RTPDB: a database providing associations between genetic variation or expression and cancer prognosis with radiotherapy-based treatment.

In recent years, lots of studies have reported the relationship between genetic variation or expression and cancer prognosis with radiotherapy-based treatment. However, due to limitation in available journals or literature database, inconsistent nomenclature system of genetic variation and cancer and time-consuming investigation on literature searching and reading, considerable researches could hardly get found and cited. In this study, we constructed the Radiotherapy Prognosis Database (RTPDB), which contains a comprehensive resource about genes and related cancer prognosis. It included 775 studies, which consist of 275 Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) studies with 59 765 patients, 261 genes, 708 SNPs, 16 tumors and 16 treatment types, and 500 expression studies with 55 751 patients, 264 genes, 27 tumors and 15 treatment types. The names of genes and their variants were converted and displayed in the form of the official symbol. The detailed information of the tumor, treatment and prognosis were classified. We hope RTPDB will be a useful resource with great potential for researches on genes, variants and cancer prognosis.

Therapeutic cancer vaccines: From initial findings to prospects.

With the approval of the first therapeutic cancer vaccine by US Food and Drug Administration, numerous therapeutic cancer vaccines have been under clinical trials with an inspiring antitumor immune response in cancer patients. Though there is no therapeutic cancer vaccine showing clinical efficacy in phase III trials, recent advances in personalized cancer vaccine based on neoantigens have emerged as an efficient way to induce tumor regression. In this review, we discuss the selection methods of tumor specific antigen and mainly focus on the development of therapeutic cancer vaccine strategies. Besides, we highlight the newly developed personalized cancer vaccine as a novel therapeutic approach for cancer patients. Finally, we outline the recent development of therapeutic cancer vaccine in clinical trials.

Impact of caspase-8 (CASP8) -652 6N del and D302H polymorphisms on prostate cancer in different ethnic groups.

BACKGROUND: Despite evidence suggesting roles for caspase-8 (CASP8) -652 6N del and D302H polymorphisms in prostate cancer (PCa), the association of these polymorphisms with PCa risk remains inconclusive. Therefore, a meta-analysis was performed to more precisely estimate the association of CASP8 -652 6N del and D302H polymorphisms with PCa susceptibility. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify all case-control studies of CASP8 D302H and -652 6N del polymorphisms and PCa risk. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the strength of the association and the precision of the estimate, respectively. RESULTS: Nine -625 6N del studies and 4 D302H studies were included. CASP8 -652 6N del and D302H polymorphisms were not significantly associated with PCa risk in the overall analyses. However, in the subgroup analysis stratified by ethnicity, -625 6N del was significantly associated with PCa risk in the East Asian and Indian populations under the recessive model. Furthermore, the subgroup analysis strongly suggested that D302H was associated with lower PCa risk in the Non-Indian population under the dominant model. CONCLUSIONS: In our meta-analysis, ethnic-specific differences were evident in the association of CASP8 -625 6N del and D302H polymorphisms with PCa risk.

Effect of trichostatin A on CNE2 nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells--genome-wide DNA methylation alteration.

Trichostatin A (TSA) is a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor. We here investigated its effects on proliferation and apoptosis of the CNE2 carcinoma cell line, and attempted to establish genome-wide DNA methylation alteration due to differentially histone acetylation status. After cells were treated by TSA, the inhibitory rate of cell proliferation was examined with a CCK8 kit, and cell apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry. Compared to control, TSA inhibited CNE2 cell growth and induced apoptosis. Furthermore, TSA was found to induce genome-wide methylation alteration as assessed by genome-wide methylation array. Overall DNA methylation level of cells treated with TSA was higher than in controls. Function and pathway analysis revealed that many genes with methylation alteration were involved in key biological roles, such as apoptosis and cell proliferation. Three genes (DAP3, HSPB1 and CLDN) were independently confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR. Finally, we conclude that TSA inhibits CNE2 cell growth and induces apoptosis in vitro involving genome-wide DNA methylation alteration, so that it has promising application prospects in treatment of NPC in vivo. Although many unreported hypermethylated/hypomethylated genes should be further analyzed and validated, the pointers to new biomarkers and therapeutic strategies in the treatment of NPC should be stressed.

[Degradation and transformation of engineering carbon nanomaterials in the environment: A review].

With the large amount production and application of engineering carbon nanomaterials, their potential ecological risk has attracted extensive attention. The degradation and transformation of the carbon nanomaterials in the environment directly affect the fates and eco-toxicity of the nanomaterials in the environment, and the research of the degradation and transformation processes of the nanomaterials in the environment is the key link for the determination of the environmental capacity of the nanomaterials and for the evaluation of the nanomaterials life cycle in the environment. This paper briefly introduced the chemical transformation, microbial degradation, and photodegradation of the major engineering carbon nanomaterials (carbon nanotubes and fullerene) in the environment, and summarized the environmental and structural factors affecting the degradation of the nanomaterials and the related intrinsic mechanisms. The shortcomings of the related researches and the directions of the future research were also put forward.