Vulvar lichen sclerosus in girls and adult females: A single-center retrospective study of 744 patients in China.

Vulvar lichen sclerosus (VLS) is a chronic, inflammatory disease which is accompanied by itching and pain, affecting the patient's daily life and sexual activity. However, the disease characteristics of children and adults are not completely the same. Currently, there are few studies in China that compare the characteristics of VLS between girls and adult female patients. The aim of this study was to compare the epidemiology, clinical features, and combined autoimmune diseases of VLS patients between girls and adult females, and to help clinicians better understand VLS in different age groups. We enrolled 744 female patients for analysis, divided by age into a child group (<18 years) and an adult group (≥18 years). Among girl patients, 94.6% had preadolescent onset, while among adult female patients, only 4.6% had preadolescent onset, which was a statistically significant difference. The highest percentage of adult female patients had onset during their child-bearing period (75.4%), while 20% had postmenopausal onset, with a significant difference when the three onset states were compared. White patches were equally common in both girl and adult female patients' external genital area, while mossy lesions and labia minora atrophy were more common in adult female patients. Involvement of the clitoris, labia minora, and vaginal opening area were more common in adult patients. The perianal area was more commonly involved in girl patients. We found eight cases (1.2%) of secondary squamous cell carcinoma in adult female patients. We also found that 13 patients had concurrent lichen sclerosus lesions on the vulva and extragenital region, including two girls and 11 adult females. Extragenital lichen sclerosus (EGLS) occurred mostly in the torso. Clinicians should be aware of these differences so that early diagnosis and treatment of the disease can be achieved, to avoid irreversible anatomical alterations and the risk of cancer.

Vulvar-vaginal-gingival-otic syndrome.

In order to retrospectively analyse the multi-site involvement pattern of erosive lichen planus patients, we retrospectively reported the clinical and medical data of three patients with erosive lichen planus which involving their vulva, vagina, gingiva, and ear canal. We confirmed the existence of otic lichen planus, and found that it is more common in patients with vulvovaginal-gingival syndrome of erosive lichen planus. Therefore, we propose 'vulvovaginal-gingival-otic syndrome' to further describe this rare compound pattern of lichen planus.

Quality of life and burden of disease of vulvar lichen sclerosus: A single-center retrospective study in China.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the quality of life and burden of disease of vulvar lichen sclerosus (VLS) patients in three states of menstruation to better understand VLS. METHODS: A total of 607 VLS patients were enrolled into this retrospective study. According to the ages of onset, menarche and menopause, the patients were divided into three groups: prepubertal group (n = 96), reproductive group (n = 400) and postmenopausal group (n = 111). Data were collected by direct interview and clinical examination. RESULTS: A total of 93% of patients had itching, with a median numerical rating scale score of five. In the prepubertal group, the median score was three. Nocturnal itching occurred in 49.6% patients. Nearly half of the patients (45.9%) thought the itching affected their sleep. However, this ratio was very different in the prepubertal group (20.7%). Some patients (12.8%) cleaned their vulva more than seven times per week. Only 17.2% of patients experienced no effect on their sex life. The median dermatology life quality index score in all patients was six, but it was only three in the prepubertal group. The median number of hospital visits was two times, and the number of clinic visits was three times. Previous expenses, in median, were 2000 RMB. For 84.3% patients, the gynecologic clinic was their first choice. CONCLUSION: VLS places great physical, mental and economic burdens on patients. Patients in the prepubertal group had milder symptoms and dermatology life quality index score. VLS should arouse the attention of patients and specialists.

Expression and clinical significance of NCOA5 in epithelial ovarian cancer.

Background: Nuclear receptor coactivator 5 (NCOA5) plays a significant role in the progression of human cancer. However, its expression in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is unknown. The current study was designed to explore to investigate the clinical significance of NCOA5 and its correlation with the prognosis of EOC. Methods: Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of NCOA5 in 60 patients with EOC in this retrospective study and statistical analysis was performed to assess its relevance to clinicopathologic features and survival. Results: NCOA5 expression was significantly higher in EOC than in normal ovarian tissues (P < 0.001). Its expression level was significantly correlated with FIGO stage (P <0. 05) and subtypes of ovarian cancer (P < 0.001), while not correlation with age , differentiation and lymph node metastasis (P>0.05). Correlation analysis showed that NCOA5 was significantly correlated with CA125 (P < 0.001) and HE4 (P < 0.01). In a Kaplan-Meier analysis of overall survival rates, the patients with low expression of NCOA5 had significantly longer survival than high expression of NCOA5 (p=0.038). Conclusion: NCOA5 high expression is associated with EOC progression and can be an independent factor affecting the prognosis of EOC patients.

Dendritic cell vaccines in breast cancer: Immune modulation and immunotherapy.

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in women worldwide. Although substantial progress has been made in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, the efficacy and side effects of traditional treatment methods are still unsatisfactory. In recent years, immunotherapy including tumor vaccine has achieved great success in the treatment of BC. Dendritic cells (DCs) are multifunctional antigen-presenting cells that play an important role in the initiation and regulation of innate and adaptive immune responses. Numerous studies have shown that DC-based treatments might have a potential effect on BC. Among them, the clinical study of DC vaccine in BC has demonstrated considerable anti-tumor effect, and some DC vaccines have entered the stage of clinical trials. In this review, we summarize the immunomodulatory effects and related mechanisms of DC vaccine in breast cancer as well as the progress of clinical trials to propose possible challenges of DC vaccines and new development directions.

Screening differential circular RNAs expression profiles in Vulvar Lichen Sclerosus.

BACKGROUND: Vulvar lichen sclerosus (VLS) is one of the most common clinical manifestations of vulva. Thirteen percent of women have symptomatic vulvar diseases. The aim of this study is to investigate the expression profile of circular RNA (circRNAs) in vulvar lichen sclerosus, and to identify the underlying core genes of VLS. METHODS: We removed rRNA for sequencing, and screened the differentially expressed messenger RNA (mRNAs), long non-coding RNA (lncRNAs) and single-stranded circRNA in 20 groups of VLS tissues and 20 groups of healthy female vulvar skin tissues. Bioinformatics analysis was used to analyze its potential functions. RESULTS: A total of 2545 differentially expressed mRNAs were assessed in VLS patients, of which 1541 samples were up-regulated and 1004 samples were down-regulated. A total of 1453 differentially expressed lncRNAs were assessed, of which 812 samples were up-regulated and 641 samples were down-regulated. A total of 79 differentially expressed circRNAs were assessed, of which 54 were up-regulated and 25 were down-regulated. The differential expression of circRNAs was closely related to biological processes and molecular functions. The differences in circRNAs were mainly related to the "human T-cell leukemia virus 1 infection" signaling pathway and the "axon guidance" signaling pathway. CONCLUSION: The profile of abnormal regulation of circRNA exists in VLS. According to biological informatics analysis, the dysregulation of circRNAs may be related to the pathogenesis and pathological process of VLS.

Study of Langerhans cells and T lymphocytes in vulvar lichen sclerosus lesions.

BACKGROUND: The aetiology and pathogenesis of vulvar lichen sclerosus (LS), a chronic inflammatory disease, is not completely clear. It has been found that local cellular immune abnormalities play an important role in the immune mechanism of LS, mainly characterised by abnormal numbers of Langerhans cells in the epidermis and abnormal numbers of dermal T lymphocytes. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the densities of Langerhans cells and T-lymphocyte subpopulations in vulvar LS. METHODS: The density of Langerhans cells in the epidermis, and CD3+ , CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the dermis of seven early-stage and eight late-stage cases of vulvar LS were detected with direct immunofluorescence, and compared with 15 normal controls. RESULTS: The density of Langerhans cells in the late-stage group was significantly higher than in the normal group (P = 0.001). The densities of CD3+ , CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes in both the early- and late-stage (deeper dermis) groups were higher than in the normal group (P < 0.05). The ratio of CD4+ /CD8+ T lymphocytes in the early-stage and normal groups showed no significant difference (P = 0.151), while the late-stage (deeper dermis) groups decreased significantly compared with early-stage, late-stage (upper dermis) and normal groups (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The densities of Langerhans cells, CD3+ , CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, and the ratio of CD4+ /CD8+ T lymphocytes were different in different stages of LS, which supports the important role of cellular immunity in mechanisms of LS.

NCOA5 promotes proliferation, migration and invasion of colorectal cancer cells via activation of PI3K/AKT pathway.

The nuclear receptor coactivator 5 (NCOA5) displays both coactivator and corepressor functions. Previous studies showed that alteration of NCOA5 participates in carcinogenesis and progression. However, its roles in colorectal cancer (CRC) remain unknown. Herein, we demonstrated that expression of NCOA5 in human CRC tissues was notably higher than that in adjacent tissues, which significantly correlated with clinicopathological features such as length of tumor, regional lymph node staging and cancer staging. Knockdown of NCOA5 markedly suppressed proliferation, migration and invasion of SW620 high malignant CRC cells. Silencing of NCOA5 also inhibited in vivo growth of SW620 CRC subcutaneously xenografted tumors in athymic BALB/c nude mice. Meanwhile, Overexpression of NCOA5 facilitated these processes in SW480 low malignant CRC cells. Furthermore, knockdown of NCOA5 induced cell cycle G1 phase arrest in SW620 cells, whereas overexpression of NCOA5 promoted G1 to S phase transition in SW480 cells. Mechanistic studies revealed that NCOA5 upregulated phospho-protein kinase B (p-PKB/AKT), Cyclin D1 and matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) as well as downregulated P27 in CRC cells. Notably, PI3K inhibitor LY294002 obviously attenuated the effects of NCOA5 on p-AKT, Cyclin D1, P27 and MMP9. Moreover, LY294002 and knockdown of Cyclin D1 or MMP9 remarkably blocked the tumor-promoting activity of NCOA5. Collectively, NCOA5 promoted CRC cell proliferation, migration and invasion by upregulating Cyclin D1 and MMP9 while downregulating P27 to a great extent via activating PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. These findings suggested that NCOA5 exhibits an oncogenic effect in human CRC and represents a novel therapeutic target for CRC.

Special types of folliculitis which should be differentiated from acne.

Because both acne vulgaris and folliculitis can present as inflammatory erythematous papules, pustules or nodules, they are often hard to distinguish. The importance to distinguish between these 2 shall be stressed as their pathogenesis and therapies are different and misdiagnosis or missed diagnosis may lead to improper treatment. We will introduce several special types of folliculitis that should be differentiated from acne to increase our knowledge of the disorders with an acne-like manifestation.

Suppression of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 via interference increases the chemosensitivity of ovarian carcinoma.

The function of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) in the chemosensitivity of ovarian carcinoma has not been fully investigated, therefore, the present study aimed to analyze the potential role of HER2 in ovarian carcinoma chemosensitivity in further detail. SKOV3 cells were transfected with lentiviral-mediated HER2-small hairpin RNA (shRNA) molecules to establish the stable expression of HER2-shRNA in the SKOV3 cell line (knockdown cells; KD) and negative control cell line (NC). The untransfected SKOV3 cell line served as the blank control (CON) group. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blot analysis were used to detect the expression of HER2 in the three different cell types, which were subsequently examined for growth inhibition using a cell counting kit-8 assay. The CON and KD cell strains were utilized to establish xenograft models in nude mice, primarily to detect the expression of the HER2 protein, and additionally to observe tumor size changes under the treatment of cisplatin (DDP) chemotherapy. RT-qPCR and western blot analysis demonstrated a significant decrease in the levels of HER2 mRNA and protein in the KD cells. The suppression of HER2 expression resulted in an increase of chemotherapy sensitivity in the SKOV3 cells. HER2 protein expression decreased significantly following transduction with specific HER2-shRNA. Additionally, growth slowed significantly under treatment with DDP in ovarian cancer transplantation tumors. In conclusion, lentivirus-mediated HER2-shRNA effectively inhibits the expression of the HER2 gene, and increases the chemosensitivity to DDP in ovarian carcinoma.