Survival of the Hmong population diagnosed with colon and rectal cancers in the United States.

BACKGROUND: The Hmong population constitutes an independent ethnic group historically dispersed throughout Southeast Asia; fallout from the Vietnam War led to their forced migration to the United States as refugees. This study seeks to investigate characteristics of the Hmong population diagnosed with in colorectal cancer (CRC) as well as survival within this population. METHODS: Cases of colon and rectal adenocarcinoma diagnosed between 2004 and 2017 were identified from the National Cancer Database (NCDB). Summary statistics of demographic, clinical, socioeconomic, and treatment variables were generated with emphasis on age and stage at the time of diagnosis. Cox-proportional hazard models were constructed for survival analysis. RESULTS: Of 881,243 total CRC cases within the NCDB, 120 were classified as Hmong. The average age of Hmong individuals at diagnosis was 58.9 years compared 68.7 years for Non-Hispanic White (NHW) individuals (p < 0.01). The distribution of analytic stage differed between the Hmong population and the reference NHW population, with 61.8% of Hmong individuals compared to 45.8% of NHW individuals with known stage being diagnosed at stage III or IV CRC compared to 0, I, or II (p = 0.001). However, there was no difference in OS when adjusting for potential confounders (HR 1.00 [0.77-1.33]; p = 0.998). CONCLUSIONS: Hmong individuals are nearly a decade younger at the time of diagnosis of CRC compared to the NHW individuals. However, these data do not suggest an association between Hmong ethnicity and overall survival, when compared to the NHW population.

Regulated Formation of an Amyloid-like Translational Repressor Governs Gametogenesis.

Message-specific translational control is required for gametogenesis. In yeast, the RNA-binding protein Rim4 mediates translational repression of numerous mRNAs, including the B-type cyclin CLB3, which is essential for establishing the meiotic chromosome segregation pattern. Here, we show that Rim4 forms amyloid-like aggregates and that it is the amyloid-like form of Rim4 that is the active, translationally repressive form of the protein. Our data further show that Rim4 aggregation is a developmentally regulated process. Starvation induces the conversion of monomeric Rim4 into amyloid-like aggregates, thereby activating the protein to bring about repression of translation. At the onset of meiosis II, Rim4 aggregates are abruptly degraded allowing translation to commence. Although amyloids are best known for their role in the etiology of diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and diabetes by forming toxic protein aggregates, our findings show that cells can utilize amyloid-like protein aggregates to function as central regulators of gametogenesis.