Trend of the mortality of major liver diseases and its impact on life expectancy in China from 2006 to 2017.

BACKGROUND: Liver diseases are the serious cause of death in China. We aim to describe the trends and disparities of major liver disease mortality rates and the loss of life expectancy (LLE) in China. METHODS: Annual percentage change (APC) and average APC (AAPC) were calculated using the Joinpoint regression model. LLE was calculated using cause eliminated life table. RESULTS: From 2006 to 2017, the overall age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) of liver cirrhosis lightly declined (AAPC: -2.97%), whereas the ASMR of viral hepatitis and liver cancer remained stable. Viral hepatitis (AAPC: -4.36%) and liver cirrhosis (AAPC: -4.35%) ASMRs both declined for females. The highest ASMRs of viral hepatitis and liver cirrhosis were in the west region, while that of liver cancer was in the middle region. The ASMRs of liver cirrhosis in the middle region and liver cancer in the east region significantly decreased. The means of LLE on viral hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and liver cancer were 0.05, 0.1 and 0.46 years, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The burden of liver diseases is still severe and there are disparities between genders and different regions in China. Accurate early diagnostic approaches for high-risk populations should be established to eliminate the burden of liver diseases.

Evaluation of the Epidemiologic Efficacy of Eradicating Helicobacter pylori on Development of Gastric Cancer.

Eradication of Helicobacter pylori colonization has been reported to affect the progression of gastric cancer. A comprehensive literature search was performed from 1997 to 2017 using electronic databases. All randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and nonrandomized controlled trials (non-RCT) evaluated the effect of H. pylori eradication on development of gastric cancer. Four RCTs and 9 non-RCTs were included (n = 40,740 participants; 321,269 person-years). Overall, H. pylori eradication therapy was associated with a significantly reduced risk of gastric cancer (incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 0.52, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.41, 0.65). Results of mixed-effect Poisson regression meta-analysis were similar to those of traditional meta-analyses. In stratified analyses, the IRRs were 0.59 (95% CI: 0.41, 0.86) in RCTs and 0.48 (95% CI: 0.36, 0.64) in non-RCTs. The IRRs were 0.45 (95% CI: 0.34, 0.61) in patients and 0.63 (95% CI: 0.44, 0.90) in the general population. Moreover, the relative risk reduction was approximately 77% on the development of noncardiac gastric cancer with H. pylori eradication therapy in China. Attributable risk percentage and population attributable risk percentage for Chinese patients were 77.08% and 75.33%, respectively, and for Japanese patients were 57.80% and 45.99%, respectively. H. pylori eradication therapy reduces the risk of noncardiac gastric cancer development. The findings indicate the importance of early intervention with H. pylori eradication therapy from the perspective of epidemiology.

Prognostic values of microRNA-130 family expression in patients with cancer: a meta-analysis and database test.

BACKGROUND: Emerging evidence shows that microRNA-130 (miRNA-130) family may be useful as prognostic biomarkers in cancer. However, there is no confirmation in an independent validation study. The aim of this study was to summarize the prognostic value of miRNA-130 family (miRNA-130a and miRNA-130b) for survival in patients with cancer. METHODS: The pooled hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to estimate the association strength between miRNA-130 family expression and prognosis. Kaplan-Meier plotters were used to verify the miRNA-130b expression and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: A total of 2141 patients with OS and 1159 patients with disease-free survival (DFS)/progression-free survival (PFS) were analyzed in evidence synthesis. For the miRNA-130a, the overall pooled effect size (HR) was HR 1.58 (95% CI: 1.21-2.06, P < 0.001). Tissue and serum expression of miRNA-130a was significantly associated with the OS (HR = 1.54, 95% CI: 1.11-2.14, P = 0.009; HR = 1.65, 95% CI: 1.14-2.38, P = 0.008), and in gastric cancer (HR = 1.81, 95% CI: 1.34-2.45, P < 0.001). For the miRNA-13b, a statistical correlation was observed between high miRNA-130b expression and poor OS in patients with cancer (HR = 1.95, 95% CI: 1.47-2.59, P < 0.001), especially in tissue sample (HR = 2.01, 95% CI: 1.39-2.91, P < 0.001), Asian (HR = 2.55, 95% Cl: 1.77-3.69, P < 0.001) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HR = 1.87, 95% CI: 1.23-2.85, P = 0.004). The expression of miRNA-130b was significantly correlated with DFS/PFS (HR = 1.53, 95% CI: 1.31-1.77, P < 0.001), in tissue (HR = 1.98, 95% CI: 1.50-2.62, P < 0.001) and serum (HR = 1.37, 95% CI: 1.15-1.64, P < 0.001), especially in HCC (HR = 1.98, 95% CI: 1.50, 2.62, P < 0.001). In database test, a significant correlation between high miRNA-130b expression and poor OS for HCC patients was observed (HR = 1.55, 95% CI: 1.01, 2.35, P = 0.0045). CONCLUSION: The high expression of miRNA-130 family might predict poor prognosis in cancer patients. Prospectively, combining miRNA-130a and miRNA-130b may be considered as powerful prognostic predictor for clinical application.

A systematic review of anxiety across smoking stages in adolescents and young adults.

BACKGROUND: In adolescence and young adults, inconsistence of the association between anxiety and smoking remains to be investigated and clarified. The aim of this study is investigated and clarified the association between anxiety and smoking stages in adolescence and young adults. METHODS: The data on the causal influence of anxiety on smoking in adolescents and young adults aged 14 to 25 years old was retrieved from electronic databases. RESULTS: Nineteen of 668 articles were subjected to a systematic review. Definitional differences with respect to smoking stages constrained homogeneity across the nineteen analyzed reports. Anxiety appears to play a more consistent risk role for nicotine dependent (ND) smokers than for non-nicotine dependent (non-ND) regular or daily smokers. Anxious non-ND smokers are at higher risk to become nicotine dependent. CONCLUSIONS: A ununified definition of smoking stages is responsible for the production of inconsistent results. The analysis reinforced anxiety as a significant risk factor for smoking in one's lifetime. Anxious non-ND smokers are the key target for interventions aimed at preventing nicotine dependence and smoking-related health problems.

A New MicroRNA Expression Signature for Cervical Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women worldwide. The potential of microRNAs as novel biomarkers in cervical cancer is growing. OBJECTIVES: In this study, we investigated the functions and targets of miR-466 in cervical cancer tissues. METHODS: Fresh cervical tissues were obtained from 157 patients with cervical cancer, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), and healthy controls, and the tissues were immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen until use. The RNA was extracted and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed. RESULTS: A total of 157 participants were summarized, including 56 patients with cervical cancer, 60 patients with CIN, and 49 healthy controls. The expression levels of miR-466 in cervical cancers (0.68) were higher than that in healthy controls (0.082) (P < 0.01). The average fold changes of miR-466 in the patients with CIN group and people group were 0.28 and 0.082, respectively (P < 0.01). It was a statistically significant difference in patients with lymph node involvement (P = 0.022). However, the expression of miR-466 was not correlated with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stages, tumor size, or vascular invasion (P = 0.506, P = 0.667, and P = 0.108, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that the aberrant expression of miR-466 is closely associated with the occurrence and development of cervical cancer.

Red Meat and Processed Meat Consumption and Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Risk: A Dose-response Meta-analysis of Observational Studies.

The purpose of this study is to clarify and quantify the potential dose-response association between the intake of total red and total processed meat and risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Relevant studies were identified by searching PubMed, EMBASE, and Chinese databases (CNKI and Wanfang). The summary relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was calculated. A total of 15 independent studies with 12,735 subjects were identified. Compared with the low-rank intake, the summary RR of NPC was 1.35 (95%CI, 1.21-1.51) for total red meat and 1.46 (95%CI, 1.34-1.64) for total processed meat. For the moderate-rank intake, the summary RR of NPC was 1.54 (95%CI, 1.36-1.79) for total red meat and 1.59 (95%CI, 1.3-1.90) for total processed meat. The summary RR for high-rank intake was 1.71 (95%CI, 1.14-2.55) for total red meat and 2.11 (95%CI, 1.31-3.42) for total processed meat. The combined estimates showed obvious evidence of statistically significant association between total red and total processed meat consumption dose and risk of NPC (Ptrend< 0.01). In conclusion, our data suggest that a high intake of total red or total processed meat is associated with a significantly increased risk of NPC.

Prognostic value of lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 in breast cancer: a meta-analysis and validated study in Chinese population.

BACKGROUND: Long non encoding RNA (lncRNA) plays a crucial role in breast cancer. However, the prognostic role of AFAP1-AS1 in breast cancer remains unclear. AIMS: To investigate the relationship between the expression of long non-coding RNA actin filament-associated protein1 antisense RNA1 (AFAP1-AS1) and prognosis of breast cancer. METHODS AND RESULTS: Meta-analysis was performed to explore the correlation between AFAP1-AS1 and breast cancer. The AFAP1-AS1expression in patients with breast cancer tissue and adjacent normal tissue from 153 patients was determined by qRT-PCR. Bioinformatics and Cox proportional-hazards risk model were used to explore the relationship between expression of AFAP1-AS1 and prognosis. The combined analysis revealed a significant correlation between AFAP1-AS1 expression and both overall survival (hazard ratios, HR = 2.33, 95%Cl: 1.94-2.81, p < 0.001) as well as disease-free survival/progression-free survival (HR = 2.94, 95%CI: 2.35-3.67, p < 0.001). The relation between expression of AFAP1-AS1 and breast cancer was determined in 153 breast cancer and adjacent normal tissues. The findings revealed a significantly higher AFAP1-AS1expression levels in breast cancer tissues compared to adjacent normal tissues (p < 0.001). Additionally, patients exhibiting heightened levels of AFAP1-AS1 expression were correlated with an unfavorable prognosis (HR = 2.35, 95%CI: 1.47-3.74, p < 0.001), which aligns consistently with the findings of the pooled analysis. The subgroup analysis of clinical characteristics revealed a significant association between high expression of AFAP1-AS1 and TNM stage (HR = 1.72, 95%CI: 1.11-2.65, p = 0.015). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that AFAP1-AS1 acts as an oncogene and may serve as a novel prognostic marker for breast cancer, particularly in the Chinese population.

A comparison analysis of the somatic mutations in early-onset gastric cancer and traditional gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: Early onset gastric cancer (EOGC) has been on the rise in recent years and differs slightly in pathology from traditional gastric cancer (TGC). Somatic mutations have an essential role in the development of gastric cancer. We aimed to investigate these two types of gastric cancers at the level of somatic mutations and to further understanding of gastric cancer development. METHODS: Somatic mutation, copy number variation (CNV), and clinical information were obtained from TCGA and UCSC Xena. Samples were divided into EOGC (< 50 years old, N = 28) and TGC (≥ 50 years old, N = 395) groups based on age. R packages "maftools" and "sigminer" were used to identify mutation signatures, while CNV information was processed using GISTIC2.0. RESULTS: CDH1(21 %, P = 0.030) and ARID1A (28 %, P = 0.014) were more common in EOGC and TGC, respectively. The mutation frequency of ARID1A increased with age, while the opposite was true for CDH1. Sex, Lauren classifications, tumor mutation burden levels, mutation status of TP53, MUC6, NIPBL, KRAS, and copy number variation of the WOOX can affect the activity of the mutant signature. CONCLUSIONS: Early-onset gastric cancer and traditional gastric cancer have distinct somatic mutation signatures, each with its own relatively specific high-frequency mutated genes, and the gene's mutation frequency correlates with age. Several clinical factors and genetic status affect the activity of some mutational features in gastric cancer in both groups.

Increased lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 expression predicts poor prognosis in gastric cancer: Evidence from published studies and followed up verification.

AIM: The purpose of this study was to clarify the influence of long non-coding RNA actin fiber-associated protein-1 antisense RNA 1 (lncRNA AFAP1-AS1) on the prognosis of gastric cancer (GC). METHODS: Based on meta-analysis, the association between the expression of AFAP1-AS1 and the prognosis of GC was estimated. GC tissue and non-cancer tissues from 136 patients were determined by quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and verified by Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA). Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards models were conducted to analyze the correlation between AFAP1-AS1 expression and GC prognosis. RESULTS: The pooled analysis from five studies revealed that the AFAP1-AS1 expression was significantly associated with GC overall survival (hazard ratio (HR) = 2.49 and 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 2.02-3.08, p < 0.001). Compared with non-cancer tissues, AFAP1-AS1 expression level of GC tissues were significantly upregulated (p < 0.001), which was confirmed by the results of GEPIA. The area under the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.893, and the high expression of AFAP1-AS1 was correlated with poor prognosis in patients with GC (p = 0.005). Clinical grade (HR = 1.912, 95% CI: 1.246-2.934, p = 0.003), pathologic tumor node metastasis (pTNM) (HR = 2.393, 95% CI: 1.431-4.033, p = 0.001), log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) (HR = 2.910, 95% CI: 1.787-4.793, p < 0.001) and AFAP1-AS1 expression (HR = 2.393, 95% CI: 1.869-3.064, p < 0.001) were independent prognostic factors for GC revealed by multivariate Cox-regression analysis. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that the AFAP1-AS1 may be a novel biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of GC.

Genetic risk and gastric cancer: polygenic risk scores in population-based case-control study.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to screen and identify common variants and long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with gastric cancer risk, and construct prediction models based on polygenic risk score (PRS). METHODS: The risk factors associated with gastric cancer were screened following meta-analysis and bioinformatics, verified by population-based case-control study. We constructed PRS and weighted genetic risk scores (wGRS) derived from the validation data set. Net reclassification improvement (NRI), integrated discrimination improvement (IDI), Akaike information criterion (AIC) and Bayesian information criterion (BIC) were used to evaluate model. RESULTS: The PRS was divided into 10 quantiles, with the 40-60% quantile as a reference. A risk gradient was revealed across quantile of the PRS, the risk of gastric cancer in the highest 10 quantile of PRS was 3.24-fold higher than that in control population (OR = 3.24, 95%CI: 2.07, 5.06). For NRI and IDI, PRS combinations were significantly improved compared to wGRS model combinations (P < 0.001). The model of PRS combined with lncRNA SNPs, smoking, drinking and Helicobacter pylori infection was the best-fitting model (AIC = 117.23, BIC = 122.31). CONCLUSION: The model based on PRS combined with lncRNA SNPs, H. pylori infection, smoking, and drinking had the optimal predictive ability for gastric cancer risk, which was helpful to distinguish high-risk groups.

XRCC1 gene polymorphisms and lung cancer susceptibility: a meta-analysis of 44 case-control studies.

X-ray repair cross-complementing group 1 gene (XRCC1) has been implicated in risk for lung cancer. However, the results from different studies remain controversial. In this meta-analysis, we have assessed 44 published case-control studies regarding associations of lung cancer risk with three common polymorphisms, codon 194, codon 280 and codon 399, and -77 T > C in the promoter region of XRCC1. The results in total population showed that the risk for lung cancer was increased among the variant homozygote Trp/Trp of codon 194 polymorphism, compared with the wild type Arg/Arg (OR: 1.19; 95 % CI 1.01-1.39), and the variant genotype CC of -77 T > C polymorphism showed a significantly increased risk of developing lung cancer, compared to wild-type genotype TT (OR: 1.91; 95 % CI 1.24-2.94). However, no associations were found between lung cancer risk and codon 280, codon 399. In the subgroup analyses by ethnicity, the OR for the variant homozygote Trp/Trp of codon 194 was 1.21(95 % CI 1.02-1.43) for Asian. When stratified by source of control, we found a protective effect of codon 194 Arg/Trp genotype (OR: 0.87; 95 % CI 0.77-0.98) and risk effect of codon 399 combined Arg/Gln + Gln/Gln variant genotype (OR: 1.09; 95 % CI 1.01-1.18) for lung cancer on the basis of hospital control. Subgroup analyses by histological types of lung cancer indicated that the heterozygote Arg/Trp in codon 194 could decrease and the combined variant genotype Arg/Gln + Gln/Gln in codon 399 could increase the risk of non-small cell lung cancer (OR: 0.69; 95 % CI 0.57-0.85 and OR: 1.14; 95 % CI 1.04-1.24). In conclusion, this meta-analysis has demonstrated that codon 194, codon 399 and -77 T > C polymorphisms of XRCC1 gene might have contributed to individual susceptibility to lung cancer. To further evaluate effect of XRCC1 polymorphisms, gene-gene interaction and gene-environment interaction on lung cancer risk, a single large sample size study with thousands of subjects is required to get conclusive results.

[Genetic polymorphisms of ADH1B and ALDH-2 associated with risk of esophageal cancer: a meta-analysis].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of genetic polymorphisms of alcohol dehydrogenase-1B (ADH1B) and aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 (ALDH-2) with risk of esophageal cancer (EC) in China. METHODS: A comprehensive search of the database was performed to identify all case-control studies of ADH1B and ALDH-2 polymorphisms associated with esophageal cancer and their interactions with alcohol drinking. Meta-analysis was carried out for calculation of pooled OR value and its corresponding 95% CI. RESULTS: The ADH1B * 1 and ALDH-2 * 2 allele were found to be associated to increased risk of EC, with odds ratios (OR) being 1. 24 (95% CI 1.10-1.41) and 3.05 (95% CI 1.94-4.77) for the ADH1B * 1/* 2 and ADH1B * 1/*1, and 1.6 (95% CI 1.01-2.03) and 0.77 (95% CI 0.28-2.09) for the ALDH-2 * 1/* 2 and ALDH-2 * 2/* 2 respectively. When compared with the ADH1B * 2/* 2 genotype in drinkers, the ADH1B * 1/* 2 + * 2/* 2 can increase risk of EC (OR = 3.13, 95% CI 2.17-4.51). ALDH-2 * 1/* 2 + * 2/* 2 showed an increased risk to EC among drinks compared with the ALDH-2 * 1/* 1 genotype (OR = 4.12, 95% CI 1.98-8.56). CONCLUSION: ADH1B * 1 and ALDH-2 * 2 allele can increase the risk of EC in china, which can be modified by alcohol consumption.

Clinicopathological and prognostic value of lncRNAs expression in gastric cancer: A field synopsis of observational studies and databases validation.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate existing evidence in the field of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and prognosis of gastric cancer. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was performed through the electronic database. The combined hazard ratios (HRs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), or progression free survival (PFS) were calculated to assess the strength of the association. Kaplan-Meier (KM) plotter was used to verify lncRNA HOX transcript antisense RNA (HOTAIR) expression and OS. RESULTS: Overall, a significant correlation between high lncRNAs expression and poor OS was explored in patients with gastric cancer (HR = 1.78, P < .001). Subgroup analysis based on statistical methods indicated the high expression of lncRNAs in log-rank (HR = 1.87, P < .001) and multivariate analysis (HR = 1.71, P < .001) were all significantly correlated with the poor OS. Clinicopathological parameters analysis showed the lncRNA expression were significantly associated prognosis, including TNM stage, tumor size, pathological differentiation, lymph nodes metastasis, distance metastasis, invasion depth and Lauren's classification. It was consistent with the verification results of bioinformatics database for lncRNA HOTAIR (P < .001). CONCLUSION: Our study confirmed the expression of lncRNAs and clinicopathological features may serve as effective indicators of prognosis in patients with gastric cancer.

High expression of AFAP1-AS1 is associated with poor prognosis of digestive system cancers: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Actin filament-associated protein 1 antisense RNA 1 (AFAP1-AS1) is associated with prognosis in many cancers. The aim of this study was to systematically evaluate the potential correlation between AFAP1-AS1 and the prognosis of digestive system cancers (DSC). METHODS: EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, PubMed, Wanfang Data (Chinese), and CNKI (Chinese) were comprehensively searched for literature published from the establishment of the database to September 2021.All case-control studies that met the inclusion criteria were retrieved; additionally manual retrieval and literature tracing was performed. After extracting the relevant data, Revman 5.3.5 software was used for meta-analysis. RESULTS: Eighteen studies were included in analyses, high expression of AFAP1-AS1 was significantly correlated with poor prognosis in DSC, including overall survival (HR = 1.93, 95% CI: 1.72-2.17, P < .001) and disease-free survival/progression-free survival (HR = 1.87, 95% CI: 1.56-2.26, P < .001). In addition, the expression of AFAP1-AS1 was significantly correlated with tumor size, tumor stage, and lymph node metastasis. CONCLUSION: High expression of AFAP1-AS1 was associated with poor prognosis in DSC. Therefore, it could be used as a potential marker for evaluating prognosis in DSC.

Polygenic Risk Scores for Prediction of Gastric Cancer Based on Bioinformatics Screening and Validation of Functional lncRNA SNPs.

INTRODUCTION: Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are used to stratify the risk of gastric cancer. However, no study included gastric cancer-related long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) SNPs into the risk model for evaluation. This study aimed to replicate the associations of 21 lncRNA SNPs and to construct an individual risk prediction model for gastric cancer. METHODS: The bioinformatics method was used to screen gastric cancer-related lncRNA functional SNPs and verified in population. Gastric cancer risk prediction models were constructed using verified SNPs based on polygenic risk scores (PRSs). RESULTS: Twenty-one SNPs were screened, and the multivariate unconditional logistic regression analysis showed that 14 lncRNA SNPs were significantly associated with gastric cancer. In the distribution of genetic risk score in cases and controls, the mean value of PRS in cases was higher than that in controls. Approximately 20.1% of the cases was caused by genetic variation (P = 1.9 × 10-34) in optimal PRS model. The individual risk of gastric cancer in the lowest 10% of PRS was 82.1% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.102, 0.314) lower than that of the general population. The risk of gastric cancer in the highest 10% of PRS was 5.75-fold that of the general population (95% CI: 3.09, 10.70). The introduction of family history of tumor (area under the curve, 95% CI: 0.752, 0.69-0.814) and Helicobacter pylori infection (area under the curve, 95% CI: 0.773, 0.702-0.843) on the basis of PRS could significantly improve the recognition ability of the model. DISCUSSION: PRSs based on lncRNA SNPs could identify individuals with high risk of gastric cancer and combined with risk factors could improve the stratification.

Long Non-Coding RNA FOXD2-AS1 Serves as a Potential Prognostic Biomarker for Patients With Cancer: A Meta-Analysis and Database Testing.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to summarize the current findings concerning the FOXD2-AS1 expression and cancer prognosis. METHODS: The correlation intensity between FOXD2-AS1 expression and cancer prognosis was estimated using pooled hazard ratio (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). GEPIA was used to assess disease-free survival (DFS), progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of cancer patients and differential FOXD2-AS1 expression in cancer and adjacent tissues. RESULTS: A total of 11 studies including 2,177 patients with OS and 477 patients with DFS/PFS data were analyzed in evidence synthesis. Overall, the pooled analysis indicated that FOXD2-AS1 expression was significantly associated with OS (HR=1.51, 95%Cl: 1.26-1.81, P<0.001) and DFS (HR=1.66, 95%CI: 1.34-2.04, P<0.001). Subgroup analysis showed that high expression of FOXD2-AS1 was significant correlated with poor OS in the median (HR=1.51, 95%CI: 1.30-1.75, P<0.001) and normal group (HR=1.50, 95%CI: 1.09-2.05, 0.01) based on cut-off value, and high FOXD2-AS1 expression was significant linked with poor DFS in patients with digestive tract cancer (DTC) (HR=1.66, 95%CI: 1.34-2.04, P<0.001). Similarly, a significant correlation between increased FOXD2-AS1 expression and poor PFS with other cancers (HR=3.84, 95%CI 1.26-11.70, P=0.02) was found. In database testing, a highly significant correlation was observed between high expression of FOXD2-AS1 and poor OS (HR=1.9, P<0.001), but not DFS (HR=1.0, P=0.900). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicated that FOXD2-AS1 may serve as a potential independent prognostic factor in cancer, especially in the Chinese population.

Identification and epidemiological evaluation of gastric cancer risk factors: based on a field synopsis and meta-analysis in Chinese population.

To summarize and assess the credibility and strength of non-genetic factors and genetic variation on gastric cancer risk, we performed a field synopsis and meta-analysis to identify the risk of gastric cancer in Chinese population. Cumulative evidence was graded according to the Venice criteria, and attributable risk percentage (ARP) and population attributable risk percentage (PARP) were used to evaluate the epidemiological effect. A total of 956 studies included non-genetic (404 studies) and genetic factors (552 studies) were quantified, and data on 1161 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were available. We identified 14 non-genetic factors were significantly associated with gastric cancer risk. For the analysis of time trends, H. pylori infection rate in gastric cancer and population showed a downward trend. Meanwhile 22 variants were identified significantly associated with gastric cancer: 3 (PLCE1 rs2274223, PSCA rs2976392, MUC1 rs4072037) were high and 19 SNPs were intermediate level of summary evidence, respectively. For non-genetic factors, the top three for ARP were 54.75% (pickled food), 65.87% (stomach disease), and 49.75% (smoked and frying). For PARP were 34.22% (pickled food), 34.24% (edible hot food) and 23.66%(H. pylori infection). On the basis of ARP and PARP associated with SNPs of gastric cancer, the top three for ARP were 53.91% (NAT2, rs1799929),53.05% (NAT2 phenotype), and 42.85% (IL-10, rs1800896). For PARP (Chinese Han in Beijing) were 36.96% (VDR, rs731236), 25.58% (TGFBR2, rs3773651) and 20.56% (MUC1, rs4072037). Our study identified non-genetic risk factors and high-quality biomarkers of gastric cancer susceptibility and their contribution to gastric cancer.

Expression of MMP-14 and prognosis in digestive system carcinoma: a meta-analysis and databases validation.

Background: The Matrix metalloproteinase-14 (MMP-14) expression has been shown to be overexpressed in different cancers. However, there is no comprehensive quantitative evaluation of the MMP-14 prognostic value in digestive system carcinoma (DSC). The aim of this study is to explore the correlation between the MMP-14 expression and DSC prognosis. Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis to estimate the association strength between MMP-14 expression and prognosis. GEPIA and Kaplan Meier plotters were used to assess overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS)/progression-free survival (PFS) in DSC patients and the differential expression of MMP-14 in DSC tissues and adjacent tissues. Results: A total of 20 studies including 2,519 patients with OS and 438 patients with DFS/PFS data were analyzed in evidence synthesis. Overall, the combined hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was 1.98 (95%Cl: 1.77-2.22, P<0.001) for OS and 3.61 (95%Cl: 2.39-5.43, P<0.001) for DFS/PFS. For subgroup analyses, significant correlations were revealed between increased MMP-14 expression and poor OS in patients with gastric cancer (HR=2.21, 95%CI: 1.76-2.77, P<0.001), esophageal carcinoma (HR=2.01, 95%CI: 1.58-2.57, P<0.001), oral cancer (HR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.30-2.20, P < 0.001) (HR=2.14, 95%CI 1.35-2.19, P<0.001) and hepatocarcinoma. In database verification analyses, the MMP-14 expression levels in normal tissues were significantly higher than that in DSC tissues, and significant associations were observed between high MMP-14 expression levels and poor prognosis. Conclusions: The high expression levels of MMP-14 might predict poor prognosis in DSC. Larger prospective clinical cohort studies are required to validate the prognostic role.

Two-level analysis of risk factors for ischemic cardiovascular disease-A community-based study from Henan, China.

BACKGROUND: Ischemic cardiovascular disease (ICVD) has high incidence and high mortality worldwide. The studies of its risk factors were mostly concentrated on an individual level, and there are scarce studies on the two levels of risk factors which include individual and regional levels. METHODS: The data were obtained from a community-based study in 4 cities and 6 counties of Henan, China. Risk factors were initially screened by one-way analysis of variance or chi-square test. Then, they were re-analyzed using a two-level logistic regression model to construct a personal disease risk prediction model. RESULTS: A two-level ICVD risk prediction model comprised 11 variables: age, body mass index (BMI), family history of hypertension, marital status, salt intake, smoking, moderate recreational physical activities, alcohol intake, and education at the individual level. Among the unalterable risk factors, for each additional unit of age and family history of hypertension, the risk of ICVD increased by 1.08 and 1.07 units [ß95% confidence interval (95%CI): 0.99-1.16, 0.97-1.17, both p < 0.0001], respectively. Among the modifiable risk factors, the ICVD risk increases by 0.67, 0.27, and 0.28 units for each additional unit of BMI, marital status, and education (ß95%CI: 0.60-0.74, p < 0.0001; ß95%CI: 0.14-0.40, p = 0.0012, 0.18-0.37, p = 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The two-level ICVD risk model can predict that the risk of one person for ICVD will be lower if one is younger, thinner, and well-educated without a family history of hypertension. Overall, the two-level ICVD risk prediction model gets a better fitting effect than the single-level model.