using immunohistochemisty, one previous study showed that clusterin protein expression is downregulated in human testicular seminoma, which is highly sensitive to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. We thus postulate that clusterin expression in human testicular seminoma differs from clusterin expression in other tumors. It may be the cause of the treatable characteristics of testicular seminoma. In the present preliminary study, we detected the abundance of clusterin mRNA in human testicular seminoma and normal testis. The results showed decreased clusterin expression in seminoma at the gene transcription level. Our primary data and summarized previous literature suggest that the downregulation of clusterin expression may be the cause of the high sensitivity of testicular seminoma to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. It may be that the scarcity of clusterin leaves tumor cells with insufficient protection from treatment. This is the first study to focus on the relationship between clusterin expression and human testicular cancer., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: A functional -94 insertion/deletion polymorphism (rs28362491) in the promoter of the NFKB1 gene was reported to influence NFKB1 expression and confer susceptibility to different types of cancer. This study aims to determine whether the polymorphism is associated with risk of bladder cancer., Materials and Methods: TaqMan assay was used to determine genotype among 609 cases and 640 controls in a Chinese population. Logistic regression was used to assess the association between the polymorphism and bladder cancer risk, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to determine NFKB1 mRNA expression., Results: Compared with the ins/ins/ins/del genotypes, the del/del genotype was associated with a significantly increased risk of bladder cancer [adjusted odd ratio (OR) = 1.92, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.42-2.59]. The increased risk was more prominent among subjects over 65 years old (OR = 2.37, 95% CI= 1.52-3.70), male subjects (OR = 1.97, 95% CI = 1.40-2.79) and subjects with self-reported family history of cancer (OR = 3.59, 95% CI = 1.19-10.9). Furthermore, the polymorphism was associated with a higher risk of developing non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (OR= 2.07, 95% CI= 1.51-2.85), grade 1 bladder cancer (OR = 2.40, 95% CI = 1.68-3.43), single tumor bladder cancer (OR = 2.04, 95% CI = 1.48-2.82) and smaller tumor size bladder cancer (OR = 2.10, 95% CI= 1.51-2.92). The expression of NFKB1 mRNA in bladder cancer tissues with homozygous insertion genotype was higher than that with deletion allele., Conclusions: In conclusion, the -94 ins/del ATTG polymorphism in NFKB1 promoter may contribute to the etiology of bladder cancer in the Chinese population.

Background: Abnormal expression of Baculoviral inhibitor of apoptosis repeat-containing 5 (BIRC5, also called as survivin), a novel member of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family, has implications in many types of cancer and is considered as a new therapeutic target. We suppose that genetic variant rs9904341 in the 5' UTR region of survivin gene may be associated with the development and progression of prostate cancer (PCa) in Chinese population., Methods: TaqMan assay method was used to genotype the polymorphism in the hospital-based case-control analysis of 665 patients with PCa and 710 age-matched cancer-free controls. The genetic associations with the occurrence and progression of PCa were calculated by logistic regression., Results: Our results indicated that compared with GG genotypes, there was a statistically significant increased risk of PCa associated with those with CC genotypes [odds ratios (ORs) = 1.57, 95%confidence intervals (CIs) = 1.17-2.13, P = 0.004]. Moreover, stratification analysis revealed that the association was more pronounced in subgroups of nondrinkers, nonsmokers and those without a family history of cancer (all P < 0.05). In addition, we observed that PSA ≥ 20 was more frequent in patients carrying GC/CC genotypes than in those with a wild type genotype., Conclusion: The functional survivin rs9904341 genetic variant may have a substantial influence on the PCa susceptibility and evolution.

Background: A rare mutation G84E in HOXB13 was recently identified to be associated with prostate cancer (PCa) in Caucasians. The goal of this study is to test association between HOXB13 genetic variants and PCa risk in Chinese men., Methods: All study subjects were part of the Chinese Consortium for Prostate Cancer Genetics (ChinaPCa). In the first stage, we screened for mutations by sequencing the HOXB13 coding region in 96 unrelated PCa patients. In stage 2, G84E and novel mutations found in stage 1 were genotyped in 671 PCa patients and 1,536 controls. In stage 3, mutation status in 751 additional PCa patients was imputed via haplotype., Results: The G84E mutation was not detected in this study. However, a novel mutation, G135E, was identified among 96 patients in stage 1. It was also observed twice in 575 additional PCa patients but not in 1,536 control subjects of stage 2. The frequency of G135E was significantly different between cases and controls, with a P-value of 0.027, based on Fisher's exact test. Haplotype estimation showed that G135E mutation carriers shared a unique haplotype that was not observed in other subjects. In stage 3, two more PCa patients were predicted to carry the G135E mutation., Conclusions: We identified a novel rare mutation in the HOXB13 gene, G135E, which appears to be a founder mutation. This mutation is associated with increased PCa risk in Chinese men. Consistent with a previous report, our findings provide further evidence that rare mutations in HOXB13 contribute to PCa risk., (Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Human oxoguanine glycosylase 1 (hOGG1) is a DNA repair enzyme, which plays important roles in the base excision repair (BER) pathway. Several studies reported a common polymorphism Ser326Cys (rs1052133) in hOGG1, which conferred the susceptibility of bladder cancer. We hypothesized that the polymorphism is associated with risk of bladder cancer in a Chinese population. In a case-control study of 1050 histologically confirmed bladder cancer patients and 1404 age and sex matched healthy controls, we genotyped the hOGG1 Ser326Cys polymorphism using TaqMan technology and assessed its association with bladder cancer risk. We found that the hOGG1 Ser/Cys + Ser/Ser genotypes were associated with a significantly increased risk of bladder cancer (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.19, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.01-1.41), compared with the Cys/Cys genotype. Furthermore, the increased risk was more pronounced among subjects over age 65 years (OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.04-1.66), male subjects (OR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.00-1.47), ever smokers (OR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.00-1.68) and heavy smokers (>20 pack-years) (OR = 1.45, 95% CI = 1.03-2.04). No significant association was observed in the stratification of tumor grade and tumor stage for bladder cancer. In conclusion, our results suggest that hOGG1 Ser326Cys polymorphism may contribute to the susceptibility to bladder cancer in a Chinese population., (© 2012 Japanese Cancer Association.)

Accumulating evidence suggests that inflammatory process may play a role in bladder carcinogenesis. However, the exact mechanisms of how the inflammatory factors associate with bladder cancer risk are still unknown. In this study, we explored whether polymorphisms (i.e. IL-4 C-590T, IL-4R Ile50Val, IL-4R Ser478Pro, IL-4R Gln551Arg, IL-13 C-1055T and IL-13 Arg130Gln) of IL-4, IL-4R and IL-13 genes predicted Chinese bladder cancer risk in 817 bladder cancer and 1,141 controls. Genotyping was performed by using the TaqMan method. We did not find any overall association between these single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and bladder cancer susceptibility in a Chinese population. However, in the classification and regression tree (CART) analysis, we found that carriers of IL-13 C-1055T variant genotype in smokers had a 2.57-fold increased bladder cancer risk with a 55% patient rate (OR = 2.57; 95% CI = 1.93-3.43), comparing with non-smokers. Similar result was also observed in combination of IL-13 C-1055T and IL-13 Arg130Gln in smokers. By multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) analysis, the best interaction model was the two-factor model that smokers with the IL-13 C-1055T genotypes were the subgroup to predict bladder cancer risk. The results suggested that the genetic variants in IL-4, IL-4R and IL-13 genes might modulate the bladder cancer risk in a Chinese population.

There are remarkable disparities among patients of different races with prostate cancer; however, the mechanism underlying this difference remains unclear. Here, we present a comprehensive landscape of the transcriptome profiles of 14 primary prostate cancers and their paired normal counterparts from the Chinese population using RNA-seq, revealing tremendous diversity across prostate cancer transcriptomes with respect to gene fusions, long noncoding RNAs (long ncRNA), alternative splicing and somatic mutations. Three of the 14 tumors (21.4%) harbored a TMPRSS2-ERG fusion, and the low prevalence of this fusion in Chinese patients was further confirmed in an additional tumor set (10/54=18.5%). Notably, two novel gene fusions, CTAGE5-KHDRBS3 (20/54=37%) and USP9Y-TTTY15 (19/54=35.2%), occurred frequently in our patient cohort. Further systematic transcriptional profiling identified numerous long ncRNAs that were differentially expressed in the tumors. An analysis of the correlation between expression of long ncRNA and genes suggested that long ncRNAs may have functions beyond transcriptional regulation. This study yielded new insights into the pathogenesis of prostate cancer in the Chinese population.

The Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor gene is a crucial regulator of the hypoxia response pathway and plays an important role in tumorigenesis, particularly in tumor growth and vascularization. We hypothesize that polymorphisms in the functional region of VHL may influence susceptibility to prostate cancer (PCa). We genotyped a potentially functional polymorphism (rs779805) in 5' UTR region of VHL in a case-control study of 665 PCa patients and 715 cancer-free controls in a Chinese population using the Taqman assay. The genetic associations between the incidence and progression of PCa were assessed by logistic regression. We observed that the rs779805 A>G polymorphism was significantly associated with risk for PCa. Compared with the AA genotype, the AG and AG/GG genotypes were associated with decreased risk of PCa (adjusted odds ratio [OR]=0.79, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.62-0.99, and adjusted OR=0.76, 95% CI=0.61-0.95, respectively). Further, this decreased risk was more pronounced in the subgroups of nonsmokers (OR=0.73, 95% CI=0.54-0.98), nondrinkers (OR=0.70, 95% CI=0.54-0.91) and patients without family history of cancer (OR=0.72, 95% CI=0.57-0.92). In addition, the decreased risk associated with rs779805 variant genotypes (AG/GG) was more pronounced among the prostate specific antigen (PSA)>20 ng/mL subgroup (OR=0.68, 95% CI=0.49-0.95). Our findings suggest that the rs779805 A>G polymorphism in VHL may confer susceptibility to PCa in the Chinese population.

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs to regulate cell differentiation, proliferation, development, and apoptosis. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs895819 is located at the terminal loop of pre-miR-27a. Here, we aimed to investigate whether SNP rs895819 was associated with the development of renal cell cancer (RCC) in a Chinese population., Methods: In this case-control study, we recruited 594 RCC patients and 600 cancer-free controls with frequency matched by age and sex. We genotyped this polymorphism using the TaqMan assay and assessed the effect of this polymorphism on RCC survival. Logistic regression model was used to assess the genetic effects on the development of RCC and interactions between rs895819 polymorphism and risk factors., Results: Compared with AA homozygote, individuals carrying AG/GG genotypes had a statistically significant reduced susceptibility to RCC (adjusted OR = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.56-0.90). Furthermore, AG/GG genotypes were associated with reduced RCC susceptibility in localized clinical stage (adjusted OR = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.55-0.91), and similar effects were observed in well differentiated and poorly differentiated RCC (adjusted OR = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.55-0.93 for well differentiated, adjusted OR = 0.51, 95% CI = 0.28-0.93 for poorly differentiated). We also observed that rs895819 had multiplicative interactions with age and hypertension. However, the polymorphism did not influence the survival of RCC., Conclusion: Our results suggest that the pre-miR-27a rs895819 polymorphism can predict RCC risk in a Chinese population. Larger population-based prospective studies should be used to validate our findings.

Background: Genetic variations in a PTEN/AKT/mTOR signaling axis may influence cellular functions including cell growth, proliferation and apoptosis, and then increase the individual's risk of cancer. Accordingly, we explore the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of these genes and prostate cancer (PCa) in our Chinese population., Methods: Subjects were recruited from 666 PCa patients and 708 cancer-free controls, and eight SNPs in the PTEN/AKT/mTOR axis were determined by the TaqMan assay. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were evaluated by logistic regression., Results: We observed significant associations between PCa risk and mTOR rs2295080 [P = 0.027, OR = 0.85, 95%CI = 0.74-0.98], and AKT2 rs7254617 (P = 0.003, OR = 1.35, 95%CI = 1.11-1.64). When estimated these two SNPs together, the combined genotypes with 2-4 risk alleles (rs2295080 T and rs7254617 A alleles) were associated with an increased risk of PCa compared with 0-1 risk alleles, which was more pronounced among subgroups of age >71 years, smokers, drinkers and no family history of cancer. Results of stratified analyses by cliniopathological parameters revealed that the frequencies of the combined genotypes with 2-4 risk alleles in advanced stage were significantly higher than in localized stage (P = 0.022), but there was no significant association in Gleason score and PSA level., Conclusion: Our results indicate, for the first time that the two variants in AKT2 and mTOR, particularly the joint genotypes with 2-4 risk alleles may influence PCa susceptibility and progression in Chinese, and the association appeared to be more strong in the subgroup of smokers and drinkers.

Background: Apoptosis is the physiological mechanism of programmed cell death and abnormal regulation of this pathway can lead to carcinogenesis. We hypothesized that the FAS -1377G>A, -670A>G, and FASL -844T>C polymorphisms are associated with risk of prostate cancer (PCa)., Materials and Methods: We genotyped polymorphisms in a hospital-based case-control study of 602 patients diagnosed with PCa and 703 cancer-free controls in a Chinese population using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method., Results: We found a significantly decreased risk associated with FAS -1377GA [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 0.71, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.56-0.90] genotype compared with the -1377GG genotype and decreased risk associated with FAS -670AG and -670GG genotypes (OR 0.75, 95% CI: 0.59-0.95; OR 0.70, 95% CI: 0.50-0.96) compared with the -670AA genotype. Consistently, we found that individuals carrying haplotype genotype with 0 or 1 risk allele (-1377G and -670A) had a lower risk of PCa than those with two risk alleles (OR 0.48, 95% CI: 0.28-0.80; OR 0.60, 95% CI: 0.41-0.87; OR 0.82, 95% CI: 0.69-0.97 for the AA, GG, and AG haplotype, respectively). In addition, when we evaluated these two FAS polymorphisms together, we found that the combined genotype with 4 risk alleles was associated with a significantly increased risk of PCa compared with those with 0-3 variants (OR 1.51, 95% CI: 1.19-1.91), and this increased risk was more pronounced among subgroups of Gleason score <7 and >7, and PSA > 20 ng/ml (OR 1.49, 95% CI: 1.08-2.04; OR 1.72, 95% CI: 1.25-2.44; OR 1.61, 95% CI: 1.23-2.13, respectively)., Conclusions: These results suggested that the FAS polymorphisms may contribute to PCa risk in a Chinese population., (Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Background: Warm ischemic injury is one of the most important factors affecting renal function in partial nephrectomy (PN). The technique of segmental renal artery clamping emerges as an alternative to conventional renal artery clamping for renal hilar control., Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and efficiency of laparoscopic PN (LPN) with segmental renal artery clamping in comparison with the conventional technique., Design, Setting, and Participants: A total of 75 patients underwent LPN from June 2007 to November 2009. All patients had T1a or T1b tumor in one kidney and a normal contralateral kidney. Thirty-seven patients underwent surgeries with main renal artery clamping, and 38 underwent surgeries with segmental artery clamping., Intervention: All procedures were performed by the same laparoscopic surgeon., Measurements: Blood loss, operation time, warm ischemia (WI) time, and complications affected renal function before and after operation were recorded., Results and Limitations: All LPNs were completed without conversion to open surgery or nephrectomy. The novel technique slightly increased WI time (p<0.001) and intraoperative blood loss (p=0.006), while it provided better postoperative affected renal function (p<0.001) compared with the conventional technique. The total complication rate was 12%. Among the 38 cases where segmental renal artery clamping was performed, 7 had to convert to the conventional method. Tumor size and location influenced the number of clamped segmental arteries. Long-term postoperative renal function is still awaited., Conclusions: LPN with segmental artery clamping is safe and feasible in clinical practice. It minimizes the intraoperative WI injury and improves early postoperative affected renal function compared with main renal artery clamping., (Copyright © 2010 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Oxidative DNA damage caused by reactive oxygen species plays an important role in cancer development. Human 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase (hOGG1) is involved in base excision repair of 8-oxoguanine from damaged DNA. We hypothesized that variants in the hOGG1 gene are associated with risk of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). In a hospital-based case-control study of 572 RCC patients and 575 cancer-free controls frequency matched by age and sex, we genotyped the functional polymorphism Ser326Cys (rs1052133) and assessed its associations with risk of RCC in a Chinese population. We found that individuals with the Cys allele were associated with an increased risk of RCC (odds ratio [OR] = 1.40, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.02-1.90), compared with those with the Ser/Ser genotype, particularly among subgroups of body mass index >24 kg/m(2) (OR = 1.75, 95% CI = 1.12-2.73) and non-smokers (OR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.07-2.38). Further, the polymorphism was associated with risk of developing localized stage and well-differentiated RCC. Our results suggested that the polymorphism is involved in the etiology of RCC and thus may be a marker for genetic susceptibility to RCC.

The epidermal growth factor (EGF) gene encodes a growth factor that binds to the EGF receptor (EGFR), which is involved in activating pathways that promote cellular proliferation, survival, migration and differentiation, and lack of control is characteristic of malignant development. Previous studies showed that serum EGF levels may influence the risk of cancer. In this study, we genotyped the EGF G61A polymorphism (rs4444903) and measured serum EGF levels using an enzyme immunoassay in a hospital-based case-control study of 345 patients with diagnosed renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and 346 cancer-free controls in a Chinese population. Compared with the EGF 61GG genotype, the AA genotype had a significantly increased RCC risk (odds ratio=1.80, 95% confidence interval=1.04-3.12). Besides, the mean serum EGF levels in RCC patients (858.94+/-391.54 pg ml(-1)) were significantly lower than those in controls (1281.52+/-568.42 pg ml(-1), P<0.001). In addition, individuals carrying AA genotype had lower serum EGF levels than GA or GG carriers. These results suggested that the EGF G61A polymorphism is involved in the etiology of RCC and thus may be a marker for genetic susceptibility to RCC in Chinese populations. Larger studies are warranted to validate our findings.