Gut microbiome affects the response to immunotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment. Recent studies have suggested that the efficacy of immunotherapy can be further enhanced by the influence of gut microbiota. In this study, we aimed to investigate the impact of bacteria on the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy by combining analysis of clinical samples with validation in animal models. METHODS: In order to characterize the diversity and composition of microbiota and its relationship with response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and GC-MS sequencing was performed on 71 stool samples from patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) prior to treatment with immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). Furthermore, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) was performed from different patients into mice and a subcutaneous tumor model established using the Lewis lung cancer cell line to evaluate the therapeutic effect of PD-1 on mice with varying gut microbiota. RESULTS: The results demonstrated a significant association between elevated gut microbiota diversity and response to treatment with ICIs, p < 0.05. Faecalibacterium was markedly increased in the gut microbiota of responders (R), accompanied by increased short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) levels, especially butanoic acid, acetic acid and hexanoic acid, p < 0.05. Additionally, FMT from R and nonresponders (NR) could promote an anticancer effect and reduce the expression of Ki-67 cells in tumors in mice, p < 0.05. Moreover, R and NR FMT did not alter PD-L1 expression in the tumor tissues of mice, p > 0.05. The diversity of gut microbiota consistently correlated with an optimistic prognosis in NSCLC patients with immunotherapy, which could be functionally mediated by SCFAs. CONCLUSION: The findings of the present study indicated that the diversity of gut microbiota and SCFAs is related to the efficacy of immunotherapy. FMT can effectively delay tumor progression, and enhance the effect of immunotherapy, thus providing evidence for improving the efficacy of immunotherapy in NSCLC patients.

Inhibition of inosine metabolism of the gut microbiota decreases testosterone secretion in the testis.

Growing evidence indicates that gut microbiota is involved in the regulation of the host's sex hormone levels, such as through interfering with the sex hormone metabolism in the intestine. However, if gut microbiota or its metabolites directly influence the sex hormone biosynthesis in the gonad remains largely unknown. Our previous study showed that colistin, as a narrow-spectrum antibiotic, can significantly downregulate the serum testosterone levels and thus enhance the antitumor efficiency of anti-PD-L1 in male mice; however, the underlying mechanism for the regulation of the host's testosterone levels remains uninvestigated. In the present study, we analyzed the impact of colistin on the immune microenvironment of the testis as well as the composition and metabolism of gut microbiota in male mice. Our results showed that colistin has an impact on the immune microenvironment of the testis and can downregulate serum testosterone levels in male mice through inhibition of Akkermansia, leading to destroyed inosine metabolism. Supplement with inosine can restore testosterone secretion probably by prompting the recovery of the intestinal mucus barrier and the serum lipopolysaccharides levels. All these findings reveal a new pathway for the regulation of the host's sex hormone levels by gut microbiota.IMPORTANCEThis study demonstrates that exposure to even narrow-spectrum antibiotics may affect the host's testosterone levels by altering the gut microbiota and its metabolites. Our findings provide evidence that some specific gut bacteria have an impact on the sex hormone biosynthesis in the testis.

Diagnosis and surgical outcomes of coarctation of the aorta in pediatric patients: a retrospective study.

Background: Coarctation of the aorta (CoA) is a common congenital cardiovascular malformation, and improvements in the diagnostic process for surgical decision-making are important. We sought to compare the diagnostic accuracy of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) with computed tomographic angiography (CTA) to diagnose CoA. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 197 cases of CoA diagnosed by TTE and CTA and confirmed at surgery from July 2009 to August 2019. Results: The surgical findings confirmed that 19 patients (9.6%) had isolated CoA and 178 (90.4%) had CoA combined with other congenital cardiovascular malformations. The diagnostic accuracy of CoA by CTA was significantly higher than that of TTE (χ2 = 6.52, p = 0.01). In contrast, the diagnostic accuracy of TTE for associated cardiovascular malformations of CoA was significantly higher than that of CTA (χ2 = 15.36, p < 0.0001). Infants and young children had more preductal type of CoA, and PDA was the most frequent cardiovascular lesion associated with CoA. The pressure gradient was significantly decreased after the first operation, similar at 6 months, 1 year, and 3 years follow-ups by TTE. Conclusions: CTA is more accurate as a clinical tool for diagnosing CoA; however, TTE with color Doppler can better identify associated congenital cardiovascular malformations. Therefore, combining TTE and CTA would benefit clinical evaluation and management in patients suspected of CoA. TTE was valuable for post-operation follow-up and clinical management.

Clinical analysis and medium-term follow-up of simultaneous interventional therapy for compound congenital heart disease in children: a single-center retrospective study.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the safety and efficacy of simultaneous interventional therapy for compound congenital heart disease (CCHD) in children. Methods: In total, 155 children with CCHD who received simultaneous interventional therapy at the Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University between January 2007 and December 2021 were included in study. Data on clinical manifestations, transthoracic echocardiography, electrocardiogram, and follow-up were retrospectively analyzed. Results: The most common type of CCHD was atrial septal defect (ASD) combined with ventricular septal defect (VSD), accounting for 32.3% of the patients. Simultaneous interventional therapy was successfully administered to 151 children (97.4%). The pulmonary gradient of patients with pulmonary stenosis decreased from 47.3 ± 21.9 mmHg to 15.2 ± 12.2 mmHg (P < 0.05) immediately after the procedure. One patient had failed PBPV as he had residual PS >40 mmHg post procedure. The right ventricular dimension and left ventricular end-diastolic dimension significantly decreased in the first month after the procedure in patients with ASD combined with VSD. Twenty-five (16.1%) patients had mild residual shunt, which spontaneously disappeared in more than half of these patients 6 months after the procedure. The major adverse events were minimal (n = 4, 2.58%), including one patient requiring drug treatment for complete atrioventricular block and three patients receiving surgical treatment because of cardiac erosion, anterior tricuspid valve chordae rupture, and hemolysis, respectively. Conclusions: ASD combined with VSD is the most common type of CCHD in children, and simultaneous interventional therapy for CCHD in children is safe and effective with satisfactory results. Ventricular remodeling can be reversed in patients with ASD combined with VSD 1 month after the procedure. Most adverse events associated with interventional therapy are mild and manageable.

PARP inhibitors in small cell lung cancer: The underlying mechanisms and clinical implications.

Since the concept, DNA damage repair has been stated as a natural biological event, and research has increasingly revealed its strong association to tumors, aging, immunity, biochemical detection, and other factors. The discovery of abnormal DNA repair in cancers has been heralded as a paradigm shift in the treatment of malignancies. A poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) activates poly (ADP-ribosylation) to repair single-strand DNA breaks after DNA damage. In some cancers, such as breast cancer and gastric cancer, a PARP inhibitor can target the DNA damage response pathway, prevent DNA repair, and induce homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) tumors to create the phenomena of synthetic lethality. Increasingly, clinical trials are being submitted to research the uses of PARP inhibitors in various types of cancers. Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a quickly growing malignancy with numerous therapeutic limitations and a dismal prognosis. Sequencing of mutant genes revealed multiple gene connections that may contribute to its carcinogenesis, indicating a viable study direction. Furthermore, the therapy of SCLC with PARP inhibitors has been further explored. The mechanism of PARP action, as well as the advancement of its preclinical and clinical applications in SCLC, will be discussed in this review.

Hsa_circ_0001666 promotes non-small cell lung cancer migration and invasion through miR-1184/miR-548I/AGO1 axis.

Accumulating evidence has revealed that the dysregulation of circular RNAs (circRNAs) plays crucial roles in the occurrence and progression of cancers. However, the aberrant expression profile and dysfunction of circRNAs in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have not been fully explored. Herein, we discovered that a circRNA, hsa_circ_0001666 (circ0001666), was highly expressed in NSCLC tissues and cell lines, and it was positively correlated with NSCLC tumor pathological grade and lymph node metastasis. Moreover, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis implied that NSCLC patients with high circ0001666 expression were negatively correlated with favorable survival. Functionally, circ0001666 could promote migration and invasion of NSCLC cells in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, circ0001666 could act as a sponge to miR-1184/miR-548I and upregulate the expression of AGO1, thereby promoting the activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway in NSCLC cells. Collectively, these findings demonstrated that circ0001666 could serve as an oncogene to promote the migration and invasion of NSCLC via a novel miR-1184/miR-548I/AGO1 axis, which might be a promising therapeutic target for NSCLC treatment.

Outcomes of concurrent versus sequential icotinib therapy and chemotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer with sensitive EGFR mutations.

To explore a better treatment strategy for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer harboring sensitive epidermal growth factor receptor mutations, a total of 271 patients were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into two groups: the combination group (58 cases), which received concurrent icotinib, pemetrexed, and platinum treatment, and the sequential group (213 cases), which received the sequential pemetrexed and platinum therapy, followed by icotinib treatment. The primary end points were progression-free survival (PFS) and PFS on the subsequent line of therapy (PFS2). PFS in the combination group was significantly higher compared with that in the sequential group (16.89 months vs. 9.90 months; p < 0.001). PFS in the combination group was also significantly higher than PFS2 in the sequential group (16.89 months vs. 14.05 months; p = 0.009). The overall survival (OS) of the patients was 33.22 months (95% confidence interval (CI): 26.99-37.01) in the combination group and 26.47 months (95% CI: 25.05-26.95) in the sequential group (p < 0.001). The combination group's objective response rate was superior to that of the sequential group (79.31% vs. 52.11%; p < 0.001). Propensity score matching also revealed that icotinib therapy combined with chemotherapy extended the PFS, PFS2, and OS of the patients (p < 0.0001, p = 0.003, and p = 0.001, respectively). The combination group's objective response rate was also better compared with the sequential group (79.31% vs. 51.72%; p = 0.001). In conclusion, our study demonstrated icotinib combined with chemotherapy can improve survival efficacy better than the separated two-line therapy. Study Highlights WHAT IS THE CURRENT KNOWLEDGE ON THE TOPIC? For advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring activating EGFR mutants, EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are the standard first-line treatment. Unfortunately, most patients with NSCLC harboring EGFR mutations acquire EGFR-TKI resistance after EGFR-TKI treatment for about 10-14 months. Studies have indicated that chemotherapy plus EGFR-TKIs may have combined effects on the growth of NSCLC cells. However, until now, there has been no study comparing the concurrent and sequential EGFR-TKIs plus chemotherapy. WHAT QUESTION DID THIS STUDY ADDRESS? We retrospectively analyzed the efficacy and safety of concurrent versus sequential icotinib and chemotherapy in untreated NSCLC with sensitive EGFR mutations. WHAT DOES THIS STUDY ADD TO OUR KNOWLEDGE? In the patients with NSCLC with sensitive EGFR mutations, the first-line pemetrexed plus platinum combined with icotinib better improved PFS, PFS2, and objective response rate compared with first-line icotinib and second-line pemetrexed plus platinum. HOW MIGHT THIS CHANGE CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY OR TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE? The results of this paper provide guidance for the strategy choice in the treatment of patients with NSCLC.

Combining cellular immunotherapy was an optional choice for unresectable advanced HCC: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of cellular immunotherapy in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was controversial. This study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of combining cellular immunotherapy with that of incurable treatment alone. METHODS: The Ovid Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library and Pubmed were systematically searched due to January 8th 2020. The keywords include "immunotherapy", "HCC" and study type. Treatment response was evaluated and progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated using hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: A total of 19 studies with 1275 patients were included in the meta-analysis. The median complete response rate (CR) was 19% in combining cellular immunotherapy comparing to 9% in the control group (RR=0.55, P=0.003). No significant difference was found in partial response and stable disease (RR=1.06 and 0.78, P>0.05, respectively). The progression disease rate was higher in the non-cellular immunotherapy group (31%) compared to the cellular immunotherapy group (RR=2.20, P=0.002). Patients treating with cellular immunotherapy had a better OS and PFS compared to those without cellular immunotherapy (HR=0.52 and 0.63, P<0.001). In the subgroup analysis, the only CIK infusion therapy and combined DC with CIK perfusion therapy patients had a better OS (HR=0.52 and 0.49, P<0.001 and P=0.002, respectively). CONCLUSION: Our results suggested that combining use of cellular immunotherapy in advanced HCC could increase the complete response rate, and thereafter extend the progression-free and overall survival rate. Subgroup analysis suggested that combining use of CIK and DC or using CIK alone could provide the benefit in survival outcome.

Blood cell parameters as prognostic predictors of disease development for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Although the prognostic value of the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and lymphocyte/white blood cell ratio (LWR) has been described in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the association between complete blood cell parameters prior to disease treatment and NSCLC have yet to be identified. The aim of the present study was to assess the complete blood cell parameters prior to disease treatment in patients with advanced NSCLC. A total of 268 patients with advanced NSCLC were enrolled in this study. Clinical and laboratory data of the patients were acquired through medical records. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to determine the optimal cut-off values of the neutrophil/white blood cell ratio (NWR), NLR, platelet/white blood cell ratio (PWR), PLR, monocyte/white blood cell ratio (MWR), monocyte/lymphocyte ratio (MLR) and LWR. Kaplan-Meier univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to evaluate the effect of complete blood parameters on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). The optimal cut-off values were identified as 0.67 for NWR, 2.85 for NLR, 37.23 for PWR, 166.56 for PLR, 0.074 for MWR, 0.31 for MLR and 0.24 for LWR. Univariate analysis revealed that sex (P=0.038), histological type (P<0.0001), NWR (P=0.026), NLR (P=0.044) and MLR (P=0.012) were all associated with PFS, whereas histological type (P=0.003), NWR (P=0.003), NLR (P=0.015), MLR (P=0.006) and LWR (P=0.043) were significantly associated with OS in patients with advanced NSCLC. Histological type (P=0.002) was an independent prognostic factor for PFS in patients with advanced NSCLC. Whereas histological type (P=0.005), NWR (P=0.005), NLR (P=0.014), MLR (P=0.006), and LWR (P=0.034) were independent prognostic factors for OS. Taken together, the present study identified high NWR, NLR and MLR, and low LWR as independent prognostic factors for poor OS in patients with NSCLC.

Multiple primary malignant neoplasms: A case report and literature review.

Until recently, few cases of three or more malignant tumors in one patient have been reported. Owing to the high incidence rate of these tumors, the improvement in cancer diagnosis and treatment, and the extension of patient survival time, the incidence of reported multiple primary malignant neoplasms has gradually increased. The present study reported the case of a 57-year-old man with non-small cell lung cancer combined with B-Raf proto-oncogene serine/threonine kinase V600E mutation, gastrointestinal stromal tumors and lumbar vertebral malignant mucinous sarcoma. The pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of these three malignancies are discussed and previous studies are also reviewed. The aim of the study was to analyze the genetic mutations associated with multiple primary malignant tumors and to discuss whether those mutations with unknown functional significance could be used as therapeutic indicators. This case report will serve as a reference for future treatment of such patients.

Ionizing Radiation-inducible microRNA-21 Induces Angiogenesis by Directly Targeting PTEN

Background: Previous experimental studies have established that MicroRNAs (miRNAs) can function as oncogenes or tumor suppressors in the regulation of tumor biology or pathology. However, the effects of ionizing radiation (IR) on the expression levels of cellular miRNAs and their further effects on the biological behavior of tumor cells require further investigation. Methods: We determined the proliferation, migration and tube formation of HUVEC cells after ionizing radiation (control, 0h and 24h), and the changes of miR-21, VEFG and HIF-1α levels after ionizing radiation were measured by Western blot (WB). The effects of miR-21 mimics and inhibitors on the protein and mRNA expression of PTEN were determined by RT-PCT and WB. Two independent luciferase reporter plasmids were constructed to detect changes in PTEN protein expression. Results: We found that both IR and miR-21 increase proliferation, migration and tube formation of HUVEC cells. Ionizing radiation directly targets the inhibition of PTEN expression by causing an increase in miR-21 expression, and induces the accumulation of VEGF and HIF-1α expression in cells by the PI3K / AKT signaling pathway. Simultaneous induction of ectopic expression of PTEN can rescue radiation-induced proliferation, migration and tube formation in tumor cells. Conclusion: miR-21 promotes tumor cell proliferation and migration by targeting inhibition of PTEN expression, which may become a potential target for tumor therapy in the future.

Metastatic lymph node ratio and Lauren classification are independent prognostic markers for survival rates of patients with gastric cancer.

The long-term prognosis for patients with gastric cancer (GC) following radical resection remains poor. It is important to identify prognostic markers to predict survival. In the present retrospective study, the association between the metastatic lymph node ratio (rN) and the Lauren classification on predicting overall survival (OS) was investigated. Furthermore, a subgroup analysis was performed on the Lauren classification, using rN score as an independent prognostic marker. In total, 261 pathologically confirmed patients with GC were retrospectively reviewed. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox's proportional hazards modeling were applied to analyze the OS of patients, and were utilized in the subgroup analysis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to compare the accuracy of prognosis between the rN score and lymph node staging (N stage). The χ2 test was used to analyze the association between the rN score and Lauren classification. Univariate survival and multivariate analysis demonstrated that the rN score and Lauren classification were significant prognostic markers for patients with GC. The ROC analysis confirmed that the rN score was more effective than N staging for OS prediction. Subgroup analysis indicated that rN was more accurate at predicting OS time in patients with diffuse type GC. The rN score and the Lauren classification were independent prognostic factors for the OS of patients with GC following radical resection, and the rN score was more accurate than the N stage for predicting the prognosis. Overall, the rN may be suitable as an independent predictor for OS in patients with diffuse type GC.

Prognostic significance of neutrophil-lymphocyteratio/platelet-lymphocyteratioin lung cancers: a meta-analysis.

SETTING: For now, hematological markers of inflammatory response have emerged as prognostic factors for patients with cancer. Many articles have confirm that neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio(NLR) and platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are relate with poor prognosis in various types of tumors. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between NLR/PLR and progression free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and clinicopathologic parameters in lung cancer patients. DESIGN: We performed relevant searches in PubMed database, Google Scholar, Springer Link. We included retrospective cohort studies that reported hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals for the NLR or PLR and PFS or OS. RESULTS: Both high NLR (P < 0.00001) and high PLR (P = 0.01) were significantly predictive of poorer OS. It also demonstrated that elevated NLR predicted poorer PFS (P = 0.0002). High NLR was significantly associated with deeper Invasive of tumor, (P = 0.006) extensive lymph nodetastasis(N2-3) (P = 0.01), poor differentiation (P = 0.0002) and vascular invasion(P = 0.002).There was no evidence of publication bias. Subgroup analysis indicated that little evidence of heterogeneity. However, PLR has no prognostic significance for SCLC. CONCLUSIONS: We provides further evidence in support of elevated NLR and PLR were predictors of poor OS and PFS in patients with lung cancer. Given this, NLR and PLR may be markers to report treatment outcomes.

Different cellular localization of NF-κB p65 expression as an indicator of different prognoses of stage I-III gastric cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: Nuclear factor-κB p65 (NF-κB p65) may play a significant role as a biomarker in tumor progression and metastasis. However, the correlation between cellular localization of NF-κB p65 expression and the prognosis of gastric cancer (GC) patients has not been studied. The present study was designed to investigate the location of NF-κB p65 expression in GC, and evaluate its correlation with clinicopathological parameters of GC patients. METHODS: NF-κB p65 expressions in GC tissue and corresponding nonmalignant tissue from gastrectomy of 115 stage I-III GC patients were detected by immunohistochemistry. In addition, correlations between the staining results and the clinicopathologic features and survival of the GC patients were analyzed. RESULTS: The percentage of NF-κB p65 expression in GC tissue and the corresponding nonmalignant tissue was 73.9% and 46.80%, respectively. No significant correlation was found between NF-κB p65 expression and the clinicopathologic parameters. Cox univariate analysis indicated that both nuclear staining and cytoplasmic staining of NF-κB p65 expression correlated with the prognosis of GC patients (log-rank, p = 0.0182; p = 0.0144, respectively). CONCLUSION: High nuclear expression of NF-κB p65 is an independent prognostic marker predicting a better survival, while high cytoplasmic staining indicates a worse prognosis of GC patients.