Research progress on oncoprotein hepatitis B X­interacting protein (Review).

Hepatitis B X­interacting protein (HBXIP) is a membrane protein located on the lysosomal surface and encoded by the Lamtor gene. It is expressed by a wide range of tumor types, including breast cancer, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma, and its expression is associated with certain clinicopathological characteristics. In the past decade, research on the oncogenic mechanisms of HBXIP has increased and the function of HBXIP in normal cells has been gradually elucidated. In the present review, the following was discussed: The normal physiological role of the HBXIP carcinogenic mechanism; the clinical significance of high levels of HBXIP expression in different tumors; HBXIP regulation of transcription, post­transcription and post­translation processes in tumors; the role of HBXIP in improving the antioxidant capacity of tumor cells; the inhibition of ferroptosis of tumor cells and regulating the metabolic reprogramming of tumor cells; and the role of HBXIP in promoting the malignant progression of tumors. In conclusion, the present review summarized the existing knowledge of HBXIP, established its carcinogenic mechanism and discussed future related research on HBXIP.

Loco-regional radiotherapy in de novo metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma with chemotherapy and immunotherapy: A real-world retrospective study from two cancer centers.

BACKGROUND: Immunochemotherapy has become the first-line treatment for initial diagnosed metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (mNPC). Loco-regional radiotherapy combined with systemic chemotherapy significantly improves the survival. However, the safety and efficacy of loco-regional radiotherapy combined with immunochemotherapy remained unknown. METHODS: Patients with de novo mNPC who received immunochemotherapy followed by loco-regional radiotherapy were included from two cancer centers. Toxicity and treatment response were assessed using CTCAE 5.0 and RECIST 1.1, respectively. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: From 2019 to 2021, a total of 16 patients were retrospectively analyzed. The median follow-up was 28 months (range 14-47 months). No one died. One-year, 2-year, and 3-year PFS rate was 93.8%, 58.4% and 50.1%, respectively. Radiotherapy-related acute severe (grade 3 or higher) toxicity was dermatitis (1/16, 6.3%) and mucositis (2/16, 12.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Loco-regional radiotherapy provided a promising efficacy with modest toxicity for patients with mNPC who received immunochemotherapy.

miR-338-3p suppresses colorectal cancer proliferation and progression by inhibiting MACC1.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. This study aimed to elucidate the clinicopathological significance of miR-338-3p and its association with metastasis-associated in colon cancer-1 (MACC1) in CRC. We evaluated miR-338-3p and MACC1 expression in CRC cell lines and analyzed the clinicopathological features of miR-338-3p in 98 samples of CRC tissues. Subsequent Western blot and cellular biological techniques, and xenograft mouse models were performed to investigate the biological role of miR-338-3p and its association with MACC1 in CRC. Our results show that miR-338-3p expression is lower in CRC cell lines and tissues than that in a human normal colonic epithelial cell line and adjacent normal colorectal tissue, respectively. miR-338-3p expression was significantly associated with histological differentiation, UICC stage, T classification, N classification, and M classification in 98 samples of CRC. The overall survival of CRC patients was significantly less in the low miR-338-3p expression group than in the high miR-338-3p expression group (p<0.01). miR-338-3p mimics suppressed cell proliferation, colony formation, migration, and invasion, but induced apoptosis in CRC cells. miR-338-3p inhibitor reversed these biological phenotypes. miR-338-3p mimics or inhibitor suppressed or increased MACC1 expression in HCT116 and SW620. miR-338-3p mimics reversed the effect of increased MACC1 expression induced by HCT116 with MACC1 over-expression plasmid. Increased cell proliferation, colony formation, and suppressed cell apoptosis caused by MACC1 over-expression were significantly reversed in HCT116 transfected with miR-338-3p mimics, respectively. Suppressed cell proliferation, colony formation, migration, invasion, and increased cell apoptosis caused by MACC1 knockdown were significantly reversed in SW620 transfected with miR-338-3p inhibitor, respectively. In vivo, miR-338-3p agomir significantly inhibited xenograft CRC tumor growth and reversed the effect of increased xenograft tumor growth induced from HCT116 with MACC1 overexpression. In conclusion, our data suggest that miR-338-3p suppresses CRC carcinogenesis and progression by inhibiting MACC1. Targeting miR-338-3p might be a novel treatment strategy for CRC.