Negative implication of C-MYC as an amplification target in esophageal cancer.

Chromosomal aberrations (amplifications and deletions) underlie the genesis or development of cancer. Amplification of 8q24 is one of the most frequent events in esophageal cancer. To define whether C-MYC is the target gene for 8q24 amplification, we performed fluorescence in situ hybridization using a MYC (8q24.12 approximately q24.13) probe in esophageal cancer from southern China. Furthermore, we detected the expression status of several genes including C-MYC, TRIB1 (alias C8FW), and FAM84B (alias NSE2) in the regions of 8q24 via reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction or immunohistochemical analysis (or both). Distinct amplification of 8q24 was found in esophageal carcinomas. Only 4 of 46 cases showed obvious protein expression in part of the esophageal cancerous nest. In particular, increased protein expression of C-MYC was shown only in a small part of a cancerous nest in the four cases. Positive C-MYC staining was detected mainly in the cytoplasm of esophageal cancer cells. No expression of TRIB1 was detected in esophageal squamous cell carcinomas. Of 59 cases, 39 (66%) cases showed increased expression of FAM84B in esophageal carcinomas. The results suggest that C-MYC and TRIB1 may not be the amplification target of 8q24 in esophageal cancer. FAM84B might be involved in the genesis or development of esophageal cancer in southern China. Whether FAM84B is the amplification target of esophageal cancer awaits further investigation.

[Serum level of angiogenesis-related cytokins in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome].

To study the serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), serum from 43 MDS patients was examined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The results showed that serum levels of VEGF, bFGF in MDS patients were significantly elevated compared with normal control. Serum levels of VEGF and bFGF in RAEB patients and RAEBT patients were higher than that in RA patients and RAS patients (P < 0.05). No significant difference of serum levels of VEGF and bFGF was found between RAEBT patients and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. The serum levels of VEGF and bFGF were correlated with the affected peripheral blood cells and the proportion of blast cells in bone marrow. There was positive correlation between serum VEGF and bFGF levels. It is concluded that the secretion of VEGF and bFGF in MDS patients is elevated and the serum levels of VEGF and bFGF are related to the classification and prognosis in MDS.

[Expression and clinical significance of uPA and PAI-1 in epithelial ovarian cancer].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Recent researches showed that urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and its inhibitor, plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1, play an important role in the invasion and metastasis of solid tumors. However, their correlations to epithelial ovarian cancer have seldom been reported. This study was to investigate the roles of uPA and PAI-1 in the invasion and metastasis of epithelial ovarian cancer, to clarify their localization and relationship with prognosis. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry was applied to examine the protein expression of uPA and PAI-1 in 80 specimens of epithelial ovarian cancer and 20 specimens of benign ovarian tumor. The correlations of their expression to the clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis of the patients were analyzed. RESULTS: The positive rates of uPA and PAI-1 were significantly higher in epithelial ovarian cancer than in benign ovarian tumor (77.5% vs. 30.0%, P<0.001; 55.0% vs. 20.0%, P=0.005). uPA expression was correlated positively to PAI-1 expression in epithelial ovarian cancer (P=0.001). Higher positive rate of uPA was associated with greater metastatic tumor in the peritoneal cavity (P=0.038), but not associated with age, FIGO stage, histological type, pathologic grade, serum CA125 level, ovarian tumor size, and the size of residual tumor (P>0.05). Higher positive rate of PAI-1 was associated with early FIGO stage (P=0.022), but not associated with other parameters (P>0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that uPA was an independent factor for progression-free survival and overall survival, and PAI-1 was an independent factor for overall survival. CONCLUSION: Both uPA and PAI-1 are up-regulated in epithelial ovarian cancer, and might be used as markers to predict the prognosis of epithelial ovarian cancer patients.

[Quantitative analysis of plasma Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA for monitoring of recurrence and metastasis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients after radiotherapy].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is closely related to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. Recently, it was reported that EBV DNA could be detected in the plasma or serum of NPC patients, but the clinical significance of EBV DNA concentration for monitoring of tumor recurrence and metastasis in NPC patients after radiotherapy has not been reported. This study was designed to quantitatively analyze the plasma EBV DNA concentration in NPC patients after radiotherapy, and to evaluate its application for monitoring of tumor recurrence and metastasis. METHODS: Ninety NPC outpatients after radiotherapy in Cancer Center, Sun Yat-sen University were followed up. The plasma EBV DNA were analyzed by using fluorescent quantitative PCR technique, and the quantity of plasma EBV DNA were compared between recurrent and clinical remission NPC patients. RESULTS: Ninety-six point seven percent (29/30) of recurrent and metastatic patients were detectable for plasma EBV DNA, with median concentration of 2650 copies/ml (range:0-5900000), whereas only 12%(7/60) of the clinical remission patients were detectable for plasma EBV DNA, with median concentration of 0 copy/ml (range:0-71000). The detectable proportion and concentration in recurrent and metastatic NPC patients were significantly higher than that in clinical remission NPC patients (P< 0.01). Three of the clinical remission NPC patients with elevated EBV DNA copy were confirmed for tumor local recurrence or metastasis after further 3-4 month follow-up. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that plasma EBV DNA detection may be a sensitive tumor marker for monitoring tumor recurrence and metastasis of NPC patients after radiotherapy.