Ubiquitin-specific protease 22 is associated with poor prognosis in neuroblastoma.

BACKGROUND: Ubiquitin-specific protease 22 (USP22) alters histone ubiquitination and is considered to be an oncogenic factor involved in tumor progression. The USP22 aberrance has been implicated in several malignancies, but whether USP22 plays a role in neuroblastoma (NB) remains unclear. To the best of our knowledge, the clinicopathological significance of USP22 expression in NB has not been previously reported in the English-language medical literature. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of USP22 and its association with potential targets in patients with NB. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The potential clinicopathological significance of USP22 expression in NB was studied using immunohistochemistry, immunohistochemical staining assessment and statistical analyses. RESULTS: Based on the immunohistochemical analysis, the USP22 protein was detected more manifestly in NB tissues than in healthy peritumoral tissue. Furthermore, an association between USP22, lymph node metastasis and NB clinical stage was observed, whereby the level of USP22 protein was higher in stage III-IV specimens than in stage I-II specimens (p < 0.05). Furthermore, tumors expressing USP22 were associated with poorer patient prognosis than the USP22-negative tumors. The multivariate Cox regression analysis suggested that the level of USP22 protein is a predictive factor for survival (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate a significant association between USP22 level and poor prognosis in NB. Thus, USP22 represents a valuable biomarker for predicting the outcome of patients with NB.

Arsenic trioxide inhibition of tumor growth of subcutaneously implanted human breast cancer cells and its mechanism / 中国普通外科杂志

Objective To study the inhibitory effect of arsenic trioxide(As_2O_3) on the tumor growth of breast cancer cell line MCF-7 implanted subcutaneously in nude mice and its mechanism.Methods BALB/C-nu/nu nude mice were subcutaneously injected with MCF-7 breast cancer cell line,and treated with intraperitoneal injection of As_2O_3 and 5-FU in different concentrations.The implanted tumor was weighed,and the tumor inhibition rates were calculated.The apoptosis of the implanted tumor was detected by flow cytometry.The expressions of bcl-2 and Fas induced by As_2O_3 were examined by immunohistochemical method.Routine blood test and bone marrow test were used to observe the function of hematopoietic system after As_2O_3 treatment.Results The growth of implanted tumor was markedly inhibited with 5-FU,low dose and high dose As_2O_3,the inhibitory rates being 38.33%、51.42% and 62.43%,respectively.The inhibitory effect of As_2O_3 was significantly stronger than that of 5-FU(P