Long Non-coding RNA Signature for Liver Metastasis of Colorectal Cancers.

Colorectal cancer ranks within the top three cancers both in terms of incidence as well as deaths. Metastasis is often the major cause of mortality and liver is the primary and most common site to which colorectal cancers metastasize. We tested the prognostic ability of a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) signature in liver metastatic colorectal cancers. We first evaluated expression levels of several lncRNAs in eight excised liver metastases from primary colorectal cancers and found significantly upregulated lncRNAs HOTAIR and MALAT1 along with significantly downregulated LOC285194. We further compared the expression levels of HOTAIR, MALAT1 and LOC285194 in primary colorectal tumors at the time of initial diagnosis and correlated them with disease progression and liver metastasis. HOTAIR and MALAT1 were significantly upregulated and LOC285194 was significantly downregulated in twelve patients who were diagnosed with liver metastasis within 5 years of initial diagnosis, compared to the five patients with no metastasis. A positive signature comprising of high HOTAIR/MALAT1 and low LOC285194 also correlated with progression to higher grade tumors. Thus, the lncRNA signature comprising of high HOTAIR/MALAT1 and low LOC285194 could be a prognostic signature for liver metastasis as well as overall poor survival.

A Scoring System for Predicting the Prognosis of Late-Onset Severe Pneumonia after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation.

Late-onset severe pneumonia (LOSP) is defined as severe pneumonia developing during the late phase of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). Because of the high mortality in patients with LOSP, it is important to identify prognostic factors. In this study, we aimed to develop a risk score system with broad applicability that can help predict the risk of LOSP-associated mortality. We retrospectively analyzed 100 patients with LOSP after allo-HSCT between June 2009 and July 2017. The assessment variables included immune, nutritional, and metabolic parameters at the onset of LOSP. Of these 100 patients, 45 (45%) eventually died, and 55 (55%) were positive for organisms, most commonly viruses. In the multivariate analysis, higher monocyte count (≥0.20 × 109/L versus <0.20 × 109/L; P = .001), higher albumin level (≥30.5 g/L versus <30.5 g/L; P = .044), lower lactic dehydrogenase level (<250 U/L versus ≥250 U/L; P = .008) and lower blood urea nitrogen concentration (<7.2 mmol/L versus ≥7.2 mmol/L; P = .026) at the onset of LOSP were significantly associated with better 60-day survival. A risk score system based on the foregoing results showed that the probability of 60-day survival decreased with increasing risk factors, from 96.3% in the low-risk group to 49.1% in the intermediate-risk group and 12.5% in the high-risk group. Our results indicate that this scoring system using 4 variables can stratify patients with different probabilities of survival after LOSP, which suggests that patients' immune, nutritional, and metabolic status are crucial factors in determining outcome.

Co-Reactivation of Cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr Virus Was Associated With Poor Prognosis After Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation.

Reactivation of cytomegalovirus (CMV) or Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is common after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Previous researches have demonstrated that either CMV or EBV reactivation is associated with poor outcomes of HSCT. However, few studies investigate the impact of CMV and EBV co-reactivation after HSCT. In this study, we described the clinical characteristics of HSCT recipients with CMV and EBV co-reactivation (defined as CMV and EBV viremia occur at the same period of time). We conducted a longitudinal study of 247 patients who underwent HSCT in our center. A total of 24 (9.7%) patients had CMV and EBV co-reactivation. These patients showed higher incidence of viral pneumonitis (P=0.005). Patients with CMV and EBV co-reactivation had significant lower 1-year overall survival (OS) (P=0.004) and lower 1-year leukemia free survival (LFS) (P=0.016). Our further analysis suggested that duration of CMV (P=0.014), EBV (P<0.001), and CD4+CD25+ T cell counts at day 30 post-transplantation (P=0.05) are independent risk factors of virus co-reactivation. In conclusion, patients who developed co-reactivation of CMV and EBV had poor prognosis in terms of lower 1-year OS and LFS, and the CMV and EBV co-reactivation was associated with prolonged CMV or EBV duration and poor CD4+CD25+ T cell reconstitution at day 30 post-transplantation.