Predictive of 21-gene recurrence score assay in non-estrogen receptor-positive and lymph node-negative breast cancer.

PURPOSE: The 21-gene recurrence score (RS) assay predicts relapse of estrogen receptor-positive and lymph node-negative breast cancer more accurately than traditional markers; however, whether this assay can be regarded as a molecular marker of other types of breast cancer is unclear. We aimed to identify the effect of 21-gene recurrence score assay in non-estrogen receptor-positive and lymph node-negative breast cancer. METHODS: We analyzed 21-gene expression by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) in 100 cases of breast cancer tissues and followed up for 5 years to investigate the prognostic significance in non-estrogen receptor-positive and lymph node-negative breast cancer. Also, the correlation between RS and the clinicopathological features were analyzed. Adjuvant online (AOL) database was used for the analyses in the present study. RESULTS: The cases were classified as RS low (n=52), moderate (n=22) and high (n=26) risk. The RS based on the21-gene assay was not correlated with age, tumor size, histological grade, and lymph node and estrogen receptor/progesterone receptor (ER/PR) status; however, there was significant correlation with Her-2 status. The 5-year recurrence rates were 1.92%, 4.55% and 15.38% in the low, moderate and high-risk groups, respectively. In addition, there was significant difference between the low-high groups (p<0.05). Furthermore, the consistency of the prognosis predicted by the AOL system was 56% and 59% in the RS moderate-high risk and low risk groups, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The 21-gene RS assay was a prognostic indicator for patients with non-ER-positive and lymph node-negative breast cancer. In addition, our results coincided with those obtained using the AOL system.

Efficacy, Safety, and Impact on Patient Survival of PDL1/PD-1 Inhibitors versus FOLFIRINOX Regimens for Advanced Pancreatic Cancer.

Background: Over the last few years, the role of PDL1/PD-1 in pancreatic cancer development has received increasing attention, and this article is aimed at opening up new ideas for the medicine-based treatment of pancreatic cancer. Aims: To investigate the efficacy and safety of PDL1/PD-1 inhibitors versus FOLFIRINOX regimen in the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer and its impact on patient survival and to provide a reference basis for clinical treatment of pancreatic cancer. Materials and Methods: The 116 pancreatic cancer patients treated in our hospital from September 2019 to September 2021 were selected and divided into 58 cases each in the (instance of watching, noticing, or making a statement) group and the comparison group according to the method based on random number table. The comparison group was treated with FOLFIRINOX, and the group was treated with PDL1/PD-1 stopper. The effectiveness, safety, and hit/effect on survival of the patients in the two groups were compared. Results: The median chemotherapy cycle for all patients was 4 (1-6), and the combined objective remission rate (0RR) was 36% and the disease control rate (DCR) was 80% after no chemotherapy in 116 patients, with 37.5% 0RR and 81.3% DCR in the observation group and 33.3% 0RR and 77.8% DCR in the comparison group. The greatest number of all patients reached SD, 44%; in the observation group, 43.8%; and in the comparison group, 44.5%. The rate of adverse reactions such as hematological toxicity, neutropenia, anemia, thrombocytopenia, nonhematological toxicity, vomiting, fatigue, infection, diarrhea, intestinal obstruction, and peripheral neuropathy was lower in 10.3% of patients in the observation group than in 25.8% of patients in the comparison group, which was significantly different by χ 2 test (P < 0.05). The median progression-free survival curve of the two groups was 19 months in the comparison group and 22 months in the observation group. The progression-free survival in the observation group was significantly higher than that in the comparison group, and there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05). Conclusion: PDL1/PD-1 inhibitors in combination with FOLFIRINOX regimens have shown longer survival than treatment with FOLFIRINOX regimens for pancreatic cancer patients, with reliable clinical efficacy, tolerable adverse effects, and a high safety profile for patients.

Clinicopathological significance of chemokine receptor CXCR4 expression in papillary thyroid carcinoma: a meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Emerging evidence indicates that C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR 4) is a candidate oncogene in several types of human tumors including papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). To investigate its expression impact on clinicopathological features, a meta-analysis was performed. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: A comprehensive search in the PubMed, Embase and The Cochrane Library (up to March 14, 2017) was performed for relevant studies using multiple search strategies. Methodological quality of the studies was also evaluated. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated and summarized. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Final analysis was performed of 661 PTC patients from 8 eligible studies. The pooled OR indicated that CXCR4 expression was significantly higher in PTC than that in normal thyroid tissue and benign thyroid nodule (NTT/BTN) (OR=67.22, 95% CI: 32.85-137.55, P<0.00001). In subgroup analysis, CXCR4 expression was associated with age (OR=1.55, 95% CI: 1.02-2.34, P=0.04), lympaocytic thyroiditis (OR=1.68, 95% CI: 1.06-2.67, P=0.03); CXCR4 expression was not found to be associated with gender (OR=1.02, 95% CI: 0.66-1.58, P=0.93), multiple (OR=0.91, 95% CI: 0.55-1.53, P=0.73), lymph node metastatic (LNM) (OR=1.98, 95% CI: 0.88-4.47, P=0.10) and TNM stage (OR=2.00, 95% CI: 0.49-8.16, P=0.34). A sensitivity analysis found out the study by Zhu et al. which impacted the pooled OR, after removing this study, a positive and relatively stable result conformed that CXCR4 expression was associated to LNM. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this meta-analysis suggest that CXCR4 expression is frequent and cancer-specific event in PTC.

Expression and function of transforming growth factor­ß­activated protein kinase 1 in gastric cancer.

The present study aimed to investigate the expression and role of transforming growth factor (TGF) ­ß­activated protein kinase 1 (TAK1) in human gastric cancer. Immunohistochemistry was performed to investigate the expression of TAK1 in surgical specimens of human gastric cancer tissue and adjacent normal tissue. The association between TAK1 and clinicopathologic factors was analyzed and the association between TAK1 expression and the overall survival rates was evaluated using Kaplan­Meier curves. In addition, the effect of the TAK1 selective inhibitor 5Z­7­oxozeaenol (OZ) on the biological characteristics of MGC803 human gastric cancer cells in vitro were investigated. The role of TAK1 in gastric cancer cell proliferation, apoptosis and invasion were determined by cell proliferation assays, flow cytometry analysis and transwell invasion assays, respectively. The findings of the present study demonstrated that the positive expression rate of TAK1 in gastric cancer and adjacent normal tissues was 70.5 and 25.9%, respectively. Furthermore, TAK1 expression was significantly associated with advanced N stage and pathological stage (P<0.05). Survival analysis of 139 patients with gastric cancer indicated a lower overall survival rate of patients in the TAK1­positive group compared with the TAK1­negative group (P<0.05). In addition, treatment with the TAK1 selective inhibitor OZ reduced the proliferation and invasion abilities of MGC803 cells and significantly reduced the expression levels of phosphorylated­TAK1 (Thr187), nuclear p65, cyclin D1, Bcl­2 apoptosis regulator and matrix metallopeptidase (MMP)9 (P<0.05). OZ treatment significantly increased the expression levels of cytosolic cytochrome c and cleaved caspase 3 and the apoptosis rate in MGC803 cells (P<0.05). In conclusion, these findings suggest that increased TAK1 expression may be involved in the progression of gastric cancer; therefore, TAK1 may be used as a future therapeutic target for gastric cancer treatment.