Identification of biomarkers in laryngeal cancer by weighted gene co-expression network analysis / 中南大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVES@#Laryngeal cancer (LC) is a globally prevalent and highly lethal tumor. Despite extensive efforts, the underlying mechanisms of LC remain inadequately understood. This study aims to conduct an innovative bioinformatic analysis to identify hub genes that could potentially serve as biomarkers or therapeutic targets in LC.@*METHODS@#We acquired a dataset consisting of 117 LC patient samples, 16 746 LC gene RNA sequencing data points, and 9 clinical features from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database in the United States. We employed weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to construct multiple co-expression gene modules. Subsequently, we assessed the correlations between these co-expression modules and clinical features to validate their associations. We also explored the interplay between modules to identify pivotal genes within disease pathways. Finally, we used the Kaplan-Meier plotter to validate the correlation between enriched genes and LC prognosis.@*RESULTS@#WGCNA analysis led to the creation of a total of 16 co-expression gene modules related to LC. Four of these modules (designated as the yellow, magenta, black, and brown modules) exhibited significant correlations with 3 clinical features: The age of initial pathological diagnosis, cancer status, and pathological N stage. Specifically, the yellow and magenta gene modules displayed negative correlations with the age of pathological diagnosis (r=-0.23, P<0.05; r=-0.33, P<0.05), while the black and brown gene modules demonstrated negative associations with cancer status (r=-0.39, P<0.05; r=-0.50, P<0.05). The brown gene module displayed a positive correlation with pathological N stage. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis identified 77 items, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis identified 30 related signaling pathways, including the calcium signaling pathway, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, neuro active ligand-receptor interaction, and regulation of lipolysis in adipocytes, etc. Consequently, central genes within these modules that were significantly linked to the overall survival rate of LC patients were identified. Central genes included CHRNB4, FOXL2, KCNG1, LOC440173, ADAMTS15, BMP2, FAP, and KIAA1644.@*CONCLUSIONS@#This study, utilizing WGCNA and subsequent validation, pinpointed 8 genes with potential as gene biomarkers for LC. These findings offer valuable references for the clinical diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of LC.

Clinical analysis of severe complications induced by esophageal foreign bodies / 中华耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the clinical characteristics and treatment strategies of severe complications induced by esophageal foreign bodies.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The clinical data of 44 patients with severe complications of esophageal foreign bodies treated from July 2004 to July 2014 were retrospectively analyzed. The type of complications was recorded.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The ratio of severe complications in patients with esophageal foreign bodies was 9.05% (44/486). The most common type of foreign body was animal bone, with a total of 34 cases (77.3%); Onset of the disease were 2-40 days, mostly above 6 days, accounting for 61.4%. Severe complications of esophageal foreign bodies included 16 cases (36.3%) of simple esophageal perforation or combined with esophageal regional inflammation, 14 cases (31.8%) of cervical abscess, 7 cases (15.9%) of abscess around esophagus, 3 cases (6.8%) of mediastinal abscess, one case (2.3%) of cervical subcutaneous emphysema, one case of tracheoesophageal fistula, one case (2.3%) of aortic fracture, and one case (2.3%) of subclavian artery pseudoaneurysm. Among the 44 patients with severe complications, 40 patients (90.9%) were cured and 3 patients (6.8%) died. One case didn't receieve treatment.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Occurrence of the severe complications induced by esophageal foreign bodies is closely related to the type of foreign bodies and time before presentation. Early diagnosis and prompt treatments for esophageal foreign bodies are crucial for preventing of severe complications.</p>

The expression of ubiquitin in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma with lymph node metastasis and its clinical significance / 临床耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the ubiquitin expression in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) whether along with local lymph node metastasis, and further study its correlation with local lymph node metastasis and other clinicopathological parameters in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.@*METHOD@#We detected the different expression level of ubiquitin in paraffin specimens between 19 cases of LSCC associated with cervical lymph node metastasis LSCC(N+) and 20 cases of LSCC not associated with cervical lymph node metastasis LSCC(N-) by immunohistochemical staining combined with stereology image analysis system. Statistics were analyzed by student test, variance analysis and ROC curve.@*RESULT@#Ubiquitin expression in LSCC(N+) was significantly higher than LSCC(N-) (P < 0.01); their expression level was not correlated with age,history of tobacco, alcohol addiction, clinical stage and primary site,etc.@*CONCLUSION@#Ubiquitin was significantly up-expressed in LSCC(N+) than ILSCC (N-), which may imply that it is one of the important elements in mechanism of lymph node metastasis in LSCC.

Synergistic interactions of TRAIL and paclitaxel on the nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines in vitro / 临床耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the synergistic cytotoxicity of TRAIL and paclitaxel on nasopharyngeal cell lines CNE-1 and CNE-2.@*METHOD@#CCK-8 assays the growth inhibition rate of CNE-1 and CNE-2 which was treated with TRAIL or paclitaxel or combination of both. Flow cytometry tests the apoptosis rate of CNE-1 and CNE-2 which was treated with TRAIL or paclitaxel or combination of each other.@*RESULT@#In certain range of time and concentration,TRAIL and paclitaxel inhibited the growth of the cell lines of CNE-1 and CNE-2 in a time-dose dependent manner (P < 0.05). The rate of growth inhibition and apoptosis in TRAIL and paclitaxel combinative group was more significant than that in the TRAIL and paclitaxel singular group (P < 0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#TRAIL and paclitaxel had a synergistic killing effect on NPC cell lines and showed better affection than singular group, which provides a novel and prospective strategy for NPC chemotherapy.

The expression and correlation of HMGB1 and VEGF protein in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma / 临床耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the expression and biological significance of HMGB1 and VEGF protein in tissue specimens of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC), and further study the correlation between HMGB1 and VEGF protein.@*METHOD@#The expression of HMGB1 and VEGF protein was evaluated by immunohistochemical staining in 69 cases of LSCC specimens and 15 cases of adjacent epithelial tissue samples, and futher correlated with clinicopathologic parameters.@*RESULT@#The positive rates of HMGB1 and VEGF in LSCC tissues were significantly higher than those in adjacent non-cancerous mucosa (P 0. 05). There was a positive correlation between the expression of HMGB1 and VEGF (P < 0.05). The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that patients with strong expression of HMGB1 or VEGF had poorer overall survival compared with that in patients with relative low HMGB1 or VEGF expression (P < 0.05). Multivariate COX regression analysis revealed that both lymph node metastasis and HMGB1 expression were independent prognostic factors for patients with LSCC.@*CONCLUSION@#This study demonstrated that HMGB1 and VEGF protein overexpression were closely associated with clinical stage, metastasis and poorer prognosis in patients with LSCC. Increased expression of these two proteins in LSCC suggested that HMGB1 and VEGF might play a critical role in the initiation and progression of LSCC.