A meta-analysis of UCA1 accuracy in the detection of bladder cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Bladder cancer (BCa) exhibits a relatively high prevalence, yet convenient tools for its early detection are lacking. Our study aims to assess the diagnostic value of Urothelial Carcinoma-Associated 1 (UCA1) in the early detection of BCa. METHODS: Systematic searches were performed in electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP) until 20 July 2023. QUADAS-2 was used for quality assessment, while Meta-DiSc 1.4 and STATA 14.0 were employed for statistical analysis. RESULTS: A total of 1252 BCa patients and 779 controls, from 12 identified articles, were included. UCA1 showed strong discriminatory ability in BCa detection, with an overall sensitivity of 0.84 specificity of 0.91, and a 0.91 area under the curve (AUC). Strikingly, UCA1 expressed in urine and tissue exhibited higher diagnostic value (0.92 AUC) compared to that in blood (0.86 AUC). Furthermore, urine UCA1 demonstrated remarkable diagnostic performance with 91% sensitivity and 98% specificity. Deeks' funnel plot detected no substantial publication bias. CONCLUSION: UCA1 could serve as a potential biomarker for BCa detection with good diagnostic performance. Besides, compared to UCA1 in blood, urine and tissue UCA1 exhibited higher diagnostic value. Further prospective clinical research is needed to corroborate the conclusion. PROSPERO REGISTRATION: CRD42023463210.

The mediating role of self-efficacy in the association between perceived stigma and psychosocial adjustment: a cross-sectional study among nasopharyngeal cancer survivors.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine the levels of and associations between perceived stigma, self-efficacy, and psychosocial adjustment (PA) among nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) survivors, and to identify the mediating role of self-efficacy between stigma and PA and explore the influencing factors of PA. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted and 307 NPC survivors were recruited by convenience sampling method in Southern China from July 2019 to January 2020. Data analyses were performed with the SPSS WIN 25.0 program and PROCESS macro version 3.3. RESULTS: Stigma and self-efficacy were positively associated with PA among Chinese NPC survivors. Tumor-free survival time, late toxicities (fatigue, dizziness and headache, and hearing loss), stigma, and self-efficacy entered the final regression model and explained 55.9% of the variance of PA. The total and direct effects of stigma on PA and its subscales were significant (p < 0.05). Positive indirect effects were found for stigma on PA via self-efficacy (point estimate = 0.159, SE = 0.032, 95% CI [0.102 to 0.229]). CONCLUSIONS: Stigma and self-efficacy are significantly associated with PA, and self-efficacy is also a mediating variable between stigma and PA among NPC survivors. Medical staff could improve the PA of NPC survivors by alleviating their stigma, enhancing their self-efficacy, and relieving their late toxicities (fatigue, dizziness and headache, and hearing loss).

Expressions and clinical significance of autophagy-related markers Beclin1, LC3, and EGFR in human cervical squamous cell carcinoma.

PURPOSE: We aimed to investigate the expression of EGFR and the autophagy-related markers Beclin1 and LC3 in cervical cancer. METHODS: Beclin1, LC3, and EGFR expression were analyzed in 80 samples of cervical squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), 40 samples of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), and 40 samples of normal cervical tissues by immunohistochemistry. The protein expression rates were analyzed with χ (2) and Fisher's exact tests. Differences in overall survival (OS) were determined using the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank tests. RESULTS: Cervical cancer, high-grade CIN, and normal cervical epithelial cells expressed Beclin1 in 26.2%, 77.5%, and 82.5% of patients, respectively, and expressed LC3 in 28.8%, 70.0%, and 75.0% of patients, respectively. There was a significant difference between cervical SCC and high-grade CIN or normal cervical epithelial cells (P=0.000). Cervical cancer cells, high-grade CIN cells, and normal cervical epithelial cells expressed EGFR in 68.8%, 62.5%, and 12.5% of patients, respectively. There was a significant difference between cervical SCC or high-grade CIN and normal cervical epithelial cells (P=0.000). No significant association between Beclin1 or LC3 or EGFR expression and various clinicopathological parameters was observed in cervical SCC. There was no significant correlation between Beclin1, LC3, EGFR expression, and 5-year OS rates of cervical SCC patients. Beclin1- or LC3-negativity with EGFR-positivity in cervical SCC was associated with a higher Federation International of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage (P=0.011 and P=0.013, respectively) and pelvic lymph node metastasis (P=0.036 and P=0.092, respectively). The 5-year OS rates did not significantly differ between Beclin1- or LC3-positive and -negative patients with positive EGFR. CONCLUSION: Autophagy was downregulated and EGFR was upregulated in cervical SCC. Autophagy downregulation combined with EGFR upregulation promotes the progression of cervical SCC.