CCL2/CCR2 axis promotes perineural invasion of salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma via ITGß5-mediated nerve-tumor interaction.

Perineural invasion (PNI) is a notorious feature of salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma (SACC) and other neurotropic tumors. The pathogenesis of PNI that involves the molecular communication between the tumor and the suffered nerve is elusive. The in vitro co-culture assays of SACC cells with dorsal root ganglia (DRG) or neural cells showed that nerve-derived CCL2 activated CCR2 expression in SACC cells, promoting the proliferation, adhesion, migration, and invasion of SACC cells via the ERK1/2/ITGß5 pathway. Meanwhile, SACC-derived exosomes delivered ITGß5 to promote the neurite outgrowth of neural cells or DRG. Blocking of CCL2/CCR2 axis or ITGß5 inhibited the PNI of SACC cells in models in vitro by 3D co-culture of DRG with SACC cells and in vivo by xenografting SACC cells onto the murine sciatic nerve. High levels of ITGß5 in tissues or plasma exosomes were significantly correlated with CCL2 and CCR2 expression in the tissues and associated with PNI and poor prognosis of SACC cases. Our findings revealed a novel reciprocal loop between neural and tumor cells driven by the CCL2/CCR2 axis and exosomal ITGß5 during PNI of SACC. The present study may provide a prospective diagnostic and anti-PNI treatment strategy for SACC patients via targeting the nerve-tumor interactions.

RGIE: A Gene Selection Method Related to Radiotherapy Resistance in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) is a malignant tumor with a high degree of malignancy, invasiveness, and metastasis rate. Radiotherapy, as an important adjuvant therapy for HNSCC, can reduce the postoperative recurrence rate and improve the survival rate. Identifying the genes related to HNSCC radiotherapy resistance (HNSCC-RR) is helpful in the search for potential therapeutic targets. However, identifying radiotherapy resistance-related genes from tens of thousands of genes is a challenging task. While interactions between genes are important for elucidating complex biological processes, the large number of genes makes the computation of gene interactions infeasible. METHODS: We propose a gene selection algorithm, RGIE, which is based on ReliefF, Gene Network Inference with Ensemble of Trees (GENIE3) and Feature Elimination. ReliefF was used to select a feature subset that is discriminative for HNSCC-RR, GENIE3 constructed a gene regulatory network based on this subset to analyze the regulatory relationship among genes, and feature elimination was used to remove redundant and noisy features. RESULTS: Nine genes (SPAG1, FIGN, NUBPL, CHMP5, TCF7L2, COQ10B, BSDC1, ZFPM1, GRPEL1) were identified and used to identify HNSCC-RR, which achieved performances of 0.9730, 0.9679, 0.9767, and 0.9885 in terms of accuracy, precision, recall, and AUC, respectively. Finally, qRT-PCR validated the differential expression of the nine signature genes in cell lines (SCC9, SCC9-RR). CONCLUSION: RGIE is effective in screening genes related to HNSCC-RR. This approach may help guide clinical treatment modalities for patients and develop potential treatments.

The GAL/GALR2 axis promotes the perineural invasion of salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma via epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition.

BACKGROUND: Perineural invasion (PNI) is a typical pathological characteristic of salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma (SACC) and other neurotrophic cancers. The mechanism of the neural microenvironment controlling tumor progression during the PNI process is unclear. In the present study, we investigated the role and molecular mechanisms of nerve-derived neuropeptide galanin (GAL) and its receptor (GALR2) in the regulation of PNI in SACC. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry staining and clinical association studies were performed to analyze the expression of GAL and GALR2 in SACC tissues and their clinical value. Dorsal root ganglion or SH-SY5Y cells were co-cultured with SACC cells in vitro to simulate the interactions between the neural microenvironment and tumor cells, and a series of assays including transcriptome sequencing, Western blot, and Transwell were performed to investigate the role and molecular mechanism of GAL and GALR2 in the regulation of SACC cells. Moreover, both the in vitro and in vivo PNI models were established to assess the potential PNI-specific therapeutic effects by blocking the GAL/GALR2 axis. RESULTS: GAL and GALR2 were highly expressed in SACC tissues, and were associated with PNI and poor prognosis in SACC patients (p < 0.05). Nerve-derived GAL activated GALR2 expression in SACC cells and induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in SACC cells. Adding human recombinant GAL to the co-culture system promoted the proliferation, migration, and invasion of SACC cells significantly, but inhibited the apoptosis of SACC cells. Adding M871, a specific antagonist of GALR2, significantly blocked the above effects (p < 0.05) and inhibited the PNI of SACC cells in vitro and in vivo (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that nerve-derived GAL activated GALR2 expression, and promoted EMT in SACC cells, thereby enhancing the PNI process. Interruption of the GAL/GALR2 axis might be a novel strategy for anti-PNI therapy for SACC.

LINC01123 promotes immune escape by sponging miR-214-3p to regulate B7-H3 in head and neck squamous-cell carcinoma.

Numerous studies have shown that long noncoding RNAs (LncRNAs) are involved in the development and immune escape of head and neck squamous-cell carcinoma (HNSCC). However, the specific regulatory mechanisms by which LINC01123 regulates HNSCC and its correlation with immunity remain unclear. Therefore, this study's primary purpose was to explore the mechanisms by which LINC01123 regulates the immune escape and progression of HNSCC. This study confirmed that LINC01123 is competitively bound to miR-214-3p, and miR-214-3p specifically targets B7-H3. The effects of LINC01123, B7-H3, and miR-214-3p on tumor progression, CD8+T-cell-mediated immune response, and the tumorigenicity of HNSCC in vitro and in vivo were examined through the downregulation or upregulation of LINC01123, B7-H3, and miR-214-3p. Our results indicated that LINC01123 and B7-H3 were highly expressed in HNSCC and are associated with poor prognosis in patients. Notably, overexpression of LINC01123 or B7-H3 or downregulation of miR-214-3p inhibited the function of CD8+T cells and promoted the progression of HNSCC. Therefore, LINC01123 acts as a miR-214-3p sponge to inhibit the activation of CD8+T cells and promote the progression of HNSCC by upregulating B7-H3.

[Efficacy of Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy versus Surgery for the Treatment 
of Early Non-small Cell Lung Cancer: A Meta-analysis].

BACKGROUND: To compare the clinical efficacy of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) versus surgery for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer through evidence based medicine analysis. METHODS: A systematic search was performed in the PubMed, EMBASE, CNKI and Wan Fang databases to find studies published before June 2020. Two authors independently extracted the data and assessed the eligibility. All of the statistical analyses were performed using Stata 13.0. Subgroup analysis were performed according to the score matching study and operation type (lobectomy, segmentectomy and thoracoscopic assisted surgery). RESULTS: Finally, 14 articles were included, including 15,841 cases in SBRT group and 17,708 cases in operation group. 10 articles used propensity score matching methods for survival analysis. Thirteen were retrospective cohort studies and one was randomized controlled trial. The results of meta-analysis showed that the overall survival rate of the surgery group and the SBRT group was statistically significant. The overall survival rate of the SBRT group (HR=1.51, 95%CI: 1.31-1.74) was inferior to that of the surgery group. In the subgroup analysis of the surgical type, there was no statistical difference between the SBRT group and each surgical type. The difference of overall survival rate between SBRT group and surgery group was statistically significant (HR=1.66, 95%CI: 1.45-1.90) in studies of propensity score matching. There was no statistically significant difference in cancer-specific survival between the surgery and SBRT groups (HR=1.12, 95%CI: 0.83-1.52). CONCLUSIONS: The overall survival rate of surgical treatment is better than that of SBRT, but it has no obvious advantages in cancer specific survival rate.