Gender disparity between first and senior authors on liver cancer research in the top journals of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

BACKGROUND: Gender disparity is pervasive in academic medicine. This study aimed to assess the disparity between men and women with regard to first and senior author positions in primary studies on liver cancer over the last two decades. METHODS: We conducted a review of articles published in high-impact factor journals of the field of Gastroenterology and Hepatology in 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020. First and senior authors of all ages were considered as the study population. The authors' genders were determined using the online artificial intelligence tool genderize.io (https://genderize.io/). The disparity between men and women authors was assessed using the linear-by-linear association test. RESULTS: 665 original articles from 10 journals were reviewed. The point prevalence of first women authors was 25.0% compared with 75.0% for men. The point prevalence of senior women authors was 16.3% compared with 83.7% for men. From 2000 to 2020, the proportion of first women authors increased 14.4% to 26.8% compared with 85.6%-73.2% for men (P = 0.009), and the proportion of senior women authors increased from 7.4% to 19.5%, compared with 92.6%-80.5% for men (P = 0.035). The factor independently associated with a reduced representation of women among first authors was the region of author. The factor independently associated with a reduced representation of women among senior authors was the impact factor of journals. CONCLUSION: The findings indicated a remarkable increase in the proportion of women, both first and senior authors, over the past two decades in the field of liver cancers. However, the representation of women authors in this area is far less than that of men.

Ellagic acid inhibits tumor growth and potentiates the therapeutic efficacy of sorafenib in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Sorafenib is a classic molecular targeted drug approved for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) therapy. However, a poor response rate and increasing resistance to sorafenib make its therapeutic efficacy suboptimal. Combination treatment with an agent capable of potentiating sorafenib sensitivity may be a promising solution. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the synergistic effect of ellagic acid (EA), a natural polyphenol, and sorafenib on HCC. Methods: CCK-8, EdU incorporation and colony formation assays were used to study the effect of EA on HCC cell proliferation. Apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry in HCC cells and TUNEL assay in xenograft tumors. Transcriptome analysis was utilized to investigate alterations in signaling pathways with EA treatment. A xenograft mouse model was used to confirm the synergistic effect of sorafenib and EA on HCC tumors in vivo. Results: We found that EA inhibited growth and induced apoptosis in both HCC cells and xenograft tumors. Mechanistically, EA treatment reduced the activation of the MAPK and Akt/mTOR signaling pathways in HCC cells. Furthermore, combined EA and sorafenib treatment further inhibited the MAPK and Akt/mTOR signaling pathways compared to EA or sorafenib alone. EA synergistically potentiated the anticancer activity of sorafenib against HCC both in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion: EA inhibits HCC growth by inducing apoptosis through attenuation of the MAPK and Akt/mTOR signaling pathways. EA potentiates the response of HCC tumors to sorafenib both in vitro and in vivo, an effect that may be attributed to further inhibition of the MAPK and Akt/mTOR signaling pathways. These results suggest that EA is an effective adjuvant option for sorafenib therapy.

Identification of ACBD3 as a new molecular biomarker in pan-cancers through bioinformatic analysis: a preclinical study.

BACKGROUND: Acyl-CoA-binding domain-containing 3 (ACBD3) is a multifunctional protein, that plays essential roles in cellular signaling and membrane domain organization. Although the precise roles of ACBD3 in various cancers remain unclear. Thus, we aimed to determine the diverse roles of ACBD3 in pan-cancers. METHODS: Relevant clinical and RNA-sequencing data for normal tissues and 33 tumors from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, the Human Protein Atlas, and other databases were applied to investigate ACBD3 expression in various cancers. ACBD3-binding and ACBD3-related target genes were obtained from the STRING and GEPIA2 databases. The possible functions of ACBD3-binding genes were explored using Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses. We also applied the diagnostic value and survival prognosis analysis of ACBD3 in pan-cancers using R language. The mutational features of ACBD3 in various TCGA cancers were obtained from the cBioPortal database. RESULTS: When compared with normal tissues, ACBD3 expression was statistically upregulated in eleven cancers and downregulated in three cancers. ACBD3 expression was remarkably different among various pathological stages of tumors, immune and molecular subtypes of cancers, cancer phosphorylation levels, and immune cell infiltration. The survival of four tumors was correlated with the expression level of ACBD3, including pancreatic adenocarcinoma, adrenocortical carcinoma, sarcoma, and glioma. The high accuracy in diagnosing multiple tumors and its correlation with prognosis indicated that ACBD3 may be a potential biomarker of pan-cancers. CONCLUSION: According to our pan-cancer analysis, ACBD3 may serve as a remarkable prognostic and diagnostic biomarker of pan-cancers as well as contribute to tumor development. ACBD3 may also provide new directions for cancer treatment targets in the future.

Gender authorship trends of gastric cancer in the top journals of gastroenterology: A 20-year perspective.

Gender authorship trends have been explored in varied medical specialties, and no study had observed in the field of gastric cancer. Therefore, we aimed to access whether the "gender gap" in authorship existed in gastric cancer in the leading gastroenterological journals over the last 2 decades. All original articles published from 2000 to 2020 in 9 leading gastroenterological journals were collected. Information on the first and senior author's gender, country of author's institution, and impact factor of journals were collected. Chi-square tests and multivariable logistic regression were used for data analysis. A total of 5785 original articles were included and analyzed, of which 440 (7.61%) were articles on gastric cancer and 5345 (92.39%) covered other topics. Fewer female authors published original articles as first (19.32%, 85/440) and senior authors (14.32%, 63/440) compared with males. Remarkably, a significant increase in female authorship was discovered. The proportion of female first authors grown from 12.99% to 30.89% during the last 20 years (P < .001), but not in senior authors (P = .175). Multivariable logistic analysis showed that female first authors demonstrated a higher percentage when senior authors were female (odds ratio, 2.040; 95% confidence interval, 1.105-3.769). Although a statistically ascending tendency in female first authors on gastric cancer has been going on over the last 20 years, the exorbitant gender gap still exists. This gap may help explain the continued underrepresentation of women within both clinical work and academic research, and prompt us to look further for the underlying causes.

Trends in gender disparity in the field of Helicobacter pylori research from 2000 to 2020: A cross-sectional study.

Many studies have investigated gender disparity in scientific publications, but this has been poorly studied in the field of digestive diseases. This study aimed to determine the gender difference of first and senior authors in publications related to Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) during the past 20 years. Data were derived from original articles published in the main journals of digestive diseases (Journal of Hepatology, Gut, Gastroenterology, American Journal of Gastroenterology, Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Digestive Endoscopy, Journal of Gastroenterology, Helicobacter, and Gastric Cancer) in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. These original articles were classified according to the gender and nationality of the first and senior (last listed) authors. Linear-by-linear association test was used to analyze the proportion of women authors over time. Multivariable logistic regression was applied to explain the factors impacting authorship difference of first and senior authors. A total of 561 original articles on H. pylori were collected for this study, accounting for 10.70% in 2000 to 7.60% in 2020 among all articles. In these original articles, the percentage of women first authors increased from 14.60% in 2000 to 45.0% in 2020 (P < .001). The percentage of women senior authors increased from 5.60% in 2000 to 18.80% in 2020 (P < .001). Women first authors were more likely to perform research with women senior authors (18.42%) than with men senior authors (10.23%, P < .001). The proportion of women first authors from Oceania were higher than that from North and South America (P = .004), whereas there was no statistical difference regarding women senior authors. In the past 2 decades, although the percentage of women authors among both first and senior authors in the field of H. pylori research has increased significantly, women are still a minority in original research.