The potential of plasma miRNAs for diagnosis and risk estimation of colorectal cancer.

Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) were recognized to be potential non-invasive biomarkers for colorectal cancer (CRC) detection and prediction. Meanwhile, the association of the expression of plasma miRNAs with the risk of CRC patients has rarely been analyzed. Therefore, we conducted this study to evaluate the value of plasma miRNAs for CRC diagnosis and risk estimation. Fasting blood samples from 100 CRC patients and 79 cancer-free controls were collected. Plasma miR-106a, miR-20a, miR-27b, miR-92a and miR-29a levels were detected by RT-qPCR. Sensitivity and specificity were employed to evaluate the diagnostic value of miRNAs for CRC. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were employed to analyze the association between miRNAs expression and CRC risk. As results, miR-106a and miR-20a were elevated in the patients with CRC. The sensitivity of miR-106a was 74.00% and the specificity was 44.40%, while the cutoff value was 2.03. As for miR-20a, the sensitivity was 46.00% and specificity was 73.42% when employed 2.44 as cutoff value. High expression of plasma miR-106a increased CRC risk by 1.80 -fold. Plasma miR-106a and miR-20a may as noninvasive biomarkers for detecting the CRC. High expression of miR-106a associated with CRC risk.

TFAP2E hypermethylation was associated with survival advantage in patients with colorectal cancer.

PURPOSE: Hypermethylation of TFAP2E (AP-2E) is associated with the chemotherapy-resistant in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC), but its implications on prognosis directly remain unknown. This study was aimed to investigate the role of AP-2E methylation status and other clinicopathologic parameters as predictors of prognosis. METHODS: We detected the methylation status of AP-2E in tumor and adjacent non-tumor tissues from 311 sporadic CRC patients by methylation-sensitive high-resolution melting analysis. Log-rank tests and multivariate Cox analyses were performed to evaluate the role of AP-2E methylation status and other clinicopathologic parameters as predictors of prognosis. RESULTS: Hypermethylation of AP-2E was detected in 61 % (190/311) tumor tissues. It occurred more frequently in tumors in earlier stages (I/II; P = 0.02), lower levels of tumor invasion (T1-T3; P = 0.04), fewer lymph nodes involved (N0; P < 0.01), and higher histologic grades (G1/G2; P < 0.01). The overall 5-year survival rates in hypermethylation and hypomethylation group were 76.91 and 47.17 % (P < 0.0001), respectively. AP-2E hypermethylation was significantly associated with a favorable clinical outcome with a hazard ratio of 0.486 (95 % CI 0.342-0.692, P < 0.0001) after controlling for age, gender, tumor location, histologic type, TNM staging, and histologic grade. CONCLUSIONS: AP-2E was frequently hypermethylated in tumors from patients with CRC. Aberrant hypermethylation of AP-2E occurred more frequently in tumors with earlier stages, lower levels of tumor invasion, fewer lymph nodes involved, and higher histologic grades. AP-2E hypermethylation might be an independent predictor of survival advantage in patients with CRC.

[A comparative study on the prevalence of osteoarthritis in middle and old-aged people from the urban and the rural area in Heilongjiang province].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of osteoarthritis in inhabitants aged 40 years old and above from urban and rural areas in Heilongjiang province. METHODS: Through multistage stratified cluster random sampling methods, residents aged 40 years and above were selected. All subjects were given a standardized questionnaire and were conducted a radiographic examination on hands, knees, neck spine and lumbar spine after informed consent. All statistics were performed by SPSS13.0. RESULTS: A total of 1196 residents were surveyed, which including 573 males and 623 female subjects. The prevalence of osteoarthritis in cervical spine, lumbar spine, knee and hand for men were 26.00%, 31.20%, 11.87%, 15.53%, respectively and that were 34.80%, 30.20%, 20.06%, 27.93% for women respectively. The prevalence of osteoarthritis increased with aging both in men and women. Prevalence in 60 - 70 age group achieved the peak. The prevalence rates became relatively low among those over the 70 years old than expected. The most common sites of osteoarthritis were knees and hands (16.10%), followed by cervical and lumbar spine (12.40%). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of osteoarthritis was generally high in middle and old-aged people in Heilongjiang province.

Meta-analysis of MSH6 gene mutation frequency in colorectal and endometrial cancers.

Studies on mutations and mutation frequencies of the MSH6 gene, which mainly focus on new types of mutations in small samples, have been published ever since the first report of MSH6 mutation in two atypical hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer patients. However, the results remain inconsistent. Therefore, a systematic review was conducted and a meta-analysis was undertaken to determine the frequency of MSH6 mutation in colorectal and endometrial cancers. From 27 studies, 180 cases with MSH6 mutation in a total of 3196 cases were detected. In colorectal and endometrial cancers the MSH6 mutation frequency is 7.2 and 9.6%, respectively. MSH6 mutation frequency was 10.4% in hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer patients, 7.1% in atypical hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer patients, and 5.9% in sporadic patients. The frequency of MSH6 mutation in high microsatellite instability (MSI-H) was 11.6% and in low microsatellite instability (MSI-L) cases was (13.3%), which were higher than in microsatellite stability (MSS) cases (1.7%). The mean age of the earliest onset of colorectal and endometrial cancers in MSH6 mutation carriers was 51.2 and 56.5 yr, respectively. Data suggest that the frequency of MSH6 mutation is higher in hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer patients than in atypical hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer and sporadic patients. MSH6 mutation frequency was also higher in endometrial than colorectal cancers. The mean age of earliest onset of endometrial cancer (56.5 yr) is older than for colorectal cancer (51.2 yr) in carriers of MSH6 mutation. Our results provide evidence for clinical genetic testing and counseling.

Transformation and apoptosis of NIH/3T3 cells treated with nickel-smelting fumes.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the transformation and apoptosis of NIH/3T3 cells treated with nickel (Ni) smelting fumes. Cytotoxicity of NIH/3T3 cells was detected with a methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) colorimetric assay. The cell translation model was established by cell focus translation using two types of Ni-smelting fumes from a Ni smelting plant in China. The transformed focus was determined by soft agar culture assay. The apoptotic characteristics of NIH/3T3 cells treated with Ni-smelting fumes were detected by flow cytometry using Annexin V-FITC and PI as markers. The DNA fragment of apoptosis in NIH/3T3 cells treated with nickel smelting fumes was detected by observing agarose electrophoresis and morphological characteristics of cells under electron microscopy. With increase in exposure time, growth of NIH/3T3 cells was inhibited. The NIH/3T3 cell transformation model was established successfully using two Ni-smelting fumes, and the transformed cells grow in soft agar. No apoptosis peak was detected by flow cytometry. Apoptotic cells characterized by necrosis were observed using electron microscopy. There was no apparent "ladder" observed by DNA fragment analysis. Data indicated that Ni-smelting fumes produced cytotoxicity by mechanisms associated with necrosis but not apoptosis.

Association between NSAIDs use and breast cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

The association between non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) use and breast cancer has remained controversial. Therefore, an overall quantitative estimate of the association needs to be studied. A systematic review and meta-analysis was executed to explore the pooled estimate for relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) using random or fixed effects models based on heterogeneity analysis. Overall 26 studies with 528,705 participants were included. The RR of NSAIDs use and the incidence of breast cancer was 0.94 (95% CI: 0.88-1.00) with random effects model. A slight reduction of breast cancer by taking aspirin and ibuprofen was both observed with pooled RR of 0.91 (95% CI: 0.83-0.98) and 0.81 (95% CI: 0.67-0.97), respectively. Our results indicate that NSAIDs use is associated with a slight decrease for the development of breast cancer with a marginally statistical significant difference. The associations are slightly more obvious in aspirin and ibuprofen use.

DNA repair gene XPD polymorphisms and cancer risk: a meta-analysis based on 56 case-control studies.

Genetic variations in the XPD gene may increase cancer susceptibility by affecting the capacity for DNA repair. Several studies have investigated this possibility; however, the conclusions remain controversial. Therefore, we did a systematic review and executed a meta-analysis to explore the association. From 56 studies, a total of 61 comparisons included 25,932 cases and 27,733 controls concerning the Lys 751Gln polymorphism; 35 comparisons included 16,781 cases and 18,879 controls in the case of Asp 312 Asn were reviewed. In this analysis, small associations of the XPD Lys 751 Gln polymorphism with cancer risk for esophageal cancer [for Lys/Gln versus Lys/Lys: odds ratio (OR), 1.34; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.10-1.64; for Gln/Gln versus Lys/Lys: OR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.16-2.25] and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (for Gln/Gln versus Lys/Lys: OR, 1.83; 95% CI, 1.21-2.75) are revealed. Overall, individuals with the Gln/Gln genotype have a small cancer risk compared with Lys/Lys genotype for the reviewed cancer in total (OR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.03-1.16). Subtle but significant cancer risk was observed for the XPD Asp 312 Asn polymorphism in bladder cancer (for Asp/Asn versus Asp/Asp: OR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.06-1.46). No significant associations were found for other cancers separately and all the reviewed cancer in total assessed for the Asp 312 Asn polymorphism. Our study suggests that XPD is a candidate gene for cancer susceptibility regardless of environmental factors.