LncRNA-MSC-AS1 inhibits the ovarian cancer progression by targeting miR-425-5p.

BACKGROUND: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) were reported to be aberrantly expressed and related to the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer. However, the role and regulatory mechanism of MSC-AS1 in ovarian cancer has yet to be fully elucidated. METHODS: Expression of lncRNA MSC-AS1 (MSC-AS1) and microRNA-425-5p (miR-425-5p) in the ovarian cancer tissue samples and cell lines was examined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The functions of MSC-AS1 on ovarian cancer cell proliferation, cell cycle and apoptosis were determined using MTT, colony formation and flow cytometry analyses. The protein expression levels were evaluated using western blot assay. The targeting relationship MSC-AS1 and miR-425-5p was verified via dual-luciferase reporter assay. RESULTS: MSC-AS1 expression level was lowly expressed, while miR-425-5p level was highly in ovarian cancer tissues and cells. Elevation of MSC-AS1 has the ability to significantly inhibit cell proliferation and facilitate cell apoptosis in SKOV3 and A2780 cells. Moreover, MSC-AS1 targeted and negatively modulated miR-425-5p. MiR-425-5p up-regulation has been proved to partially reverse the tumor suppressive function of MSC-AS1 overexpression CONCLUSION: MSC-AS1 sponged miR-425-5p to inhibit the ovarian cancer progression. These findings may provide a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of ovarian cancer.

Identification of a novel TP63 mutation causing nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate.

BACKGROUND: Cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) is the most common craniofacial anomaly with a high incidence of live births. The specific pathogenesis of CL/P is still unclear, although plenty of studies have been conducted. Variations of tumor protein 63 (TP63) was reported to be related to the phenotype of CL/P. The case discussed in this report involves a pedigree with mutation at TP63 gene, and the variation was not reported before. CASE PRESENTATION: A Chinese pedigree with CL/P was collected in this study. The proband is a 3-year-old boy with the phenotype of CL/P, while his global development and intelligence are normal. After two CL/P repair operations, he looks almost normal. The proband's uncle and grandmother both have the phenotype of CL/P. Cytogenetic analysis and chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) were performed, followed by whole exome sequencing (WES) and sanger validation. Analysis of WES revealed a variant of C>T at nucleotide position 1324 (1324C>T) of TP63 gene, possibly producing a truncated protein with a premature stop codon at amino acid position 442 (p.Q442*). This mutation was localized at the oligomerization domain (OD) of TP63 and might impair the capacity of p63 oligomerization. CONCLUSION: The mutation in TP63 was recognized to be the possible cause of the phenotype of CL/P in this pedigree. This report provides some evidence for the clinical diagnosis of CL/P. And our study also provides clinical evidence for the molecular mechanism of TP63 gene causing nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P).

Immature teratoma arising from uterine corpus in an 11-year-old girl: Case report and review of the literature.

Teratomas are one of the most common germ cell tumors, and they usually occur in ovaries. Extragonadal teratomas are rare, especially immature ones. Only several cases of primary teratomas of the uterus have been reported since 1929. Here, the case of an 11-year-old patient who had a 6-month history of sustained abnormal vaginal discharge is presented. Transabdominal ultrasonography revealed a solid mass in her uterus, resulting in the patient undergoing surgery. Examination of PET-CT scans revealed a mass in the right ovary of the patient 20 days after surgery. The patient underwent a second surgery followed by chemotherapy. This is the youngest case among reported patients of primary immature uterine teratoma, and this patient showed no evidence of recurrence during 2 years of follow-up.

Diagnostic significance of magnetic resonance imaging in patients with cervical cancer after brachytherapy: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Patients with uterine cervical cancer suffer high mortality. Accurate detection of a residual tumor by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) during and after directed brachytherapy (BCT) is crucial for the success of cancer treatment and is a significant predictor of patient survival. PURPOSE: To determine the diagnostic significance of MRI in detecting residual tumor tissue after BCT. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The Web of Knowledge, Cochrane Library, and PubMed were systematically searched (January 1997 to December 2016) for post-brachytherapy MRI studies that measured residual tumors in patients with uterine cervical cancer. All data were analyzed using the Meta-Disc 1.4 program. RESULTS: Four clinical studies consisting of 163 patients (147 of whom were included in the present analysis) who were diagnosed with uterine cervical cancer according to the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging system were included in the study. All the patients received BCT and underwent MRI detection of residual tumors tissue. In studies where the accuracy of MRI detection was confirmed by histological tests or gynecological tests, the summary estimates of specificity, sensitivity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy were 88.5%, 83.5%, 53.5%, 97.1%, and 84.3%, respectively. CONCLUSION: MRI-directed BCT is commonly used for cervical cancer patients. Based on our investigation of four independent studies, MRI showed better prediction of positive results than negative results in patients with cervical cancer after BCT. However, more data on the greater numbers of patients are needed to establish the accuracy of MRI detection of cervical cancer after BCT.

Value of Diffusion-Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging Combined with miR-18a Level in Predicting Radiosensitivity of Cervical Cancer.

BACKGROUND Radioresistance during radiotherapy of cervical cancer often leads to treatment failure; therefore, there is an urgent need to develop effective predictive indicators of radiosensitivity for cervical cancer patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS Cervical cancer cells were collected from 40 patients who received surgical resections. The relationships between apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of masses before surgery and different micro-RNAs (miRNA) levels (miR-18a, miR-132, and miR-145) of these cells were investigated. Cervical cancer cells were divided into 4 groups according to the ADC values of original tumor tissues and expression level of miR-18a. Then, these cells were exposed with irradiation both in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS Advanced cervical cancer showed lower ADC values in magnetic resonance imaging. miR-18a, miR-132, and miR-145 all were increased in the cervical cancer tissues, while miR-18a showed a more marked negative correlation with ADC values. The results of in vitro and in vivo assays showed that higher expression of miR-18a in cervical cancer cells leads to more radiosensitivity, especially in cells from cancer tissues with lower ADC values. CONCLUSIONS The combination of ADC values with expression level of miR-18a may be a new and reliable predictor for radiosensitivity of cervical cancer, helping cervical cancer patients with low ADC values and high expressions of miR-18a to achieve better outcomes in radiotherapy.

[Value of computed tomography colonography with low radiation dose combined with enhancement scanning in the diagnosis of colorectal tumor].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the value of computed tomography colonography with low radiation dose combined with the enhanced scanning in the diagnosis of colorectal carcinoma. METHODS: A total of 120 patients with clinical suspected colorectal carcinoma undergoing CT colonography and enhanced scanning were randomly divided into routine dose group and low dose group. Conventional colonoscopy and/or surgical pathology were used as the gold standard. Sensitivity, specificity and Youden's index of colorectal cancer TNM staging accuracy were calculated in two groups. The radiation dose of two groups was compared. RESULTS: For conventional dose and low dose group, in the diagnosis of colorectal cancer (including cancer and adenoma), the sensitivity was 100% (45/45 and 44/44), specificity was 93.3%(14/15) and 87.5%(14/16), the Youden's index was 0.93 and 0.88. There were no significant differences between two groups in T, N and M staging accuracy preoperatively (P>0.05). The effective radiation dose of low dose group was significantly lower than that of conventional dose group [(15.9 ± 4.3) mSv vs. (21.4 ± 5.5) mSv, P<0.01]. CONCLUSION: Low dose CTC combined with enhanced scanning not only reduces the radiation dose of patients, but can possesses similar value of conventional dose CTC in the early diagnosis and preoperative pathological staging of colorectal cancer.

Artesunate exerts an anti-immunosuppressive effect on cervical cancer by inhibiting PGE2 production and Foxp3 expression.

Artesunate (ART), derived from a common traditional Chinese medicine, has beeen used an antimalarial for several years. In this study, the effect and mechanism of ART on anti-human cervical cancer cells was examined. The level of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2 ) and the population of CD4+CD25+Foxp3 regulatory T cells (Treg) in peripheral blood were detected by flow cytometry. In vivo antitumor activity was investigated in mice with cervical cancer by the subcutaneous injection of various concentrations of ART. The concentrations of PGE2 in the supernatants of CaSki cells were measured using an ELISA kit. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and Foxp3 expression were determined using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and western blot analysis. The effect of ART on the viability of CaSki and Hela cells was evaluated with a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. It was identified that the level of PGE2 and the population of CD4+CD25+Foxp3 Treg cells in the peripheral blood were significantly higher in cervical cancer patients and mice with cervical cancer. ART was capable of inhibiting orthotopic tumor growth, which correlated with a decrease in the level of PGE2 and the percentage of Treg cells in mice with cervical cancer. Furthermore, ART decreased COX-2 expression and the production of PGE2 in CaSki and Hela cells. Notably, the supernatants of CaSki cells treated with ART lowered the expression of Foxp3 in Jurkat T cells, which was capable of being reversed by exogenous PGE2 . Our data revealed that ART may elicit an anti-tumor effect against cervical cancer by inhibition of PGE2 production in CaSki and Hela cells, which resulted in the decrease of Foxp3 expression in T cells. Therefore, ART may be an effective drug for immunotherapy of cervical cancer.