Elevated pretreatment platelet distribution width and platelet count predict poor prognosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have demonstrated that platelets play a multifaceted role in cancer progression and metastasis. However, the value of platelet indices for predicting survival in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients remains unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive significance of platelet indices in NPC cases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 168 patients who were diagnosed with NPC between January 2011 and June 2012 were recruited. The optimal cut-off values for the platelet indices were determined using a receiver operating characteristic curve. The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression were used to evaluate the prognostic impact of the potential predictors. RESULTS: Of the 168 patients, high platelet distribution width (PDW) and platelet count (PLT) levels were observed in 81 (48.21%) and 68 (40.48%) of the patients, respectively. An increased PDW was associated with the depth of invasion (T stage, P = 0.019), lymph node metastasis (N stage, P = 0.026), and clinical stage (P < 0.001). Moreover, the survival analysis showed that the overall survival of the patients with a PDW > 16.3 fL or platelet count > 266 × 109/L was associated with a poorer prognosis (both P < 0.001). In the multivariate Cox regression model, the PDW (P < 0.001), PLT (P = 0.001), T stage (P < 0.001), N stage (P = 0.006), clinical stage (P = 0.005), and Epstein-Barr virus DNA (P = 0.039) were independent prognostic factors for the overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: The PDW and PLT are easily available via a routine blood test, and our study showed that the PDW and PLT could be prognostic predictors in NPC patients. However, further studies are required to confirm this conclusion.

The Relationship between Telomerase Activity and Clinicopathological Parameters in Colorectal Cancer: A Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Recently, accumulated research has found that the expression of telomerase activity (TA) was associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) advancement, whereas the TA prognostic effect in CRC patients is still controversial. AIMS: To investigate relationships between TA and CRC clinicopathological parameters. STUDY DESIGN: Meta-analysis study. METHODS: We searched published studies in databases, such as EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Ovid databases (last search updated to October 2014) by meeting specified search criteria. The quality of the included studies was usually evaluated and a meta-analysis was implemented by Stata 12.0 software. We used an odds ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) to evaluate relationship strengths between TA and CRC clinicopathological parameters. RESULTS: In total, 11 studies (715 patients) were included to assess the relation between TA and metastasis-related parameters in CRC patients. The results indicate that a senior TA expression was connected with the existence of lymph node metastasis (180 patients; OR=2.85, 95% CI=1.40-5.81, p=0.004), and tumor site (522 patients; OR=2.93, 95% CI=1.29-6.67, p=0.010). However, a senior TA expression was not connected with tumor size (137 patients; OR=1.57, 95% CI=0.71-3.47, p=0.267), histological differentiation (570 patients; OR=1.28, 95% CI=0.78-2.09, p=0.332), depth of invasion (57 patients; OR=3.76, 95% CI=0.61-23.04, p=0.152), distant metastasis (123 patients; OR=1.76, 95% CI=0.54-5.74, p=0.346), and clinical stage of the cancer (543 patients; OR=1.59, 95% CI=0.74-3.38, p=0.232). CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis suggests that a positive TA was correlated with lymph node metastasis progression and tumor site of the CRC but did not correlate with other important clinicopathological parameters. TA can play a useful part in the prognosis and treatment of CRC patients, but further studies are required to confirm this.

Screening and preliminary validation of miRNAs with the regulation of hTERT in colorectal cancer.

The overexpression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) has been associated with the invasion and metastasis of colorectal cancer (CRC) and has received extensive attention, although the underlying mechanism involved remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to screen and preliminarily validate new tumor­suppressor microRNAs (miRNAs) that potentially inhibit hTERT expression and to assess its clinical significance. Screening for downregulated miRNAs in CRC tissues was performed by retrieving and analysing microRNA microarray data. miRNA candidates were then filtered by bioinformatics analysis. The expression of miRNAs candidates was verified by quantitative polymerase chain reaction in the CRC and corresponding normal tissues. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used for the detection of hTERT protein expression. Spearman's correlation coefficient between miRNA candidates and hTERT protein expression was calculated (r) to identify hTERT-targeting miRNAs. A survival analysis was performed to assess the prognostic significance of hTERT-targeting miRNAs in CRC. Eight miRNAs with the potential to interact with hTERT were predicted: miR­29c-3p, miR­124-3p, miR­133a-3p, miR­133b, miR-138-5p, miR-150-5p, miR-378a-3p and miR-422a, respectively. Following detection of the miRNAs using RT-qPCR, miR-29c-3p was excluded. miR-138-5p and miR-422a were observed to potentially interact with hTERT (r=-0.362, P=0.001; r=-0.306, P=0.005, respectively). The Kaplan-Meier survival curves demonstrating high- vs. low-expression group of miR­422a showed a highly significant difference in CRC patients (P=0.024), which suggests that the downregulation of miR-422a was associated with a poorer prognosis. The results indicated that miR-138-5p and miR-422a potentially inhibited hTERT expression in CRC, and suggest a potential application of miR­422a in prognosis prediction and CRC treatment.