Routine Hemostasis and Hemogram Parameters: Valuable Assessments for Coagulation Disorder and Chemotherapy in Cancer Patients.

BACKGROUND: The clotting system abnormalities are the common complication in cancer patients. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the coagulation state, clinical features, and treatment in cancer patients by routine tests. METHODS: A total of 2328 patients with different types of cancer were classified as the positive group (n = 1419, including 53 patients with thrombosis) and the negative group (n = 909) based on D-dimer (DD) value. Of the 2328 cases, 354 were admitted for chemotherapy. Hemostasis test and complete blood count (CBC) were performed during treatment or following-up. RESULTS: This study showed that the hypercoagulable state was affected not only by clinical staging (P < 0.0001) but also by metastasis site (P < 0.0001 for bone vs. lung). Compared to negative DD group, the higher fibrinogen level, the extended activated partial thromboplastin time, and prothrombin time interacted markedly with disease clinical stage (P < 0.05) in the positive group. Between positive DD groups with and without thrombus, the significantly statistic difference in white blood cell (WBC) and DD (P < 0.05) rather than in red blood cell (RBC) and platelet count was observed. However, the higher DD level was not correlated with WBC, RBC, and platelet count in the positive DD group. Furthermore, the hypercoagulable plasma profile in cancer patients was moderated 2-3 weeks after chemotherapy (P < 0.05 for first six cycles). CONCLUSIONS: The routine hemostatic parameters and CBC are valuable to assessment for thrombosis and chemotherapy even for disease prognosis.

Parity and thyroid cancer risk: a meta-analysis of epidemiological studies.

Although observational studies have assessed the relationship between parity and thyroid cancer risk, the findings are inconsistent. To quantitatively assess the association, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis. PubMed and Embase were searched up to January 2015. Prospective or case-control studies that evaluated the association between parity and thyroid cancer risk were included. We used the fixed-effects model to pool risk estimates. After literature search, 10 prospective studies, 12 case-control studies and 1 pooled analysis of 14 case-control studies including 8860 patients were identified. The studies had fair methodological quality. Pooled analysis suggested that there was a significant association between parity and risk of thyroid cancer (RR for parous versus nulliparous: 1.09, 95% CI 1.03-1.15; I2=33.4%). The positive association persisted in almost all strata of subgroup analyses based on study design, location, study quality, type of controls, and confounder adjustment, although in some strata statistical significance was not detected. By evaluating the number of parity, we identified that both parity number of 2 versus nulliparous and parity number of 3 versus nulliparous demonstrated significant positive associations (RR=1.11, 95% CI 1.01-1.22; I2=31.1% and RR=1.16, 95% CI 1.01-1.33; I2=19.6% respectively). The dose-response analysis suggested neither a non-linear nor linear relationship between the number of parity and thyroid cancer risk. In conclusion, this meta-analysis suggests a potential association between parity and risk of thyroid cancer in females. However, the lack of detection of a dose-response relationship suggests that further studies are needed to better understand the relationship.

MicroRNA-124 rs531564 Polymorphism and Cancer Risk: A Meta-analysis.

Several studies reported there was a polymorphism (rs531564 C > G) in miR-124 gene. To investigate the MiR-124 rs531564 polymorphism and cancer risk. We conducted a literature search of the Medline, Embase and Wangfang Medicine databases to identify all relevant studies for this meta-analysis. We determined that the miR-124 rs531564 polymorphism was significantly associated with decreased risks of cancers in the allelic model (G vs C, OR=0.71, 95% CI=0.53-0.94, P=0.02), homozygote model (GG vs CC, OR=0.42, 95% CI=0.26-0.66, P=0.0002), dominant model (GG/GC vs CC, OR=0.71, 95% CI=0.51-0.98, P=0.04) and recessive model (GG vs GC/CC, OR=0.43, 95% CI=0.27-0.69, P=0.0004). In an analysis stratified by cervical cancer group, significant associations were observed in the allelic model (G vs C, OR=0.46, 95% CI=0.32-0.66, P<0.0001), and dominant model (GG/GC vs CC, OR=0.45, 95% CI=0.3-0.66, P<0.0001). Subgroup analysis also revealed a decreased risk for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in the homozygote model (GG vs CC, OR=0.45, 95% CI=0.27-0.75, P=0.002) and recessive model (GG vs GC/CC, OR=0.46, 95% CI=0.28-0.75, P=0.002). This meta-analysis suggests that the miR-124 rs531564 C > G polymorphism is an important risk factor for cancers among the Chinese population.

Parity and endometrial cancer risk: a meta-analysis of epidemiological studies.

The association between parity and endometrial cancer risk is inconsistent from observational studies. We aimed to quantitatively assess the relationship by summarizing all relevant epidemiological studies. PubMed (MEDLINE), Embase and Scopus were searched up to February 2015 for eligible case-control studies and prospective studies. Random-effects model was used to pool risk estimations. Ten prospective studies, 35 case-control studies and 1 pooled analysis of 10 cohort and 14 case-control studies including 69681 patients were identified. Pooled analysis revealed that there was a significant inverse association between parity and risk of endometrial cancer (relative risk (RR) for parous versus nulliparous: 0.69, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.65-0.74; I(2) = 76.9%). By evaluating the number of parity, we identified that parity number of 1, 2 or 3 versus nulliparous demonstrated significant negative association (RR = 0.73, 95% CI 0.64-0.84, I(2) = 88.3%; RR = 0.62, 95% CI 0.53-0.74, I(2) = 92.1%; and RR = 0.68, 95% CI 0.65-0.70, I(2) = 20.0% respectively). The dose-response analysis suggested a nonlinear relationship between the number of parity and endometrial cancer risk. The RR decreased when the number of parity increased. This meta-analysis suggests that parity may be associated with a decreased risk of endometrial cancer. Further studies are warranted to replicate our findings.

Reduced telomere length in colorectal carcinomas.

PURPOSE: Telomeres play a key role in the maintenance of chromosome integrity and stability, and telomere shortening is involved in initiation and progression of malignancies. The aim of this study was to determine whether telomere length is associated with the colorectal carcinoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 148 colorectal cancer (CRC) samples and corresponding adjacent non-cancerous tissues were evaluated for telomere length, P53 mutation, and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) mutation detected by fluorescent immunohistochemistry. Telomere length was estimated by real-time PCR. Samples with a T/S>1.0 have an average telomere length greater than that of the standard DNA; samples with a T/S<1.0 have an average telomere length shorter than that of the standard DNA. RESULTS: Telomeres were shorter in CRCs than in adjacent tissues, regardless of tumor stage and grade, site, or genetic alterations (P=0.004). Telomere length in CRCs also had differences with COX-2 status (P=0.004), but did not differ with P53 status (P=0.101), tumor progression (P=0.244), gender (P=0.542), and metastasis (0.488). There was no clear trend between T/S optimal cut-off values (<1 or > 1) and colorectal tumor progression, metastasis, gender, P53 and COX-2 status. CONCLUSION: These findings suggesting that telomere shortening is associated with colorectal carcinogenesis but does not differ with tumor progression, gender, and metastasis.