Effects of hysteroscopic surgery combined with progesterone therapy on fertility and prognosis in patients with early endometrial cancer and atypical endometrial hyperplasia or endometrial intraepithelial neoplasia: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effects of hysteroscopic surgery combined with progesterone therapy on fertility and prognosis in patients with early endometrial cancer (EC), atypical endometrial hyperplasia (AEH), or endometrial intraepithelial neoplasia (EIN). METHODS: Studies on hysteroscopic surgery combined with progesterone therapy for patients with early-stage EC, AEH, or EIN were searched from Embase, Web of Science, PubMed, and Cochrane Library databases. The included studies contained one or more of the following outcome variables: pregnancy rate, live birth rate, complete response (CR) rate, and recurrence rate after conservative treatment. The meta-analysis was performed using Stata. RESULTS: 13 pieces of literature containing 239 patients with EC and 199 patients with AEH/EIN were included. As per the results of meta-analysis, the pregnancy rates of EC patients and AEH/EIN patients were 49% (95% CI 33-65%) and 47% (95% CI 31-64%), respectively, and the live birth rates were 45% (95% CI 32-58%) and 44% (95% CI 34-54%), respectively. CR rates of EC patients and AEH/EIN patients were 90% (95% CI 85-94%) and 100% (95% CI 97-100%), respectively, and the disease recurrence rates were 17% (95% CI 8-28%) and 11% (95% CI 3-23%), respectively. CONCLUSION: Hysteroscopic surgery combined with progesterone was linked to an improved overall response rate, reduced disease recurrence rate, and increased pregnancy and live birth rates among patients with EC and AEH/EIN.

Efficacy of helical tomotherapy combined with CT-guided three-dimensional intracavitary brachytherapy in treatment of locally advanced cervical cancer.

PURPOSE: We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of helical tomotherapy (HT) combined with computed tomography (CT)-guided three-dimensional intracavitary brachytherapy (CT-ICBT) in the treatment of locally advanced cervical cancer. METHODS: A total of 96 patients with locally advanced cervical cancer (IIB-IIIB) treated were retrospectively analyzed. They underwent concurrent radiochemotherapy, and the chemotherapy regimen paclitaxel + cisplatin was given for 3 weeks. The patients were divided into HT+CT-ICBT group (n=48) and intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) + two-dimensional ICBT (IMRT+ICBT group, n=48) according to the different extracorporeal and intracavitary radiotherapies. The short-term clinical efficacy, and short- and long-term adverse reactions were compared between the two groups, the tumor recurrence and survival status were recorded through follow-up, and the overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) rates were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The patient general clinical characteristics were comparable in both groups. The short-term clinical effective rate was 91.7% (44/48) and 87.5% (42/48), respectively, in HT+CT-ICBT group and IMRT+ICBT group. In the two groups, the incidence rate of grade 3-4 chronic radiation proctitis was 4.2% (2/48) and 22.9% (11/48), while that of grade 3-4 chronic radiation cystitis was 2.1% (1/48) and 18.7% (9/48), respectively. According to the follow-up results, the 3-year OS was 85.4% (41/48) and 77.1% (37/48), and the 3-year PFS was 81.3% (39/48) and 70.8% (34/48), respectively, in the two groups. Log-rank test showed that the 3-year OS and PFS had no statistically significant differences (p=0.395, p=0.401). CONCLUSION: HT+CT-ICBT is safe and effective in the treatment of locally advanced cervical cancer, and it has similar short-term clinical efficacy and long-term survival rate compared with IMRT+ICBT, which also significantly reduces the long-term incidence of radiation proctitis and cystitis, so it is worthy of popularization and application.

Circular RNA ABCB10 promotes cell proliferation and invasion, but inhibits apoptosis via regulating the microRNA­1271­mediated Capn4/Wnt/ß­catenin signaling pathway in epithelial ovarian cancer.

Circular RNA ABCB10 (circ­ABCB10) modulates cellular functions and microRNA (miR)­1271 in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). The present study aimed to investigate the interaction between circ­ABCB10 and miR­1271 in regulating EOC cellular function and the calpain small subunit 1 (Capn4)/Wnt/ß­catenin signaling pathway. circ­ABCB10 and miR­1271 expression levels were detected in EOC cells (OVCAR3, UWB1.289, SKOV3 and CAOV3) and normal ovarian epithelial cells (IOSE80) via reverse­transcription quantitative PCR. SKOV3 cells were transfected with control short hairpin (sh)RNA plasmids, control inhibitor, circ­ABCB10 shRNA plasmids and miR­1271 inhibitor. UWB1.289 cells were transfected with control overexpression plasmids, control mimic, circ­ABCB10 overexpression plasmids and miR­1271 mimic. Subsequently, cell proliferation, apoptosis, invasion and the Capn4/Wnt/ß­catenin signaling pathway were assessed. In addition, a luciferase activity assay was performed. circ­ABCB10 expression was significantly increased in OVCAR3, SKOV3 and CAOV3 cells compared with IOSE80 cells, but was not significantly altered in UWB1.289 cells. miR­1271 expression was significantly decreased in OVCAR3, UWB1.289, SKOV3 and CAOV3 cells compared with IOSE80 cells. In both SKOV3 and UWB1.289 cells, circ­ABCB10 negatively regulated miR­1271, whereas miR­1271 did not affect circ­ABCB10. Furthermore, circ­ABCB10 enhanced cell proliferation, invasion and the Capn4/Wnt/ß­catenin signaling pathway, but inhibited cell apoptosis, whereas miR­1271 suppressed cell proliferation, invasion and the Capn4/Wnt/ß­catenin signaling pathway, but facilitated cell apoptosis. Moreover, miR­1271 attenuated the proproliferative, proinvasive and antiapoptotic effects of circ­ABCB10, and reversed the positive regulation of circ­ABCB10 on the Capn4/Wnt/ß­catenin signaling pathway. Besides, the luciferase activity assay indicated that circ­ABCB10 directly bound to miR­1271. In conclusion, the present study indicated that circ­ABCB10 promoted cell proliferation and invasion, and suppressed apoptosis by regulating the miR­1271­mediated Capn4/Wnt/ß­catenin signaling pathway in EOC.

Circular RNA ABCB10 correlates with advanced clinicopathological features and unfavorable survival, and promotes cell proliferation while reduces cell apoptosis in epithelial ovarian cancer.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the correlation of circular RNA ABCB10 (circ-ABCB10) expression with clinicopathological features and survival, as well as its impact on regulating cell proliferation and apoptosis in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). METHODS: A total of 103 EOC patients were consecutively recruited, then their tumor tissues were obtained for circ-ABCB10 detection using qRT-PCR. Additionally, 53 EOC adjacent tissues were collected as control. Patients' clinicopathological and survival data were recorded. In vitro, circ-ABCB10 expression was detected in OVCAR3, UWB1.289, SKOV3, CAOV3 and IOSE80 cell lines by RT-qPCR, and the effect of circ-ABCB10 on cell proliferation and apoptosis was detected through circ-ABCB10 overexpression and silencing by plasmids transfection into SKOV3 cells. RESULTS: Circ-ABCB10 was upregulated in tumor tissues compared with adjacent tissues, and presented with good value in distinguishing tumor tissues from adjacent tissues (AUC = 0.766, 95% CI: 0.690-0.842). Circ-ABCB10 high expression was correlated with poor differentiation, large tumor size and advanced International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage in EOC patients. As for survival, circ-ABCB10 was correlated with worse OS. In vitro experiments revealed that circ-ABCB10 was upregulated and promoted cell proliferation but reduced cell apoptosis, and negatively regulated miR-1271, miR-1252 and miR-203 in EOC cells. CONCLUSIONS: Circ-ABCB10 correlates with advanced clinicopathological features and unfavorable survival, and promotes proliferation, reduces apoptosis and negatively regulated miR-1271, miR-1252 and miR-203 in EOC.

Expression of Angiopoietin and VEGF in Cervical Cancer and its Clinical Significance.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of Angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1), Angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in cervical cancer and its clinical significance. METHODS: Immunohistochemical assay was used to examine the expression of Ang-1/2 and VEGF in tumor tissue from 56 cervical squamous cell carcinoma patients treated with operation only (SCC-O group), as well as 51 subjects with cervical squamous cell carcinoma treated with neoadjuvant radiotherapy (SCC-RCO group, n=28) or neoadjuvant chemotherapy (SCC-CO group, n=23). Both microvessel density (MVD) and lymphatic vessel density (LVD) were examined in the three groups through detection of CD34 and D2-40 expression in respective tissue samples. RESULTS: With the progression of cervical cancer, the positive expression scores of Ang-2 and VEGF were significantly increased (p<0.05). Compared with surgical intervention, neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy significantly reduced the positive expression scores of Ang-1, Ang-2, and VEGF in cervical cancer tissues (p<0.05). The MVD values of the SCC-CO and SCC-RO groups were significantly reduced as compared to the SCC-O group (p<0.05). Similarly, the LVD values of the SCC-CO and SCC-RO groups were also significantly reduced when compared to those of the SCC-O group (p<0.05). However, LVD values of the SCC-CO and SCC-RO groups were not statistical different (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Ang-1, Ang-2 and VEGF may play an important role in the development of cervical cancer. Mutual synergism of Ang-2 and VEGF demonstrated a close relationship with the generation of cervical blood and lymphatic vessels. Cervical cancer radiotherapy and chemotherapy could significantly inhibit the formation of blood vessels and lymphatic vessels in tumor tissue.