Poor prognosis of hexokinase 2 overexpression in solid tumors of digestive system: a meta-analysis.

Several previous studies have reported the prognostic value of hexokinase 2 (HK2) in digestive system tumors. However, these studies were limited by the small sample sizes and the results were inconsistent among them. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis based on 15 studies with 1932 patients to assess the relationship between HK2 overexpression and overall survival (OS) of digestive system malignancies. The relationship of HK2 and clinicopathological features was also evaluated. Hazard ratio (HR) or odds ratio (OR) with its 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated to estimate the effect size. Positive HK2 expression showed poor OS in all tumor types (HR = 1.75 [1.41-2.18], P < 0.001). When stratified by tumor type, the impact of HK2 overexpression on poor prognosis was observed in gastric cancer (HR = 1.77 [1.25-2.50], P < 0.001), hepatocellular carcinoma (HR = 1.87 [1.58-2.21], P < 0.001), and colorectal cancer (HR = 2.89 [1.62-5.15], P < 0.001), but not in pancreatic ductal adencarcinoma (HR = 1.11 [0.58-2.11], P = 0.763). Furthermore, high HK2 expression was significantly associated with some phenotypes of tumor aggressiveness, such as large tumor size (OR = 2.03 [1.10-3.74], P = 0.024), positive lymph node metastasis (OR = 2.05 [1.39-3.02], P < 0.001), advanced clinical stage (OR = 2.17 [1.21-3.89], P = 0.009) and high alpha fetoprotein level (OR = 1.47 [1.09-2.02] P = 0.013). In summary, HK2 might act as a prognostic indicator and a potential therapeutic target of these digestive system cancers.

miR-135b reverses chemoresistance of non-small cell lung cancer cells by downregulation of FZD1.

BACKGROUND: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) chemoresistance usually limits the clinical efficacy of chemotherapeutic approaches. However, few reports have revealed the regulation of miR-135b and Frizzled-1 (FZD1) involved in NSCLC chemoresistance. METHODS: To identify the mechanism of miR-135b and FZD1 in NSCLC chemoresistance and to observe their biological functions, we detected the expression levels of miR-135b and FZD1 by conducting quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and modified the expressions of miR-135b and FZD1 by transiently transfecting cells with miR-135b mimics or FZD1-siRNA. The 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) of FZD1 combined with miR-135b was verified through dual-luciferase reporter assay. RESULTS: Compared with that in A549 parental cell lines, the miR-135b expression in drug-resistant lung cancer cell lines (A549/DDP) was decreased and their FZD1 expression was increased. The increased miR-135b expression and silenced FZD1 expression enhanced the sensitivity of resistant cells to cisplatin treatment. The high expression of miR-135b in A549/DDP cells remarkably decreased the mRNA levels of FZD1. FZD1 was further identified as the functional downstream target of miR-135b by directly targeting the 3'-UTR of FZD1. CONCLUSION: The amplification of miR-135b suppressed NSCLC chemoresistance by directly mediating the FZD1 downregulation.

Accuracy of Presepsin in Sepsis Diagnosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: It's difficult to differentiate sepsis from non-sepsis, especially non-infectious SIRS, because no good standard exists for proof of infection. Soluble CD14 subtype (sCD14-ST), recently re-named presepsin, was identified as a new marker for the diagnosis of sepsis in several reports. However, the findings were based on the results of individual clinical trials, rather than a comprehensive and overall estimation. Thus, we conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the pooled accuracy of presepsin in patients with sepsis suspect. METHODS: A comprehensive electronic search was performed via internet retrieval system up to 15 December 2014. Methodological quality assessment was applied by using the QUADAS2 tool. The diagnostic value of presepsin in sepsis was evaluated by using the pooled estimate of sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio, as well as summary receiver operating characteristics curve. RESULTS: Nine studies with 10 trials and 2159 cases were included in the study. Only two trials had low concerns regarding applicability, whereas all trials were deemed to be at high risk of bias. Heterogeneity existed in the non-threshold effect, but not in the threshold effect. The pooled sensitivity of presepsin for sepsis was 0.78 (0.76-0.80), pooled specificity was 0.83 (0.80-0.85), pooled positive likelihood ratio was 4.63 (3.27-6.55), pooled negative likelihood ratio was 0.22 (0.16-0.30), and pooled diagnostic odds ratio was 21.73 (12.81-36.86). The area under curve of summary receiver operating characteristics curve was 0.89 (95%CI: 0.84 to 0.94) and Q* index was 0.82 (95%CI: 0.77 to 0.87). CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis demonstrates that presepsin had some superiority in the management of patients, and may be a helpful and valuable biomarker in early diagnosis of sepsis. However, presepsin showed a moderate diagnostic accuracy in differentiating sepsis from non-sepsis which prevented it from being recommended as a definitive test for diagnosing sepsis in isolation, but the results should be interpreted cautiously.

Prognostic value of rsf-1/hbxap in human solid tumors: a meta-analysis of cohort studies.

PURPOSE: Recent studies have investigated remodeling and spacing factor 1 (Rsf-1) as a molecular marker in various solid tumors. However, whether or not Rsf-1 exerts a negative or positive effect on the survival of patients with solid cancers remains controversial. Therefore, this study aims to determine whether or not Rsf-1 may be a predicative marker of poor prognosis and aggressive tumor progression. METHODS: We conducted a meta-analysis of 11 cohort studies (n = 1620 patients) to evaluate the relationship between Rsf-1 and clinical outcome. We included studies with data on overall survival (OS), disease-specific survival (DSS), recurrent-free survival (RFS), metastasis-free survival (MFS), and hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: High Rsf-1 expression was significantly associated with poor survival in solid tumors. Overall, the combined HR for OS was 1.49 (95% CI = 1.21-1.84, P < 0.001), DSS 3.07 (95% CI = 1.67-5.62, P < 0.001), RFS 2.51 (95% CI = 1.12-5.63, P = 0.025), and MFS 2.14 (95% CI = 1.49-3.06, P < 0.001). In addition, Rsf-1 overexpression was significantly associated with tumor stage (OR = 4.13, 95% CI = 2.84-6.00, P < 0.001), primary tumor (OR = 2.09, 95% CI = 1.58-2.75, P < 0.001), nodal status (OR = 1.95, 95% CI = 1.40-2.72, P < 0.001), and histological grade (OR = 3.09, 95% CI = 2.10-4.54, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Rsf-1 may be a predicative marker of poor prognosis and aggressive tumor progression.

Low expression of olfactomedin 4 correlates with poor prognosis in smoking patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Olfactomedin 4 (OLFM4) has been demonstrated to serve an important function in tumor progression. This study aims to analyze the correlation between OLFM4 expression and clinicopathological features and the prognostic significance of OLFM4 in the context of smoking status of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. A total of 218 NSCLC patients, who were histopathologically diagnosed from 2001 to 2013, were reviewed in the study. OLFM4 expression was analyzed by immunohistochemical staining of tissue samples. The association of OLFM4 with clinicopathological parameters was evaluated. Overall survival and disease-specific survival were evaluated by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Immunohistochemical analyses showed that OLFM4 was highly expressed in 64.2% of NSCLC patients. OLFM4 expression level in NSCLC lesions was strongly correlated with pathologic grade (P = .017), lymph node metastasis (P = .012), peritumor intravascular cancer emboli (P = .03), and smoking status (P < .001). Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that, among smoking patients, those with low OLFM4 expression had shorter survival time (overall survival and disease-specific survival) than those with high OLFM4 (P < .05). Conclusively, although low OLFM4 expression is not an independent prognostic biomarker, it might indicate worse prognosis for smoking patients with NSCLC, thereby identifying patients who might benefit from targeting OLFM4 therapy.

Clinical efficacy of preoperative chemotherapy with or without ifosfamide in patients with osteosarcoma of the extremity: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Ifosfamide has been used in neoadjuvant chemotherapy since the mid-1980s. Although several studies have been conducted, the results remain controversial. Randomized controlled trials have an improved balance of confounding factors and reliable results. Thus, we performed a meta-analysis based on randomized controlled trials to gather more evidence of the effect of ifosfamide on neoadjuvant chemotherapy for patients with osteosarcoma of the extremity. An electronic search was conducted via the Internet retrieval system to identify eligible trials until September 2014. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95 % confidence interval (CI) were calculated to compare the results of ifosfamide and ifosfamide-free therapies. Four trials with a total of 1,378 patients were eligible for our meta-analysis. Overall, compared with neoadjuvant chemotherapy without ifosfamide, the use of ifosfamide had no advantage in terms of histological response to chemotherapy (cHR; OR 1.36; 95 % CI 0.90-2.03, P = 0.140), 5-year event-free survival (EFS; OR 1.16; 95 % CI 0.789-1.75, P = 0.464), and 5-year overall survival (OS; OR 1.06; 95 % CI 0.70-1.59, P = 0.794). However, improvement was noted in the rate of limb salvage (OR 4.06; 95 % CI 2.04-8.10, P < 0.001). Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with ifosfamide for patients with extremity osteosarcoma might not increase the cHR and exhibited no significant effect on either EFS or OS. However, ifosfamide therapy could significantly increase the rate of limb salvage for osteosarcoma of the extremity, which suggests that the preoperative use of ifosfamide could increase the success rate of limb salvage operation.

Overexpressed ubiquitin ligase Cullin7 in breast cancer promotes cell proliferation and invasion via down-regulating p53.

Ubiquitin ligase Cullin7 has been identified as an oncogene in some malignant diseases such as choriocarcinoma and neuroblastoma. However, the role of Cullin7 in breast cancer carcinogenesis remains unclear. In this study, we compared Cullin7 protein levels in breast cancer tissues with normal breast tissues and identified significantly higher expression of Cullin7 protein in breast cancer specimens. By overexpressing Cullin7 in breast cancer cells HCC1937, we found that Cullin7 could promote cell growth and invasion in vitro. In contrast, the cell growth and invasion was inhibited by silencing Cullin7 in breast cancer cell BT474. Moreover, we demonstrated that Cullin7 promoted breast cancer cell proliferation and invasion via down-regulating p53 expression. Thus, our study provided evidence that Cullin7 functions as a novel oncogene in breast cancer and may be a potential therapeutic target for breast cancer management.