Chemokine ligand 14 correlates with immune cell infiltration in the gastric cancer microenvironment in predicting unfavorable prognosis.

Objective: Gastric cancer (GC) is the world's third-leading cause of cancer-related mortality; the prognosis for GC patients remains poor in terms of a lack of reliable biomarkers for early diagnosis and immune therapy response prediction. Here, we aim to discover the connection between chemokine ligand 14 (CCL14) expression in the gastric tumor microenvironment (TME) and its clinical significance and investigate its correlation with immune cell infiltration. Methods: We assessed CCL14 mRNA expression and its interrelation with tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TILs) using bioinformatics analysis in gastric cancer. CCL14 protein expression, TILs, and immune checkpoints were detected by multiple immunohistochemistry analyses in gastric cancer tissue microarrays. Then, we conducted statistics analysis to determine the association between CCL14-related patient survival and immune cell infiltration (p < 0.05). Results: We found that the CCL14 protein was separately expressed in the carcinoma cells and TILs in stomach cancer tissues. The CCL14 protein was related to tumor differentiation and tumor depth and positively correlated with the presentation of LAG3 and PD-L1 in gastric cancer cells. In addition, the CCL14 protein in the TILs of gastric cancer tissues was related to Lauren's type cells, T cells (CD4+ and CD8+), and CD68+ macrophages in the TME. Kaplan-Meier survival and multivariate analyses showed that the CCL14 expression in gastric cancer cells was an independent prognostic factor. Conclusion: Our study illustrated that CCL14 is a poor prognosis biomarker in gastric cancer, which may be associated with the potential for immunotherapy.

Trends of incidence and prognosis of gastric neuroendocrine neoplasms: a study based on SEER and our multicenter research.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the recent epidemiological trends of gastric neuroendocrine neoplasms (GNENs) and establish a new tool to estimate the prognosis of gastric neuroendocrine carcinoma (GNEC) and gastric neuroendocrine tumor (GNET). METHODS: Nomograms were established based on a retrospective study on patients diagnosed with GNENs from 1975 to 2016 in Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database. External validation was performed among 246 GNENs patients in Jiangsu province to verify the discrimination and calibration of the nomograms. RESULTS: The age-adjusted incidence of GNENs has increased from 0.309 to 6.149 per 1,000,000 persons in the past 4 decades. Multivariate analysis indicated independent prognostic factors for both GNEC and GNET including age, distant metastasis and surgical intervention (P < 0.05). In addition, T, N staging and grade were significantly associated with survival of GNEC, while size was a predictor for GNET (P < 0.05). The C-indexes of the nomograms were 0.840 for GNEC and 0.718 for GNET, which were higher than those of the 8th AJCC staging system (0.773 and 0.599). Excellent discrimination was observed in the validation cohorts (C-index of nomogram vs AJCC staging for GNEC: 0.743 vs 0.714; GNET: 0.945 vs 0.927). Survival rates predicted by nomograms were close to the actual survival rates in the calibration plots in both training and validation sets. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of the GNENs is increasing steadily in the past 40 years. We established more excellent nomograms to predict the prognosis of GNENs than traditional staging system, helping clinicians to make tailored decisions.

SCFFBXW7/GSK3ß-Mediated GFI1 Degradation Suppresses Proliferation of Gastric Cancer Cells.

Gastric cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. The regulatory mechanisms underlying gastric cancer cell proliferation are largely unclear. Here, we show that the transcription factor GFI1 is associated with advanced clinical gastric cancer progression and promoted gastric cancer cell proliferation partially through inhibition of gastrokine-2 (GKN2) transcription. GFI1 was a degrading substrate of FBXW7, whose loss was observed in gastric cancer. Mechanistically, GSK3ß-mediated GFI1 S94/S98 phosphorylation triggered its interaction with FBXW7, resulting in SCFFBXW7-mediated ubiquitination and degradation. A nondegradable GFI1 S94A/S98A mutant was more potent in driving gastric cancer cell proliferation and tumorigenesis than wild-type GFI1. Overall, this study reveals the oncogenic role of GFI1 in gastric cancer and provides mechanistic insights into the tumor suppressor function of FBXW7. SIGNIFICANCE: These findings demonstrate the oncogenic role of the transcription factor GFI1 and the tumor suppressive function of FBXW7 in gastric cancer.

Long noncoding RNA STCAT16 suppresses cell growth and its expression predicts prognosis in patients with gastric cancer.

Gastric cancer (GC) is a leading cause of cancer­associated mortality worldwide. Previous studies demonstrated that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) may be dysregulated in GC and may serve important roles in cancer progression. The present study aimed to investigate the role of the novel lncRNA stomach cancer­associated transcript 16 (STCAT16; Assembly Gene ID G038291) in the development and progression of GC. The present data suggested that the expression level of STCAT16 was decreased in GC tissues. The expression level of STCAT16 was identified to be associated with lymph node and tumour node metastasis stages. Furthermore, the expression level of STCAT16 was identified to be significantly associated with poor survival and prognosis. Knockdown of STCAT16 promoted proliferation, colony formation, migration and invasion of BGC­823 cells. In contrast, these features were suppressed in AGS cells following overexpression of STCAT16. In vivo, tumour growth was significantly decreased following STCAT16 overexpression. Collectively, the present data suggested that the lncRNA STCAT16 may act as a tumour suppressor and may inhibit GC tumour cell growth and migration. Additionally, the decreased expression level of STCAT16 was identified to be associated with poor prognosis in patients with GC.

Overexpression of ADAMTS-2 in tumor cells and stroma is predictive of poor clinical prognosis in gastric cancer.

ADAMTS-2 is a member of the ADAMTS family and is a procollagen N-proteinase. The objective of our research is to explore the prognostic significance of ADAMTS-2 in gastric carcinoma. A total of 655 samples with full clinicopathological data were investigated in this study. Tissue microarray immunohistochemistry analysis was used to analyze the relationship between clinicopathological characteristics and ADAMTS-2 expression. Oncomine and Kaplan-Meier plotters were performed for the relationship analysis between prognosis and ADAMTS-2 expression in patients with gastric cancer. Compared with that of normal tissues, the ADAMTS-2 protein expression was remarkably higher in gastric cancer cells and fibroblast cells. The results of univariate analysis indicated that the expression of ADAMTS-2 in tumor cells and fibroblast cells, Laurén classification, TNM grade, and carcinoembryonic antigen level in gastric cancer were all correlated with overall survival. The results of multivariate analysis indicated that the high expression of ADAMTS-2 in gastric cancer cells and fibroblast cells both were independent prognostic factors. Therefore, ADAMTS-2 may be a potential biomarker for assessing the prognosis of gastric carcinoma.

Dermcidin as a novel binding protein of lncRNA STCAT3 and its effect on prognosis in gastric cancer.

Long non­coding RNAs (lncRNAs) perform distinct biological functions by regulating gene expression through various molecular mechanisms under normal physiological and pathological conditions. However, the function of the stomach cancer­associated transcript­3 (STCAT3) lncRNA, including its prognostic significance and role as a binding protein in gastric cancer (GC), remain unclear. In the present study, 56 potential binding proteins of STCAT3 were screened using through mass spectrometry and bioinformatics analysis. Among these, dermcidin, GAPDH, annexin, calmodulin­like protein, cathepsin­D and suprabasin were demonstrated to be candidate binding proteins using a literature search. RNA­protein interaction prediction was used to confirm these six proteins. Finally, dermcidin was identified as the binding protein of STCAT3 by comparing the mRNA and protein levels of the candidate genes and their correlations with STCAT3 in plasmid­transfected BGC­823 GC cell lines, as well as by validating the interplay between dermcidin and STCAT3 in other GC cell lines. Immunohistochemical analysis of tissues from 98 patients with GC further confirmed the interaction between dermcidin and STCAT3. The results of the present study also revealed that STCAT3 and dermcidin and independent predictors of overall survival in patients with GC. Furthermore STCAT3 and dermcidin are positively correlated with lymph node metastasis and tumor/node/metastasis score. In summary, the present study suggests that dermcidin is a novel binding protein of lncRNA STCAT3, which serves an important role in the progress and clinical outcome of GC.

The mTOR-S6K pathway links growth signalling to DNA damage response by targeting RNF168.

Growth signals, such as extracellular nutrients and growth factors, have substantial effects on genome integrity; however, the direct underlying link remains unclear. Here, we show that the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR)-ribosomal S6 kinase (S6K) pathway, a central regulator of growth signalling, phosphorylates RNF168 at Ser60 to inhibit its E3 ligase activity, accelerate its proteolysis and impair its function in the DNA damage response, leading to accumulated unrepaired DNA and genome instability. Moreover, loss of the tumour suppressor liver kinase B1 (LKB1; also known as STK11) hyperactivates mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1)-S6K signalling and decreases RNF168 expression, resulting in defects in the DNA damage response. Expression of a phospho-deficient RNF168-S60A mutant rescues the DNA damage repair defects and suppresses tumorigenesis caused by Lkb1 loss. These results reveal an important function of mTORC1-S6K signalling in the DNA damage response and suggest a general mechanism that connects cell growth signalling to genome stability control.

Significance of viral status on recurrence of hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma after curative therapy: A meta-analysis.

AIM: The impact of viral status on recurrence of hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after curative therapy remains controversial. This meta-analysis aimed to determine whether the presence of viral load, genotype, specific mutation and antiviral therapy influenced HCC recurrence after curative therapy. METHODS: We performed a meta-analysis including 20 studies to assess the effect of viral status and antiviral therapy with nucleoside analog on recurrence of HCC after curative therapy. The pooled odds ratios (OR) were calculated using a random or fixed effects model. PUBMED, MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Database were searched for articles published from 1990 to December 2012. RESULTS: Our results showed that the presence of high viral load significantly increased overall HCC recurrence risk after curative therapy. Pooled data from four studies on the recurrence rate among patients with genotype C infection compared with genotype B showed an increased risk of recurrence. Basal core promoter (BCP) mutation was associated with a significant risk in the recurrence of HCC. The pooled estimate of treatment effect was significantly in favor of a preventive effectiveness of antiviral therapy. CONCLUSION: The present study suggested that HCC patients with high viral load, genotype C and BCP mutation had a significantly higher risk of recurrence. Antiviral therapy has potential beneficial effects after the curative treatment of HCC in terms of tumor recurrence.

microRNA-32 inhibits the proliferation and invasion of the SGC-7901 gastric cancer cell line in vitro.

microRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenously expressed, small non-coding RNAs, which suppress their target mRNAs at the post-transcriptional level. miRNAs play key roles in tumor metastasis. The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression of miRNA-32 (miR-32) on the biological behavior of the human gastric cancer cell line, SGC-7901. SGC-7901 cells were transfected with miR-32-mimic, miR-32-inhibitor and empty plasmid vectors using Lipofectamine™ 2000. The expression of GFP was observed by fluorescent microscopy and miR-32 gene expression was detected by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The cell counting kit-8 assay was performed to evaluate the effect of miR-32 expression on cell proliferation in vitro. Alterations in the migration and metastatic potential of SGC-7901 cells, prior to and following miR-32 gene transfection, were assayed by cell chemotactic migration and invasion tests. The results of the current study showed that the proliferation rate of the transfected SGC-7901 cells overexpressing miR-32 is reduced and cell chemotactic migration and invasion potentials is markedly reduced following miR-32-mimic transfection (P<0.05). In addition, the results demonstrated that overexpression of miR-32 greatly inhibits the proliferation and decreases the migration and invasion capabilities of SGC-7901 cells in vitro.

Pre-S deletion and complex mutations of hepatitis B virus related to young age hepatocellular carcinoma in Qidong, China.

BACKGROUND/AIM: To investigate the roles of biomedical factors, hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA levels, genotypes, and specific viral mutation patterns on the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients below 40 years of age in Qidong, China. METHODS: We conducted a case-control study within a cohort of 2387 male HBV carriers who were recruited from August, 1996. The HBV DNA sequence was determined in 49 HCC and 90 chronic hepatitis (CH) patients below 40 years of age. Mutation exchanges during follow-up in 32 cases were compared with 65 controls with paired serum samples. In addition, a consecutive series of samples from 14 HCC cases were employed to compare the sequences before and after the occurrence of HCC. RESULTS: After adjustment for age, history of cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption, HBeAg positive, HBV DNA levels ≥4.00 log(10) copies/mL, pre-S deletion, T1762/A1764 double mutations, and T1766 and/or A1768 mutations were associated with risk of young age HCC. Moreover, the presence of an increasing number of HCC-related mutations (pre-S deletion, T1762/A1764, and T1766 and/or A1768 mutations) was associated with an increased risk of young age HCC. Paired samples analysis indicated that the increased HCC risk for at-risk sequence mutations were attributable to the persistence of these mutations, but not a single time point mutation. The longitudinal observation demonstrated a gradual combination of pre-S deletion, T1762/A1764 double mutations, and T1766 and/or A1768 mutations during the development of HCC. CONCLUSION: High HBV DNA levels and pre-S deletion were independent risk factors of young age HCC. Combination of pre-S deletion and core promoter mutations increased the risk and persistence of at-risk sequence mutations is critical for HCC development.

Reactivation of the homeotic tumor suppressor gene CDX2 by 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine-induced demethylation inhibits cell proliferation and induces caspase-independent apoptosis in gastric cancer cells.

The DNA methylation inhibitor 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-aza-CdR) is widely used as an anticancer drug for the treatment of leukemia and solid tumors. Gastric cancer (GC) patients who were positive for caudal type homeobox transcription factor 2 (CDX2) expression showed a higher survival rate compared with those who were CDX2 negative, which suggests that CDX2 performs a tumor suppressor role. However, the molecular mechanisms leading to the inactivation of CDX2 remain unclear. In the present study we demonstrated that the expression levels of CDX2 and DNA methyltransferase enzyme 1 (DNMT1) mRNA were significantly higher in GC compared with distal non-cancerous tissue. The expression of CDX2 mRNA was significantly correlated with Lauren classification, TNM stage and lymph node metastasis. DNMT1 mRNA expression was significantly correlated with TNM stage, pathological differentiation and lymph node metastasis. The expression of CDX2 mRNA was inversely correlated with that of DNMT1 mRNA in GC. Hypermethylation of the CDX2 gene promoter region, extremely low expression levels of CDX2 mRNA and no expression of CDX2 protein were the characteristics observed in MKN-45 and SGC-7901 GC cell lines. Following the treatment of MKN-45 cells with 5-aza-CdR, the hypermethylated CDX2 gene promoter region was demethylated and expression of CDX2 was upregulated, while DNMT1 expression was downregulated. Furthermore, a concentration- and time-dependent growth inhibition as well as increased apoptosis were observed. Caspase-3, -8 and -9 activities increased in a concentration-dependent manner following exposure to different concentrations of 5-aza-CdR. Therefore, our data show that the overexpression of DNMT1 and methylation of the CDX2 gene promoter region is likely to be responsible for CDX2 silencing in GC. 5-Aza-CdR may effectively induce re-expression of the CDX2 gene, inhibit cell proliferation and enhance the caspase-independent apoptosis of MKN-45 cells in vitro.

Effects of interferon therapy on development of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with hepatitis C-related cirrhosis: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

AIM: The role of interferon (IFN) therapy on prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related cirrhosis remains controversial. This meta-analysis aimed to determine whether IFN therapy reduced the incidence of HCC in HCV-related cirrhotic patients. METHODS: We performed a meta-analysis including eight randomized controlled trials (RCT) (a total of 1505 patients) to assess the effect of IFN therapy on prevention of HCC in patients with HCV-related cirrhosis. The pooled odds ratios (OR) were calculated using a random or fixed effects model. RESULTS: Our results showed that IFN therapy significantly decreased the overall HCC incidence in HCV-related cirrhotic patients (OR, 0.29; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.10-0.80; P = 0.02). HCC risk in patients who failed to achieve sustained virological response (SVR) in the initial IFN-based treatment was also reduced by maintenance IFN therapy (OR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.32-0.90; P = 0.02). Subgroup analysis indicated that IFN therapy decreased HCC incidence in HCV-related cirrhotic patients during long-term follow up (>48 months) evidently (OR, 0.25; 95% CI, 0.09-0.67; P = 0.006). However, subgroup analysis of four RCT with short-term follow up (≤48 months) did not demonstrate the significant difference in HCC incidence between IFN-treated cirrhotic patients and controls (OR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.39-1.55; P = 0.48). CONCLUSION: The present study suggested that IFN therapy could efficiently reduce HCC development in patients with HCV-related cirrhosis; this effect was more evident in the subgroup of patients with long-term follow up (>48 months). Patients who received maintenance IFN therapy had a lower risk of HCC than controls.

[Clinical significance of serum GPDA-F determined by immunoelectrophoresis in diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Serum fast band of glycylproline dipeptidyl aminopeptidase isoenzyme (GPDA-F) is useful to the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma, especially for the cases without expression of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). Polyacrylamide electrophoresis for detection of GPDA-F is relatively complicated and has limitation in its clinical use. This study was to establish a simple and easy method of immunoelectrophoresis to detect serum GPDA-F, and evaluate clinical value of GPDA-F in the diagnosis of hepatocelluar carcinoma. METHODS: Serum GPDA-F was purified to raise polyclonal GPDA-F antibody, and immunoelectrophoresis was established for the detection of serum GPDA-F. Serum GPDA-F in 99 specimens of hepatocellular carcinoma and 115 specimens of benign liver diseases (36 cases of liver cirrhosis, 23 cases of acute hepatitis, 38 cases of chronic hepatitis, and 18 cases of benign liver space-occupying lesions) was simultaneously detected by both polyacrylamide electrophoresis and immunoelectrophoresis. The clinical value of serum GPDA-F detected by immunoelectrophoresis was compared with that by polyacrylamide electrophoresis for the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma. RESULTS: If the cut-off was set at 71 u/L, the diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of immunoelectrophoresis in detecting GPDA-F in hepatocellular carcinoma were 83.8%, 85.2%, and 84.6%, respectively; while those of polyacrylamide electrophoresis were 81.8%, 77.3%, and 79.4%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Serum GPDA-F detected by immunoelectrophoresis is useful to the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma. Compared with polyacrylamide electrophoresis, this method is cheap, time-saving, and easy.