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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignant tumor with high mortality. Our previous study has confirmed that XPD acts as an anti-oncogene and is downregulated in HCC. The mechanism of XPD downregulation in HCC is unclear. In this work, we obtained the datasets related to HCC patients from GSE76427, LIRI-JP, and TCGA-LIHC cohorts. Among 15 m5C regulators (NSUN2, NSUN3, NSUN4, NSUN5, NSUN6, NSUN7, DNMT1, TRDMT1, DNMT3A, DNMT3B and NOP2, TET1, TET2, and TET3, ALYREF), 14 m5C regulators were upregulated in tumor tissues of HCC patients, except for TET2. HCC patients were divided into Cluster A and B with different m5C methylation patterns. Cluster B was enriched in metabolism-related signaling pathways, and Cluster A was prominently associated with the cell cycle signaling pathway. Moreover, XPD was positively correlated with NOP2. Cluster B exhibited upregulation of XPD and had an obvious survival advantage with respect to Cluster A. Additionally, NOP2 and XPD were downregulated in HCC tumors and cells. In vitro assays revealed that NOP2 overexpression enhanced XPD expression by elevating the m5C methylation of XPD, which contributed to inhibit proliferation, migration, and invasion of HCC cells. In conclusion, this work demonstrated that XPD mRNA stability was elevated by NOP2-mediated m5C methylation modification and then inhibited the malignant progression of HCC, suggesting that XPD may be a potential target for HCC treatment.

We retrospectively compared long-term biochemical recurrence rates (BCR) in pN1 PCa patients that underwent adjuvant radiotherapy (aRT) vs. no aRT/early salvage (esRT) after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy and extended pelvic lymphadenectomy. All PCa pN1 M0 patients treated at a single high-volume center between 2010 and 2020 were analyzed. Patients with <10 LNs yield, or >10 positive LNs, or persistently detectable PSA after RARP were excluded. Kaplan-Meier (KM) plots depicted BCR rates. Multivariable Cox regression models (MCRMs) focused on predictors of BCR. The cumulative incidence plot depicted BCR rates after propensity score (PS) matching (ratio 1:1). 220 pN1 patients were enrolled, 133 (60.4%) treated with aRT and 87 (39.6%) with no-aRT/esRT. aRT patients were older, with higher rates of postoperative ISUP grade group 4-5, and higher rates of pT3b stage. The actuarial BCR was similar (aRT 39.8% vs. no-aRT/esRT 40.2%; p=1). Median time to BCR was 62 vs. 38 months in aRT vs. no-aRT/esRT patients (p=0.001). In MCRMs, patients managed with no-aRT/esRT were associated with higher rates of BCR over time (hazard ratio [HR]: 3.27, p<0.001). ISUP grade group 5 (HR: 2.18, p<0.01) was an independent predictor of BCR. In PS-matched cumulative incidence plots, the BCR rate was significantly higher in the aRT group (76.4 vs. 40.4%; p<0.01). Patients managed with no-aRT/esRT experienced BCR approximately two years before the aRT group. Despite, the important BCR benefit after aRT, this treatment strategy is underused in daily practice.

Glycosylation is a posttranslational modification of proteins affecting numerous cellular functions. A growing amount of evidence confirms that aberrant glycosylation is involved in pathophysiological processes, including tumor development and progression. Carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) is a transmembrane protein whose expression is strongly induced in hypoxic tumors, which makes it an attractive target for anti-tumor therapy. CAIX facilitates the maintenance of intracellular pH homeostasis through its catalytic activity, which is linked with extracellular pH acidification promoting a more aggressive phenotype of tumor cells. The involvement of CAIX in destabilizing cell-cell contacts and the focal adhesion process also contributes to tumor progression. Previous research shows that CAIX is modified with N-glycans, O-glycans, and glycosaminoglycans (GAG). Still, the impact of glycosylation on CAIX functions has yet to be fully elucidated. By preparing stably transfected cells expressing mutated forms of CAIX, unable to bind glycans at their defined sites, we have attempted to clarify the role of glycan structures in CAIX functions. All three types of prepared mutants exhibited decreased adhesion to collagen. By surface plasmon resonance, we proved direct binding between CAIX and collagen. Cells lacking glycosaminoglycan modification of CAIX also showed reduced migration and invasion, indicating CAIX glycosaminoglycans' involvement in these processes. Analysis of signaling pathways affected by the loss of GAG component from CAIX molecule revealed decreased phosphorylation of c-Jun, of p38α kinase, focal adhesion kinase, and reduced level of heat shock protein 60 in cells cultured in hypoxia. Cells expressing CAIX without GAG exhibited increased metabolon formation and increased extracellular pH acidification. We also observed reduced CAIX GAG glycans in the inflammatory environment in hypoxia, pathophysiological conditions reflecting in vivo tumor microenvironment. Understanding the glycan involvement in the characteristics and functions of possible targets of cancer treatment, such as cell surface localized CAIX, could improve the therapy, as many drugs target glycan parts of a protein.

The 5-year survival rate for patients with lung cancer, the world's second most frequent malignant tumor, is less than 20%, and its prognosis cannot be clearly predicted. Our aim was to analyze the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) rs763317 (G>A) single nucleotide polymorphism and its association with prognosis in Chinese Han lung cancer patients. 839 patients with primary lung cancer were recruited, and genomic DNA was extracted and genotyped by SNPscan. Kaplan-Meier technique and multivariate Cox proportional hazards model were used to analyze the association between prognosis and EGFR polymorphism rs763317. A significant association after stratification by age, significantly increased lung cancer risk was associated with the AA homozygous genotype of rs763317 (adjusted hazard ratio = 2.53, 95% CI: 1.31-4.88, p=0.005), and conferred a poor survival for lung cancer patients (MST: median survival time: 13.6 months) compared with GG genotype (MST: 41.5 months), and in the recessive model AA genotype (AA vs. GG + GA; adjusted hazard ratio = 2.57, 95% CI: 1.34-4.93, p=0.004) who were young (<60 years) had a significantly increased risk of death. The EGFR polymorphism rs763617 might serve as a significant genetic marker for predicting the prognosis of lung cancer.

Immunotherapy has improved the prognosis of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but only a small subset of patients achieved clinical benefit. The purpose of our study was to integrate multidimensional data using a machine learning method to predict the therapeutic efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) monotherapy in patients with advanced NSCLC. We retrospectively enrolled 112 patients with stage IIIB-IV NSCLC receiving ICIs monotherapy. The random forest (RF) algorithm was used to establish efficacy prediction models based on five different input datasets, including precontrast computed tomography (CT) radiomic data, postcontrast CT radiomic data, a combination of the two CT radiomic data, clinical data, and a combination of radiomic and clinical data. The 5-fold cross-validation was used to train and test the random forest classifier. The performance of the models was assessed according to the area under the curve (AUC) in the receiver operating characteristic curve. Survival analysis was performed to determine the difference in progression-free survival (PFS) between the two groups with the prediction label generated by the combined model. The radiomic model based on the combination of precontrast and postcontrast CT radiomic features and the clinical model produced an AUC of 0.92±0.04 and 0.89±0.03, respectively. By integrating radiomic and clinical features together, the combined model had the best performance with an AUC of 0.94±0.02. The survival analysis showed that the two groups had significantly different PFS times (p<0.0001). The baseline multidimensional data including CT radiomic and multiple clinical features were valuable in predicting the efficacy of ICIs monotherapy in patients with advanced NSCLC.

Protein tyrosine phosphatases non-receptor 13 (PTPN13) could be a potential biomarker in breast cancer (BRCA), but its genetic variation and biological significance in BRCA remain undefined. Hereon, we comprehensively investigated the clinical implication of PTPN13 expression/gene mutation in BRCA. In our study, a total of 14 cases of triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC) treated with neoadjuvant therapy were enrolled, and post-operation TNBC tissues were collected for next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis (422 genes including PTPN13). According to the disease-free survival (DFS) time, 14 TNBC patients were divided into Group A (long-DFS) and Group B (short-DFS). The NGS data displayed that the overall mutation rate of PTPN13 was 28.57% as the third highest mutated gene, and PTPN13 mutations appeared only in Group B with short-DFS. In addition, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database demonstrated that PTPN13 was lower expressed in BRCA than in normal breast tissues. However, PTPN13 high expression was identified to be related to a favorable prognosis in BRCA using data from the Kaplan-Meier plotter. Moreover, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) revealed that PTPN13 is potentially involved in interferon signaling, JAK/STAT signaling, Wnt/β-catenin signaling, PTEN pathway, and MAPK6/MAPK4 signaling in BRCA. This study provided evidence that PTPN13 might be a tumor suppressor gene and a potential molecular target for BRCA, and genetic mutation and/or low expression of PTPN13 predicted an unfavorable prognosis in BRCA. The anticancer effect and molecular mechanism of PTPN13 in BRCA may be associated with some tumor-related signaling pathways.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a highly heterogeneous hematopoietic malignant tumor, accompanied by the abnormal cloning of myeloid hematopoietic stem cells, little is known about its etiological role and pathogenesis. We aimed to explore the effect and regulatory mechanism of LINC00504 on the malignant phenotypes of AML cells. In this study, LINC00504 levels in AML tissues or cells were ascertained by PCR. RNA pull-down and RIP assays were conducted to verify the combination of LINC00504 and MDM2. Cell proliferation was detected by CCK-8 and BrdU assays, apoptosis was checked by flow cytometry, and glycolytic metabolism levels were detected by ELISA analysis. The expressions of MDM2, Ki-67, HK2, cleaved caspase-3, and p53 were detected by western blotting and immunohistochemistry. A xenograft tumor model was used to detect the role of LINC00504 in vivo. Results showed that LINC00504 was highly expressed in AML and its high expression was related to clinicopathological features in AML patients. LINC00504 knockdown significantly inhibited the proliferation and glycolysis, while inducing apoptosis of AML cells. Meanwhile, LINC00504 downregulation also exerted a significant alleviating effect on AML cell growth in vivo. In addition, LINC00504 could bind to MDM2 protein and positively regulate its expression. Overexpression of LINC00504 promoted the malignant phenotypes of AML cells and partially reversed the inhibitory effects of LINC00504 knockdown on AML progression. In conclusion, LINC00504 facilitated AML cell proliferation and suppressed apoptosis through upregulating MDM2 expression, suggesting that LINC00504 may serve as a prognostic marker and therapeutic target in patients with AML.

Platinum-based chemotherapy is the primary treatment option for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients without a driver gene mutation, but its efficacy is still modest. Through a potential synergistic effect, autologous cellular immunotherapy (CIT) composed of cytokine-induced killer (CIK), natural killer (NK), and T cells might enhance it. NK cells exhibited in vitro cytotoxicity toward lung cancer cells (A549 cells) following platinum therapy. Using flow cytometry, the expression of MICA, MICB, DR4, DR5, CD112, and CD155 on lung cancer cells was assessed. In this retrospective cohort study, there were included 102 previously untreated stage IIIB/IV NSCLC patients ineligible for tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) target therapy who received either chemotherapy alone (n=75) or combination therapy (n=27). The cytotoxicity of NK cells for A549 cells was increased obviously and a time-dependent enhancement of this effect was also observed. After platinum therapy, the levels of MICA, MICB, DR4, DR5, CD112, and CD155 on the surface of A549 cells were increased. In the combination group, the median PFS was 8.3 months, compared to 5.5 months in the control group (p=0.042); the median overall survival was 18.00 months, compared to 13.67 months in the combined group (p=0.003). The combination group had no obvious immune-related adverse effects. The combination of NK cells with platinum showed synergistic anticancer effects. Combining the two strategies increased survival with minor adverse effects. Incorporating CIT into conventional chemotherapy regimens may improve NSCLC treatment. However, additional evidence will require multicenter randomized controlled trials.

The 5-year overall survival rate of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is less than 30%. Improving clinical outcomes is still a clinical challenge for AML treatment. Simultaneous use of chemotherapeutic drugs and targeting of apoptosis pathways has become a first-line clinical treatment for AML. Myeloid cell leukemia 1 (MCL-1) is a candidate target for AML treatment. In this study, we demonstrated that inhibition of the anti-apoptotic protein MCL-1 by AZD5991 synergistically increased chemotherapeutic agent cytarabine (Ara-C)-induced apoptosis in AML cell lines and primary patient samples. Apoptosis induced by a combination of Ara-C and AZD5991 was partially dependent on caspase activity and Bak/Bax. The downregulation of MCL-1 by Ara-C and the enhancement of Ara-C-induced DNA damage through inhibition of MCL-1 are potential mechanisms underlying the synergistic anti-AML activity between Ara-C and AZD5991. Our data support the application of MCL-1 inhibitor in combination with the conventional chemotherapeutic agent for the clinical treatment of AML.

After a decade of human urinary microbiota research, little is known about the composition of the urinary virome and its association with health and disease. This study aimed to investigate the presence of 10 common DNA viruses in human urine and their putative association with bladder cancer (BC). Catheterized urine samples were collected from patients undergoing endoscopic urological procedures under anesthesia. After DNA extraction from the samples, viral DNA sequences were detected using real-time PCR. Viruria rates were compared between BC patients and controls. A total of 106 patients (89 males and 17 females) were included in the study. Fifty-seven (53.8%) were BC patients and 49 (46.2%) had upper urinary tract stones or bladder outlet obstruction. The viruses detected in the urine were human cytomegalovirus (2.0%), Epstein-Barr virus (6.0%), human herpesvirus-6 (12.5%), human papillomavirus (15.2%), BK polyomavirus (15.5%), torque teno virus (44.2%), and JC polyomavirus (47.6%), while no adenoviruses, herpes simplex virus 1 and 2, or parvoviruses were found. There were statistically significant differences in HPV viruria rates between cancer patients and controls (24.5% vs. 4.3%, p=0.032 after adjustment for age and gender). Viruria rates increased from benign to non-muscle-invasive and muscle-invasive tumors. Patients with a history of BC have higher HPV viruria rates than controls. Whether this relationship is a causal one remains to be established by further research.