ABSTRACT
AIM: To explore the expression profiles of microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and mRNAs in oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in order to construct an oesophageal cancer-specific competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network. METHODS: In this work, the expression data of miRNAs, lncRNAs, and mRNAs in ESCC were obtained. An oesophageal cancer-specific ceRNA network was then constructed and investigated. RESULTS: CeRNAs have the ability to reduce the targeting activity of miRNAs, leading to the de-repression of specific mRNAs with common miRNA response elements. CeRNA interactions have a critical effect in gene regulation and cancer development. CONCLUSION: This study suggests a novel perspective on potential oesophageal cancer mechanisms as well as novel pathways for modulating ceRNA networks for treating cancers.
Subject(s)
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/genetics , Esophageal Neoplasms/genetics , Gene Regulatory Networks , MicroRNAs/genetics , RNA, Long Noncoding/genetics , RNA, Messenger/genetics , RNA, Neoplasm/genetics , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/metabolism , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/mortality , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/pathology , Cluster Analysis , Computational Biology , Databases, Genetic , Esophageal Neoplasms/metabolism , Esophageal Neoplasms/mortality , Esophageal Neoplasms/pathology , Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma , Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic , Humans , MicroRNAs/metabolism , RNA, Long Noncoding/metabolism , RNA, Messenger/metabolism , RNA, Neoplasm/metabolismABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between metformin therapy and the incidence of gastric cancer (GC) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: We systemically searched the following databases for studies published between the databases' dates of inception and Nov. 2016: PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, the Web of Science, and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Hazard ratios (HR)and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between metformin therapy and the incidence of GC in patients with T2DM were the outcome measures assessed in this study. STATA 12.0 (Stata Corporation, College Station, Texas, USA) was used to conduct the statistical analysis. RESULTS: A total of seven cohort studies including 591,077 patients met all the criteria for inclusion in the analysis. Our data showed that metformin therapy was associated with a significantly lower incidence of GC in patients with T2DM than other types of therapy (HR=0.763, 95% CI: 0.642Ë0.905). Subgroup analysis showed that patients living in Taiwan benefitted more from metformin therapy than patients living in any other region, as metformin significantly decreased the risk of GC in patients living in Taiwan but did not significantly decrease the risk of GC in patients living in other regions (HR=0.514, 95% CI: 0.384-0.688). The results of the present analysis support the idea that metformin facilitates reductions in the risk of T2DM-related GC. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of GC among patients with T2DM is lower in patients receiving metformin therapy than in patients not receiving metformin therapy.
