17q21 locus rs7216389 polymorphism and childhood asthma risk: a meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Recently, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) indicated that rs7216389 polymorphism on chromosome 17q21 was associated with paediatric asthma risk. However, the results remained controversial. Therefore, a meta-analysis was performed. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: A comprehensive literature retrieve was performed on PubMed, Embase and Science Direct databases up to Feb 20, 2016. The strength of association between 17q21 locus rs7216389 polymorphism and pediatric asthma risk was assessed by computing odds ratio (OR) with its corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI). EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: A total of 10 studies with 7797 cases and 38757 controls were included. A statistically significant association of rs7216389 polymorphism and pediatric asthma risk was found (OR=1.41, 95%CI=1.34-1.49, P<0.00001). Furthermore, both Caucasians (OR=1.41, 95%CI=1.33-1.49, P<0.00001) and Asians (OR=1.43, 95%CI=1.25-1.63, P<0.00001) with rs7216389 polymorphism showed significant association, respectively. A significantly increased susceptibility was identified in atopic asthma (OR=1.45, 95%CI=1.22-1.72, P<0.00001). In the stratification analysis by study design, both case-control studies (OR=1.40, 95%CI=1.33-1.48, P<0.00001) and cohort studies (OR=2.05, 95%CI=1.32-3.17, P=0.001) showed significant association, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, this meta-analysis suggests that 17q21 locus rs7216389 polymorphism was significantly associated with paediatric asthma risk.

High plasma fibrinogen is correlated with poor response to trastuzumab treatment in HER2 positive breast cancer.

Some of HER-2 positive breast cancer patients failed to trastuzumab treatment. Recent reports have indicated the correlation between plasma coagulation parameters and clinical characteristics in breast cancer. The aim of this study was to analyze the role of coagulation parameters in trastuzumab treated patients. Coagulation parameters from trastuzumab treated breast cancer patients were retrospectively studied from 2006 to 2010. The correlation between routine coagulation levels and clinical characteristics were analyzed, including prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), thrombin time (TT), fibrinogen (Fib) and D-dimer (DD). The Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression hazard model were applied to assess their effect on prognosis. Totally 102 hospitalized breast cancer patients who received trastuzumab were collected and followed-up. All patients were HER-2 positive advanced breast cancer, with a median age of 45 years old. Extended PT, APTT, and TT were found in trastuzumab treatment non-effective group, as well as increased Fib and DD. But significant increase was only found in Fib. High Fib status (Fib > 2.88 g/L) was correlated with clinical characteristics, such as pathological grade, and reversely correlated with PTEN expression. More importantly, poor disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) to trastuzumab treatment were found in high Fib breast cancer patients. This retrospective study suggests high Fib status was correlated with poor treatment response to trastuzumab. Our findings indicated that Fib > 2.88 should alert physicians to consider a pretreatment for reducing Fib levels before trastuzumab treatment in HER-2 positive breast cancer patients.