Expression and prognostic influence of NF-κB and EGFR in esophageal cancer.

The goal of this study was to investigate the expression profiles of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in esophageal cancer and to determine their association with tumor prognosis. This study included 40 esophageal cancer patients [22 men and 18 women; average age = 62.7 ± 3.9 years; tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging: 12 patients with stage I, 13 patients with stage II, and 15 patients with stage III disease]. Tumor tissues and tumor-adjacent tissue specimens were collected during radical resections at our hospital. Immunohistochemical staining was used to examine these tissues for NF-κB and EGFR expression. Follow-up of all patients included gathering information such as the 3-year survival rate. We found that NF-κB and EGFR expression was significantly higher in tumor tissues compared to tumor-adjacent normal tissues. Expression was not related to gender or age, but was positively associated with the degree of tumor infiltration. NF-κB and EGFR expression levels gradually increased with higher TNM stage, but this difference was not significant. Follow-up results showed that patients with higher NF-κB and EGFR levels had a lower survival rate and unfavorable prognosis. In conclusion, we found that NF-κB and EGFR expression was significantly elevated during the occurrence and development of esophageal carcinoma, and expression of these factors appears to be correlated with cancer progression. Higher expression of both genes is associated with an unfavorable prognosis.

Association of phosphodiesterase 4D gene and interleukin-6 receptor gene polymorphisms with ischemic stroke in a Chinese hypertensive population.

Genetic factors have been shown to be associated with the risk of stroke. However, due to individual differences, the extent of the association between genetic factors and stroke varies widely. Hypertension is considered one of the most important risk factors for stroke, but it remains unknown whether the genetic association with stroke in a hypertensive population is the same as that in a non-hypertensive population. The aim of the present study was to explore the association between the phosphodiesterase 4D gene (PDE4D) and interleukin-6 receptor gene (IL6R) single nucleotide polymorphisms and ischemic stroke in a hypertensive population. The study included 307 ischemic stroke cases with hypertension and 227 controls (simple hypertension). The polymorphic loci rs12188950 and rs918592 in PDE4D, and rs4075015 and rs4537545 in IL6R were selected for analyzing the genotype and allele frequencies between cases and controls. rs12188950 was not found in the study population. In the univariate analysis, the rs918592 polymorphism in PDE4D was found to be significantly associated with ischemic stroke with the recessive model (P = 0.02), whereas no association with ischemic stroke was observed for rs4075015 and rs4537545 in IL6R. Following adjustment for binary logistic regression, the rs918592 polymorphism was not found to be associated with ischemic stroke. While prior studies have found an association between PDE4D and IL6R polymorphisms and ischemic stroke, our results suggest that this association may be different in a hypertensive population. Therefore, the association between PDE4D and IL6R polymorphisms and ischemic stroke among a hypertensive population requires further investigation.