Eva-1 homolog A promotes papillary thyroid cancer progression and epithelial-mesenchymal transition via the Hippo signalling pathway.

Recently, the incidence of thyroid cancer is increasing worldwide. Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is the most common histological type of thyroid cancer. Whole-transcriptome sequence analysis was performed to further understand the primary molecular mechanisms of the occurrence and progression of PTC. Results showed that Eva-1 homolog A (EVA1A) may be a potential gene for the PTC-associated gene in thyroid cancer. In this work, the role of EVA1A expression in thyroid cancer was investigated. Real-time PCR was performed to detect the expression level of EVA1A in 43 pairs of PTC and four thyroid cancer cell lines. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database was used to evaluate the relationship between the expression level of EVA1A and the pathological feature of PTC. The logistic regression analysis of the TCGA data set indicated that the expression of EVA1A was an independent risk factor for tumour, nde and metastasis (TNM) in PTC. This study shows the down-regulation of EVA1A inhibited the colony formation, proliferation, migration and invasion of PTC cell lines. In the protein level, knockdown of EVA1A can regulate the expression of N-cadherin, vimentin, Bcl-xL, Bax, YAP and TAZ. This study indicated that EVA1A was an oncogene associated with PTC.

Impact of treatment modalities on patients with recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma after liver transplantation: Preliminary experience.

BACKGROUND: Post-liver transplantation (LT) hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence still occurs in approximately 20% of patients and drastically affects their survival. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of various treatments for recurrent HCC after LT in a Chinese population. METHODS: A total of 64 HCC patients with tumor recurrence after LT were enrolled in this study. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify factors affecting post-recurrence survival. RESULTS: Of the 64 patients with recurrent HCC after LT, those who received radical resection followed by nonsurgical therapy had a median overall survival (OS) of 20.9 months after HCC recurrence, significantly superior to patients who received only nonsurgical therapy (9.4 months) or best supportive care (2.4 months). The one- and two-year OS following recurrence was favorable for patients receiving radical resection followed by nonsurgical therapy (93.8%, 52.6%), poor for patients receiving only nonsurgical therapy (30.8%, 10.8%), and dismal for patients receiving best supportive care (0%, 0%; overall P < 0.001). Median OS in sorafenib-tolerant patients treated with lenvatinib was 19.5 months, far surpassing the patients that discontinued sorafenib or were treated with regorafenib after sorafenib failure (12 months, P < 0.001). Compared with tacrolimus-based immunosuppressive therapy, OS was significantly increased with sirolimus-based therapy at one and two years after HCC recurrence (P = 0.035). Multivariate analysis showed radical resection combined with nonsurgical therapy for recurrent HCC and sorafenib-lenvatinib sequential therapy were independent favorable factors for post-recurrence survival. CONCLUSIONS: Aggressive surgical intervention in well-selected patients significantly improves OS after recurrence. A multidisciplinary treatment approach is required to slow down disease progression for patients with unresectable recurrent HCC.

Safety and efficacy of an integrated endovascular treatment strategy for early hepatic artery occlusion after liver transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Hepatic artery occlusion (HAO) after liver transplantation (LT) is typically comprised of hepatic artery thrombosis (HAT) and stenosis (HAS), both of which are severe complications that coexist and interdependent. This study aimed to evaluate an integrated endovascular treatment (EVT) strategy for the resolution of early HAO and identify the risk factors associated with early HAO as well as the procedural challenge encountered in the treatment strategy. METHODS: Consecutive orthotopic LT recipients (n = 366) who underwent transplantation between June 2017 and December 2018 were retrospectively investigated. EVT was performed using an integrated strategy that involved thrombolytic therapy, shunt artery embolization plus vasodilator therapy, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, and/or stent placement. Simple EVT was defined as the clinical resolution of HAO by one round of EVT with thrombolytic therapy and/or shunt artery embolization plus vasodilator therapy. Otherwise, it was defined as complex EVT. RESULTS: Twenty-six patients (median age 52 years) underwent EVT for early HAO that occurred within 30 days post-LT. The median interval from LT to EVT was 7 (6-16) days. Revascularization time (OR = 1.027; 95% CI: 1.005-1.050; P = 0.018) and the need for conduit (OR = 3.558; 95% CI: 1.241-10.203, P = 0.018) were independent predictors for early HAO. HAT was diagnosed in eight patients, and four out of those presented with concomitant HAS. We achieved 100% technical success and recanalization by performing simple EVT in 19 patients (3 HAT+/HAS- and 16 HAT-/HAS+) and by performing complex EVT in seven patients (1 HAT+/HAS-, 4 HAT+/HAS+, and 2 HAT-/HAS+), without major complications. The primary assisted patency rates at 1, 6, and 12 months were all 100%. The cumulative overall survival rates at 1, 6, and 12 months were 88.5%, 88.5%, and 80.8%, respectively. Autologous transfusion < 600 mL (94.74% vs. 42.86%, P = 0.010) and interrupted suture for hepatic artery anastomosis (78.95% vs. 14.29%, P = 0.005) were more prevalent in simple EVT. CONCLUSIONS: The integrated EVT strategy was a feasible approach providing effective resolution with excellent safety for early HAO after LT. Appropriate autologous transfusion and interrupted suture technique helped simplify EVT.

Microwave ablation of benign thyroid nodules.

Microwave ablation (MWA) has become increasingly popular as a minimally invasive treatment for benign and malignant tumors of the liver, lung and kidney. Recently, two studies have attempted to apply the technique to debulk benign thyroid nodules and gained positive results. MWA of benign nodules demonstrated significant volume reductions, while solving nodule-related clinical problems. This article reviews the basic physics, therapeutic indications, patient preparation, devices, procedures, clinical results and complications of thyroid MWA.

Metastasis of distal esophageal carcinoma to the thyroid with presentation simulating primary thyroid carcinoma: a case report and review of the literature.

Metastasis to the thyroid is extremely rare. There is a lack of awareness of and adequate preparation for this situation, especially in an individual without a past history of malignancy. We describe a rare case of a 61-year-old man in whom a primary distal esophageal carcinoma gave rise to a metastatic palpable mass in the thyroid gland. Palliative bilateral near-total thyroidectomy was performed with pathology showing squamous cell carcinoma and tracheostomy was carried out simultaneously due to airway compression with related symptoms. A review of the literature only reveals 4 similar cases. Secondary neoplasm of the thyroid mimicking a primary malignant lesion is seldom encountered, however, in order to make appropriate treatment, the most critical problem is to distinguish the difference between the above two and the final diagnosis can only be confirmed on pathologic examination. Although the prognosis of thyroid metastasis is commonly felt to be poor, improvement of living quality and prolongation of survival may be obtained in such patients through correct diagnosis and treatment.

LOC389641 promotes papillary thyroid cancer progression by regulating the EMT pathway.

Aim: Thyroid cancer (TC) is one of the most common types of endocrine malignancy and poses a significant challenge to human health. The long noncoding RNA 389641 (LOC389641) has been found to be associated with many types of cancer. However, the function of LOC389641 in papillary TC (PTC) remains unknown. Our aim is to explore LOC389641 expression and its role in TC. Materials & methods: The function of LOC389641 was determined by colony formation, migration and invasion assays in PTC. Western blot assays were performed to determine the biomarker of epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Results: In this study, we show that LOC389641 is involved in PTC, which suggests that it may be a target for TC therapies.

MLF1IP promotes cells proliferation and apoptosis by regulating CyclinD1 in breast cancer.

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the leading causes of cancer death among females in worldwide. It is urgent to develop novel biomarkers to improve risk stratification and optimize therapy choice. In our previous study, we firstly found that MLF1IP was upregulated in breast cancer tissue compared with adjacent normal tissue and patients with high MLF1IP expression had significantly lower overall survival. However, the biological function and cellular mechanisms of MLF1IP in breast cancer is still need to be elucidated. Here, we further investigated the role of MLF1IP in breast cancer by in vivo experiments. Our results showed that the expression level of MLF1IP was associated with lymph nodes metastasis and tumor size in clinical characteristic features. By biological function experiment, we found MLF1IP is correlated with cell proliferation and apoptosis and arrest cell cycle G1 through regulating Cyclin D1. Taken together, our findings suggested that MLF1IP could contribute to the oncogenic potential of breast cancer. To the best of our knowledge, it was firstly reported that MLF1IP was involved in breast cancer. This study provided a potential new marker and a target for gene therapy in breast cancer treatment.

Risk factors for hypocalcemia and hypoparathyroidism following thyroidectomy: a retrospective Chinese population study.

BACKGROUND: Hypocalcemia is one of the most common postoperative complications following thyroid surgery in clinical practice. The occurrence of hypocalcemia is mainly attributed to hypoparathyroidism when parathyroid glands are devascularized, injured, or dissected during the surgery. The aim of this study was to analyze the risk factors for hypocalcemia and hypoparathyroidism following thyroidectomy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 278 patients who underwent thyroid surgery were analyzed retrospectively. Univariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression were performed to discover the risk factors for hypocalcemia and hypoparathyroidism. RESULTS: Postoperative hypocalcemia occurred in 76 (27.3%) patients and hypoparathyroidism occurred in 42 (15.1%) patients. Seven factors were significantly related to the presence of postoperative hypocalcemia, namely, age (P=0.049), gender (P=0.015), lateral lymph node dissection (P=0.017), operation type (P<0.001), preoperative parathyroid hormone (PTH) level (P=0.035), operation time (P=0.001), and applying carbon nanoparticles (CNs; P=0.007). Our result revealed that gender (P=0.014), lateral lymph node dissection (P=0.038), operation type (P<0.001), operative time (P<0.001), and applying CNs (P=0.001) had a significant correlation with postoperative hypoparathyroidism. CONCLUSION: These findings were crucial for guiding surgeons to prevent the occurrence of hypocalcemia and hypoparathyroidism.

Effect and mechanism of the metastasis suppressor gene BRMS1 on the migration of breast cancer cells.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of the transfected Breast cancer metastasis suppressor 1 (BRMS1) gene on the migration of breast cancer cells and the possible mechanisms involved. METHODS: MDA-MB-231HM cells which have a high propensity of metastasize to lung was sieved from MDA-MB-231 and its derivative cells stable transfected with BRMS1 were used to study in vitro. Cell migratory ability was observed. The cellular cyclic adenylic acid (cAMP) concentration was tested by radioimmunoassay (RIA). The activity of adenylate cyclase (AC), phosphodiesterase (PDE) and protein kinase A (PKA) were measured by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and (γ-(32)P) ATP incorporation. The effect of BRMS1 on connexins (Cx) expression was analyzed by by RT-PCR and Western blot. RESULTS: Overexpression of BRMS1 significantly inhibited cell migration in MDA-MB-231HM cells in vitro. However, BRMS1's effect on cell migration could be eliminated after pretreating with pertussis toxin (PTX). BRMS1 overexpression increased cellular cAMP and PKA activity by activating the activity of AC. Furthermore, BRMS1 overexpression up-regulated Cx26 expression, whereas Cx32, Cx43 expressions did not changed. CONCLUSION: The present study indicated G-protein-coupled cAMP signaling pathway was involved in BRMS1 related MDA-MB-231HM cells migration, and BRMS1 could change connexins (Cx) expression profiles through increasing expression of Cx26 in cells.