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Hand-foot syndrome (HFS) is a common adverse event in patients receiving capecitabine therapy for breast cancer, and the symptoms of HFS significantly impair patient quality of life. However, currently there are no effective drugs or measures to prevent and alleviate the occurrence of HFS.To assess the effectiveness of a novel soaking solution, a mixture solution of dexamethasone, gentamicin and vitamin B12, in patients with grade 2-3 HFS after capecitabine treatment for breast cancer.Patients with grade 2-3 HFS according to the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) were enrolled in this randomized, single-center, self-controlled trial. Each patient's right and left hands or feet were individually randomized to soak in either a novel soaking solution (treated hands or feet) or a placebo liquid (control hands or feet) for three times a day, each time for 15 minutes and for four weeks. Effectiveness was evaluated according to CTCAE grades, defined as a reduction of 1 or more CTCAE grades.A total of 60 patients were enrolled. The HFS CTCAE grade of the treated hands and feet at 4 weeks of HFS treatment was significantly decreased compared to that of the control hands and feet (P = .005). Significant differences were also observed between the treatment conditions in terms of the HFS effectiveness rate: treated group 80% and placebo group 51.7% (P = .001). No adverse or unexpected events were observed during the whole trial.Soaking affected hands or feet in a novel soaking solution safely and effectively reduced the severity of HFS following treatment with capecitabine for breast cancer.

Aurora kinase A (AURKA) regulates apoptosis and autophagy in various diseases and has shown promising clinical effects. Nevertheless, the complex regulatory mechanism of AURKA and autophagy in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) radiosensitivity remains to be elucidated. Here, we showed that AURKA was upregulated in NSCLC cell lines and tissues and that AURKA overexpression was significantly related to a poor prognosis, tumor stage and lymph node metastasis in NSCLC. Interestingly, AURKA expression was significantly increased after 8Gy radiotherapy. Silencing of AURKA enhanced radiosensitivity and impaired migration and invasion in vivo and in vitro. Mechanistically, we determined that CXCL5, a member of the chemokine family, was a key downstream effector of AURKA, and the phenotype induced by AURKA silencing was partly due to CXCL5 inhibition. We further demonstrated that the AURKA-CXCL5 axis played an essential role in NSCLC autophagy and that the activation of cytotoxic autophagy attenuated the malignant biological behavior of NSCLC cells mediated by AURKA-CXCL5. In general, we revealed the role of the AURKA-CXCL5 axis and autophagy in regulating the sensitivity of NSCLC cells to radiotherapy, which may provide potential therapeutic targets and new strategies for combatting NSCLC resistance to radiotherapy.

Purpose To validate and use the Chinese Version of the M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI-C) to assess the symptom burden of breast cancer patients of China. And to reveal the features of the symptoms and provide a basis for improving their quality of life.Methods A total of 342 breast cancer patients participated in the study. All patients had pathological diagnosis. They were investigated and evaluated from November 2020 to February 2021 with MDASI-C. The reliability and validity were evaluated respectively. Cluster analysis and correlation analysis were carried out.Results The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the symptom and interference items was 0.827 and 0.880, respectively, which meant good reliability. Construct validity revealed a four-factor structure. The Kaiser- Meyer-Olkin (KMO) value was 0.760, which meant good construct validity. The patient's KPS, treatment phase and cancer stage were grouped, and the differences of scores within the groups were significant. The patient's employment status, education level and age had a significant correlation with symptoms. The top three symptoms were disturbed sleep (3.10 ± 2.52), diffificulty remembering (2.54 ± 2.30) and fatigue (2.24 ± 2.13). The higher the patient's education, the lower their symptoms. Patients' Body Mass Index (BMI), hemoglobin (Hb), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), neutral granulocyte lymphocyte ratio (N/L), and serum albumin globulin ratio (A/G) also had an effect on some of the symptoms of patients. Conclusions MDASI-C is a reliable and effective assessment tool when evaluating patients with breast cancer of China. The symptoms were related to many clinical, biochemical indicators.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM)–mediated autophagy on the radiosensitivity of lung cancer cells under low-dose radiation and to further investigate the role of ATM and its specific mechanism in the transition from hyper-radiosensitivity (HRS) to induced radioresistance (IRR).Methods: The changes in the HRS/IRR phenomenon in A549 and H460 cells were verified by colony formation assay. Changes to ATM phosphorylation and cell autophagy in A549 and H460 cells under different low doses of radiation were examined by western blot, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and electron microscopy. ATM expression was knocked down by short interfering RNA (siRNA) transfection, and ATM-regulated molecules related to autophagy pathways were screened by transcriptome sequencing analysis. The detection results were verified by PCR and western blot. The differential metabolites were screened by transcriptome sequencing and verified by colony formation assay and western blot. The nude mouse xenograft model was used to verify the results of the cell experiments.Results: (1) A549 cells with high expression of ATM showed positive HRS/IRR, whereas H460 cells with low expression of ATM showed negative HRS/IRR. After the expression of ATM decreased, the HRS phenomenon in A549 cells increased, and the radiosensitivity of H460 cells also increased. This phenomenon was associated with the increase in the autophagy-related molecules phosphorylated c-Jun N-terminal kinase (p-JNK) and autophagy/Beclin 1 regulator 1 (AMBRA1). (2) DL-Norvaline, a product of carbon metabolism in cells, inhibited autophagy in A549 cells under low-dose radiation. DL-Norvaline increased the expression levels of ATM, JNK, and AMBRA1 in A549 cells. (3) Mouse experiments confirmed the regulatory role of ATM in autophagy and metabolism and its function in HRS/IRR.Conclusion: ATM may influence autophagy through p-JNK and AMBRA1 to participate in the regulation of the HRS/IRR phenomenon. Autophagy interacts with the cellular carbon metabolite DL-Norvaline to participate in regulating the low-dose radiosensitivity of cells.

The association between hyperuricemia or gout and cancer risk has been investigated in various published studies, but their results are conflicting. We conducted a meta-analysis to investigate whether hyperuricemia or gout was associated with the cancer incidence and mortality. Linear and nonlinear trend analyses were conducted to explore the dose-response association between them. The pooled relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to evaluate cancer risk. A total of 24 articles (33 independent studies) were eligible for inclusion. When compared participants with the highest SUA (hyperuricemia) levels and those with the lowest SUA levels, the pooled RR was 1.08 (95% CI, 1.04-1.12), it was significantly associated among males but not among females (males, RR = 1.07; 95% CI, 1.03-1.11; females, RR = 1.06; 95% CI, 0.96-1.17). Hyperuricemia increased total cancer mortality (RR = 1.15; 95% CI, 1.05-1.26), but a significant association was observed in females rather than in males (females: RR = 1.26; 95% CI, 1.09-1.45; males, RR = 1.02; 95% CI, 0.80-1.30). Linear relationships of SUA levels with overall cancer incidence (p for nonlinearity = 0.238) and overall cancer mortality (p for nonlinearity = 0.263) were identified. However, 1 mg/dL increment in SUA levels was weakly significant in overall cancer incidence (RR = 1.01; 95% CI, 1.01-1.01) but not associated with overall cancer mortality (RR = 1.01; 95% CI, 0.99-1.03). Gout was significantly associated with increased cancer incidence (RR = 1.19; 95% CI, 1.12-1.25). In conclusion, Hyperuricemia or gout was associated with higher cancer incidence and mortality. Though a potential linear relationship between them was found, we'd better treat this result with caution.

Several studies have indicated that the use of antihypertensive medications may influence the incidence of bladder/kidney cancer, with some scholars refuting any such association. Hence, a systematic review is needed to verify this linkage. we comprehensively searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library for original studies reporting a relationship between antihypertensive medications and risk of bladder/kidney cancer. We included 31 articles comprising 3,352,264 participants. We found a significant association between the risk of kidney cancer and any antihypertensive medications use (relative risk (RR) = 1.45, 95% CI 1.20-1.75), as well as angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (RR = 1.24, 95% CI 1.04-1.48), angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB) (RR = 1.29, 95% CI:1.22-1.37), beta-blockers (RR = 1.36, 95% CI 1.11-1.66), calcium-channel blockers (RR = 1.65, 95% CI 1.54-1.78) and diuretics (RR = 1.34, 95% CI 1.19-1.51). In case of bladder cancer, a statistical significance was observed with the use of ARB (RR = 1.07, 95% CI 1.03-1.11) but not with the other antihypertensive medications. There was a linear association between the duration of antihypertensive medications and the risk of kidney cancer (P = 0.061 for a non-linear trend) and the pooled RR for the per year increase in antihypertensive medications duration of use was 1.02 (95% CI: 1.01-1.02). Our results indicate that there is a significant association between each class of antihypertensive medications and the risk of kidney cancer, and this trend presented as a positive linear association. Furthermore, the use of ARB has been linked to the risk of bladder cancer.

Background Sperm ion channel proteins (CatSpers) are essential for sperm hyperactivated motility, and then penetration through the zona pellucida. The CatSper class of proteins have well been characterized in the mouse and human. However, such data for pigs are not available. In the present study, we cloned the porcine CatSper 1-4 genes, analysed their spatial expression in various organs and temporal expression in the testes from birth until sexual maturity in Meishan boars. Methods Rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) was performed to clone the full length cDNAs of porcine CatSper genes and bioinformatics analysis of inferred CatSper proteins was also determined. Various organs were collected from 150 day-old pigs to characterize the spatial expression of CatSper genes by qualitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and testes from birth to 150 day-old boars were sampled to detect the temporal expression of CatSper genes by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. Results The mRNA sequences of CatSper1 (2452 bp), CatSper2 (2038 bp), CatSper3 (1408 bp), and CatSper4 (1799 bp), including full length of cDNAs, 5' and 3' flanks, were obtained. The bioinformatics analysis indicated that coding regions spanning the ion transport domains were conserved for different species analyzed. Among the four CatSpers, CatSper2, 3, and 4 were more conserved across species, compared with CatSper1. In addition, six conservative trans-membrane domains, a pore forming motif, and a coiled-coil motif were also identified. The spatial analysis from different organs showed that CatSper1 was detected in both testes and hypothalamus, CatSper2 was restricted in testes only, CatSper4 was expressed in testes and rete testes; whereas CatSper3 was more ubiquitously. CatSper3 and CatSper4 transcripts were also detected in ejaculated sperm. At Days 1 and 30 of age, CatSper mRNAs exhibited only sparse expression in the testes. However, these transcripts highly expressed at Day 60 and onward till sexual maturity (Day 150 of age). Conclusions The spatial and temporal expression profiles of CatSper genes were reported herein for the first time in pigs. CatSper1, CatSper2 and CatSper4 were primarily expressed in testes, while CatSper3 transcript was prevalent in a variety of organs. CatSper3 and CatSper4 mRNAs were present in mature sperm cells. Substantial upregulation of CatSper genes was initiated at Day 60 and maintained this marked production until sexual maturity.