Exploring the risk of second primary malignancies in laryngeal cancer survivors: insights from the SEER database.

PURPOSE: We intended to investigate the risk for second primary malignancy (SPM) development in Laryngeal Cancer (LC) survivors. We conducted a population-based analysis of SPM risk using the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. METHODS: Data of selected LC survivors from the SEER database between 2000 and 2020 were examined. Standardized Incidence ratios (SIRs) for SPM development were calculated, followed by detailed stratification according to anatomical site and different latency periods. RESULTS: A total of 8413 SPMs were observed in our extracted cohort. The collective standardized incidence of SPMs was 2.12 (95% CI 2.07-2.17) compared to the US population, with an absolute excess risk (AER) of 201.73 per 10,000 individuals. The highest SPM risks were observed in patients with young age at diagnosis, females, and American Indians/Alaska natives. Increased SPM risks were reported in patients receiving all modalities of treatment including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Most SPMs were detected in solid organs such as the lungs and bronchus, oral cavity and pharynx, and prostate. The highest increased risks of developing SPMs were observed in Trachea, larynx, oral cavity and pharynx, lung and bronchus, and esophagus. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of SPMs in LC survivors was significantly increased compared to the general US population. Accordingly, a more impactful cancer surveillance strategy for LC patients should be implemented.

Causes of death among patients with cutaneous melanoma: a US population-based study.

Research on mortality outcomes and non-cancer-related causes of death in patients with cutaneous melanoma (CM) remains limited. This study aimed to identify the prevalence of non-cancer-related deaths following CM diagnosis. The data of 224,624 patients diagnosed with malignant CM in the United States between 2000 and 2019 were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. We stratified our cohort based on their melanoma stage at diagnosis and further calculated standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for each cause of death, comparing their relative risk to that of the general US population. The total number of fatalities among melanoma patients was 60,110, representing 26.8% of the total cases. The percentage of deaths is directly proportional to the disease stage, reaching 80% in distant melanoma. The highest fatalities among the localized melanoma group (25,332; 60.5%) occurred from non-cancer causes, followed by melanoma-attributable deaths (10,817; 25.8%). Conversely, melanoma is the leading cause of death in regional and distant melanoma cohorts. Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases were the most prevalent non-cancer causes of death among the three disease-stage cohorts. Compared to the general population, we did not observe an increased risk of death due to non-cancer causes in the localized CM cohort, while patients diagnosed with regional and distant CMs had a statistically significant higher risk of death from all the reported major causes of death.

Causes of death after laryngeal cancer diagnosis: A US population-based study.

BACKGROUND: Several reports examined the survival of laryngeal cancer (LC) patients, most of these studies only focused on the prognosis of the disease, and just a small number of studies examined non-cancer-related causes of death. The objective of the current study is to investigate and quantify the most common causes of deaths following LC diagnosis. METHODS: The data of 44,028 patient with LC in the United States diagnosed between 2000 and 2018 were retrieved from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program and analyzed. We stratified LC patients according to various demographic and clinical parameters and calculated standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for all causes of death. RESULTS: Over the follow-up period, 25,407 (57.7%) deaths were reported. The highest fatalities (11,121; 43.8%) occurred within 1-5 years following LC diagnosis. Non-cancer causes of death is the leading cause of death (8945; 35.2%), followed by deaths due to laryngeal cancer (8,705; 34.3%), then other cancers deaths (7757; 30.5%). The most common non-cancer causes of death were heart diseases (N = 2953; SMR 4.42), followed by other non-cancer causes of death (N = 1512; SMR 3.93), chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (N = 1420; SMR 4.90), then cerebrovascular diseases (N = 547; SMR 4.28). Compared to the general population, LC patients had a statistically significant higher risk of death from all reported causes. CONCLUSIONS: Non-cancer causes of death is the leading cause of death in LC patients, exceeding deaths attributed to LC itself. These findings provide important insight into how LC survivors should be counselled regarding future health risks.

A miRNA's insight into the regenerating heart: a concise descriptive analysis.

Manipulation of microRNA (miRNA) expression has been shown to induce cardiac regeneration, consolidating their therapeutic potential. However, studies often validate only a few miRNA targets in each experiment and hold these targets entirely accountable for the miRNAs' action, ignoring the other potential molecular and cellular events involved. In this report, experimentally validated miRNAs are used as a window of discovery for the possible genes and signaling pathways that are implicated in cardiac regeneration. A thorough evidence search was conducted, and identified miRNAs were submitted for in silico dissection using reliable bioinformatics tools. A total of 46 miRNAs were retrieved from existing literature. Shared targets between miRNAs included well-recognized genes such as BCL-2, CCND1, and PTEN. Transcription factors that are possibly involved in the regeneration process such as SP1, CTCF, and ZNF263 were also identified. The analysis confirmed well-established signaling pathways involved in cardiac regeneration such as Hippo, MAPK, and AKT signaling, and revealed new pathways such as ECM-receptor interaction, and FoxO signaling on top of hormonal pathways such as thyroid, adrenergic, and estrogen signaling pathways. Additionally, a set of differentially expressed miRNAs were identified as potential future experimental candidates.

Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy for Doxorubicin-Induced Cardiomyopathy: Potential Mechanisms, Governing Factors, and Implications of the Heart Stem Cell Debate.

Over the past decades, researchers have reported several mechanisms for doxorubicin (DOX)-induced cardiomyopathy, including oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis. Another mechanism that has been suggested is that DOX interferes with the cell cycle and induces oxidative stress in C-kit+ cells (commonly known as cardiac progenitor cells), reducing their regenerative capacity. Cardiac regeneration through enhancing the regenerative capacity of these cells or administration of other stem cells types has been the axis of several studies over the past 20 years. Several experiments revealed that local or systemic injections with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were associated with significantly improved cardiac function, ameliorated inflammatory response, and reduced myocardial fibrosis. They also showed that several factors can affect the outcome of MSC treatment for DOX cardiomyopathy, including the MSC type, dose, route, and timing of administration. However, there is growing evidence that the C-kit+ cells do not have a cardiac regenerative potential in the adult mammalian heart. Similarly, the protective mechanisms of MSCs against DOX-induced cardiomyopathy are not likely to include direct differentiation into cardiomyocytes and probably occur through paracrine secretion, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Better understanding of the involved mechanisms and the factors governing the outcomes of MSCs therapy are essential before moving to clinical application in patients with DOX-induced cardiomyopathy.

Competing Endogenous RNAs in Hepatocellular Carcinoma-The Pinnacle of Rivalry.

The role of noncoding transcripts in gene expression is nowadays acknowledged to keep various diseases at bay-despite being referred to as "junk" DNA several years ago. Believed to be at the heart of multiple regulatory pathways, microRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) involved in posttranscriptional gene regulation. Recently, the discovery of ncRNAs that compete for shared miRNA pools has dimmed the light on the solo performance of miRNAs in genomic regulation. Indeed, several studies describe RNAs such as long noncoding RNAs, mRNAs, circular RNAs, pseudogenes, and viral RNAs as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) that sequester miRNAs, allowing for de-repression of downstream miRNA targets. Such integration between coding and noncoding transcripts forms complex ceRNA networks that when dysregulated lead to several diseases such as hepatocellular carcinoma. Here, the authors review perturbed ceRNA networks in hepatocellular carcinoma, describe the role of each in tumorigenesis, and discuss their various clinical implications.