Circulating tumor cells: a valuable indicator for locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Advancements in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) treatment have led to a focus on personalized treatment. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are important for liquid biopsies and personalized treatment but are not being fully utilized. This study examined how pre- and post-treatment CTC counts, EMT subtypes, clinical characteristics, and patient prognosis are related in order to support the use of liquid biopsy in managing NPC. METHODS: This retrospective study included 141 patients with locally advanced NPC. All patients underwent CanPatrol™ CTC detection pre- and post-treatment and were categorized into EMT subtypes: epithelial type, mixed type, and mesenchymal type. This study analyzed CTC enumeration, EMT subtypes, and their associations with clinical characteristics and survival outcomes. RESULTS: The results indicated a positive correlation between the pre-treatment detection rate of CTCs and N stage (P < 0.01), alongside a positive correlation with the TNM clinical stage (P = 0.02). Additionally, the detection rate of mesenchymal CTCs post-treatment is positively associated with the N stage (P = 0.02). The enumeration of CTCs pre- and post-treatment is negatively correlated with prognosis and has statistical significance. Additionally, an investigation into the EMT subtypes of CTCs revealed a significant association between the presence of mesenchymal CTCs pre- and post-treatment and decreased overall survival (OS) (P < 0.05). Furthermore, T stage, N stage, TNM clinical stage, and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA were also significantly correlated with OS. CONCLUSION: The study found that mesenchymal CTCs pre- and post-treatment, as well as the number of CTCs, were linked to a poor prognosis.

HDAC5, negatively regulated by miR-148a-3p, promotes colon cancer cell migration.

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are involved in many processes including tumor cell growth and proliferation and regulation of gene expression. To clarify the role of class IIa HDACs in the metastasis of colon adenocarcinoma, we used the class IIa HDAC inhibitor TMP269 and found that it effectively inhibited the migration ability of colon adenocarcinoma cells. Next, we silenced the member of class IIa HDACs and confirmed that the migratory ability of colon adenocarcinoma cells was significantly inhibited by silencing HDAC5 or HDAC7. HDAC5 plays a variety of roles in human cancers. Here, we examined the role of HDAC5 in colon adenocarcinoma. The results indicated that HDAC5 was highly expressed in tumor tissues and negatively correlated with the expression of miR-148a-3p. Moreover, the expression of HDAC5 was correlated with tumor progression. HDAC5 markedly increased the invasion and migration of cancer cells in vitro, an effect that could be inhibited by overexpression of miR-148a-3p. Following an intraperitoneal injection of colon adenocarcinoma cells in athymic nude mice, HDAC5 promoted tumor implant. Together, these findings showed that HDAC5 overexpression in colon adenocarcinoma is consistent with tumor progression and tumor cell migration and the impact of HDAC5 overexpression is reduced by miR-148a-3p.

MiR-221-3p targets ARF4 and inhibits the proliferation and migration of epithelial ovarian cancer cells.

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the most lethal gynecologic cancer. Although molecular diagnostic tools and targeted therapies have been developed over the past few decades, the survival rate is still rather low. Numerous researches suggest that some microRNAs (miRNAs) are key regulators of tumor progression. Among those miRNAs that has attracted much attention for their multiple roles in human cancers, the function of miR-221-3p in EOC has not been elucidated. Herein, we examined the expression of miR-221-3p in EOC patients and cell lines. Our data revealed that higher expression of miR-221-3p was linked to better overall survival in EOC patients. In-vitro experiments indicated that miR-221-3p inhibited EOC cell proliferation and migration. By performing subsequent systematic molecular biological and bioinformatic analyses, we found ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF) 4 is one of the putative target genes, the direct binding relationship was further confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter assay. Finally, a distinct gene expression between miR-221-3p and ARF4 in EOC group and normal group was identified, and the negative correlation between their expression levels in EOC specimens was further confirmed. Taken together, our research uncovered the tumor suppressive role of miR-221-3p in EOC and directly targeted ARF4, suggesting that miR-221-3p might be a novel potential candidate for clinical prognosis and therapeutics of EOC.

Correction: MiR-4524b-5p/WTX/ß-catenin axis functions as a regulator of metastasis in cervical cancer.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0214822.].

MiR-4524b-5p/WTX/ß-catenin axis functions as a regulator of metastasis in cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer is the second most deadly gynecological tumor worldwide. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play very important roles in tumor oncogenesis and progression. The mechanism of post-transcription regulation of WTX gene is still unknown. A series of differential miRNAs were discovered by microarray analysis comparing three pairs of primary cervical cancer specimens and their relapsed tumors from three patients. Quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR (qRT-PCR), Western Blot (WB) and Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to detect the expression of miR-4524b-5p and WTX in cervical cell lines and tissues. The biological function of miR-4524b-5p and WTX was investigated through knockdown and overexpression with inhibitor/siRNA and mimic/plasmid in vitro and in vivo. In this study, we found that miR-4524b-5p is highly expressed in relapsed cervical cancer specimens. Combined in vitro and in vivo experiments, showed that miR-4524b-5p could regulate the migration and invasion ability of cervical cancer. Furthermore, we also found that miR-4524b-5p could regulate the migration and invasion of cervical cancer by targeting WTX and that WTX could regulate the expression of ß-catenin. Taken together, our data identified a miR-4524b-5p/WTX/ß-catenin regulatory axis for cervical cancer, and miR-4524b-5p may be a potential target for cervical cancer therapy.