Construction of an immune-related prognostic model by exploring the tumor microenvironment of clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, bioinformatics methods were performed to screen the candidate prognosis-related genes of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) by analyzing the tumor microenvironment (TME). METHODS: Gene expression and clinical data of ccRCC patients were accessed from TCGA, and R package ESTIMATE was applied to calculate immune, stromal, and ESTIMATE scores of the patients. Survival analysis was conducted per median of these three scores. Based on the scoring results, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened. Regression algorithms were utilized to screen prognostic genes and establish a risk model. Finally, pathway activity differences were analyzed through GSEA. RESULTS: Patients with the unfavorable prognosis had high immune scores. 619 DEGs (499 up-regulated and 120 down-regulated) were screened based on the differences in gene expression of the patients with high and low immune scores. These genes mainly participated in immune-related signaling pathways. A prognostic risk model for ccRCC patients was constructed and 7 immune-related signature genes (RORB, TNFSF14, UCN2, USP2, TOX3, KLRC2, SLAMF9) were obtained through regression analysis. The constructed prognostic risk model could be used for determining prognoses of patients with ccRCC. CONCLUSION: We unraveled the association between TME and prognosis of ccRCC patients and established a prognostic risk model based on the differentially expressed genes. These results contributed to understanding of TME that affected patients' prognosis and progression of ccRCC and conduced to finding potential biomarkers of ccRCC.

The effectiveness and safety of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy for the management of kidney stones: A protocol of systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL) has gained worldwide popularity as one of the most commonly used minimally invasive management of urinary tract stones. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of ESWL for patients with kidney stones (KS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This protocol established in this study has been reported following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols. Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, China Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), China Knowledge Network Database (CNKI), Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP), and Wan Fang Database were searched for case-control studies in ESWL treating patients with KS until July 1, 2020. We will use a combination of Medical Subject Heading and free-text terms with various synonyms to search based on the Eligibility criteria. Two investigators independently reviewed the included studies and extracted relevant data. The relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used as effect estimate. I test, substantial heterogeneity, sensitivity analysis, and publication bias assessment will be performed accordingly. Stata 14.0 and Review Manger 5.3 are used for a meta-analysis. RESULTS: The results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. CONCLUSION: The results of this review will be widely disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations. This evidence may also provide helpful evidence of the efficacy and safety of ESWL treating patients with KS. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42019157243.