• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.3329-3334
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• 2012

Background: Several potential risk factors have been identified for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL); however, epidemiological studies investigating the association between these risk factors and DLBCL have yielded inconsistent results. Objectives: To investigate potential medical, lifestyle, and environmental risk factors of DLBCL in Shanghai, China through a hospital-based case-control study. Method: One-hundred-and-forty-seven newly diagnosed DLBCL patients and 294 sex- and age-matched controls were recruited from 11 hospitals in Shanghai between 2003 and 2007. A standardized structured questionnaire was used to obtain patient data on demographics, medical history, family history, lifestyle, and environmental exposures. Conditional logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs), with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), for risk associated with each data category. Results: History of tuberculosis (TB) infection and "living on a farm" were positively associated with DLBCL (TB: OR=3.05, 95% CI: 1.19-7.80; farm: OR=1.82, 95% CI: 1.21-2.73). In contrast, taking traditional Chinese medicine was negatively associated with DLBCL (OR=0.36, 95% CI: 0.14-0.89). No significant correlation with DLBCL risk was found for any of the other potential risk factors (p>0.05), including but not limited to hair dyes, alcohol drinking, smoking, and home/workplace renovation within one year. Conclusions: Consistent with results from previous studies in other DLBCL case populations, traditional Chinese medicine appeared to have a direct or indirect protective effect against DLBCL. However, this study also identified a possible predisposition for DLBCL in TB sufferers and farmers.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.13
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• pp.5463-5468
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• 2014

MicroRNAs might act as oncogenes or tumor suppressors in cancer. Recent studies have shown that miR-421 is up-regulated in human gastric cancer. Here, we found that miR-421 was over-expressed in gastric cancer tissues and cell lines. Bioinformatics analysis predicted that the caspase-3 gene was a target of miR-421. Caspase-3 was negatively regulated by miR-421 at the post-transcriptional level. Bax and Bcl-2 were also regulated by miR-421. Moreover, tumor necrosis factor receptor-I and -II, death receptors in the apoptosis pathway, were up-regulated by miR-421. The over-expression of miR-421 promoted gastric cancer cell growth and inhibited apoptosis of the BGC-823 gastric cancer cell line. These observations indicate that miR-421 acts as a tumor promoter by targeting the caspase-3 gene and preventing apoptosis of gastric cancer cells through inhibition of caspase-3 expression. These findings contribute to our understanding of the functions of miR-421 in gastric cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.24
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• pp.10893-10898
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• 2015

Several molecular markers have been proposed as predictors of outcome in patients with glioblastomas. We investigated the prognostic significance of $O^6$-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation and TP53 mutation status dependent on isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) mutation in glioblastoma patients. A cohort of 78 patients with histologically confirmed glioblastomas treated with radiation therapy and chemotherapy were reviewed retrospectively. We evaluated the prognostic value of MGMT promoter methylation and TP53 mutation status with regard to progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). It was revealed that mutations in IDH1, promoter methylation of MGMT, TP53 mutation, age, Karnofsky performance status (KFS), and extension of resection were independent prognostic factors. In patients with an IDH1 mutation, those with an MGMT methylation were associated with longer PFS (p=0.016) and OS (p=0.013). Nevertheless, the presence of TP53 mutation could stratify the PFS and OS of patients with IDH1 wild type (p=0.003 and 0.029 respectively, log-rank). The MGMT promoter methylation and TP53 mutation were associated with a favorable outcome of patients with and without mutant IDH1, respectively. The results indicate that glioblastomas with MGMT methylation or TP53 mutations have improved survival that may be influenced by IDH1 mutation status.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.95-111
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• 2022

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an important healthcare problem worldwide. Often, glucocorticoid (GC) resistance develops during COPD treatment. As a classic hypoglycemic drug, metformin (MET) can be used as a treatment strategy for COPD due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, but its specific mechanism of action is not known. We aimed to clarify the role of MET on COPD and cigarette smoke extract (CSE)-induced GC resistance. Through establishment of a COPD model in rats, we found that MET could improve lung function, reduce pathological injury, as well as reduce the level of inflammation and oxidative stress in COPD, and upregulate expression of nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), multidrug resistance protein 1 (MRP1), and histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2). By establishing a model of GC resistance in human bronchial epithelial cells stimulated by CSE, we found that MET reduced secretion of interleukin-8, and could upregulate expression of Nrf2, HO-1, MRP1, and HDAC2. MET could also increase the inhibition of MRP1 efflux by MK571 significantly, and increase expression of HDAC2 mRNA and protein. In conclusion, MET may upregulate MRP1 expression by activating the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway, and then regulate expression of HDAC2 protein to reduce GC resistance.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.1169-1173
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• 2007

The protein encoded by SLC27A2 gene is an isozyme of long-chain fatty-acid-coenzyme A ligase family, and it converts free long-chain fatty acids into fatty acyl-CoA esters, and thereby plays a key role in lipid biosynthesis and fatty acid degradation. In the present study, SLC27A2 located on human chromosome 15 was selected as candidate gene and we isolated and cloned partial fragments of mRNA sequence and genomic fragments of porcine SLC27A2 gene. The coding region of the gene as determined by alignments shared 90% and 82% identity with human and mouse cDNAs, respectively. Detection in LargeWhite and Meishan breeds showed that a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) ($A{\rightarrow}G$) existed in exon 7, which caused corresponding amino acid changed for encoding. In LargeWhite pigs it encoded for Val while in Meishan pigs it encoded for Ile, so we developed the PCR-RFLP genotype method for detection of this polymorphism. Association study in 135 $F_2$ reference family indicated that significant correlation existed between the polymorphism and growth and carcass traits.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.22
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• pp.9759-9761
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• 2014

Purpose: To compare tumor size by mammography and sonography and align with pathological results in primary breast cancer cases. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 95 primary breast cancer patients who underwent mammography and sonography from January 2011 to June 2012. The largest tumor diameter was chosen as sizing reference for each imaging modality. The measurements of mammography and sonography were considered concordant if they were within the measurement of pathological results ${\pm}0.5cm$. Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated for imaging results. Results: The range of the maximum diameter was 0.6cm-10.5cm and mean value was $3.81{\pm}2.04cm$ by pathological results, 0.7cm-12.4 cm and $3.99{\pm}2.19cm$ by mammography, and 0.9cm-11.0cm and $3.63{\pm}2.01cm$ by sonography, respectively. Sonography (R: 0.754), underestimated tumor size, but had a better correlation with pathological tumor size compared to mammography (R: 0.676), which overestimated tumor size. Conclusions: Sonography is superior to mammography in assessment of primary breast cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.2979-2982
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• 2013

Cervical cancer is a commonly-encountered malignant tumor in women. Cervical screening is particularly important due to early symptoms being deficient in specificity. The main purpose of the study is to assess the application value of cervical thinprep cytologic test (TCT) and human papillomavirus (HPV) detection in screening for cervical cancer and precancerous lesions. In the study, cervical TCT and HPV detection were simultaneously performed on 12,500 patients selected in a gynecological clinic. Three hundred patients with positive results demonstrated by cervical TCT and/or HPV detection underwent cervical tissue biopsy under colposcopy, and pathological results were considered as the gold standard. The results revealed that 200 out of 12,500 patients were abnormal by TCT, in which 30 cases pertained to equivocal atypical squamous cells (ASCUS), 80 cases to low squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL), 70 cases to high squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) and 20 cases to squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). With increasing pathological grade of cervical biopsy, however, TCT positive rates did not rise. Two hundred and eighty out of 12,500 patients were detected as positive for HPV infection, in which 50 cases were chronic cervicitis and squamous metaplasia, 70 cases cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) I, 60 cases CIN II, 70 cases CIN III and 30 cases invasive cervical carcinoma. Two hundred and thirty patients with high-risk HPV infection were detected. With increase in pathological grade, the positive rate of high-risk HPV also rose. The detection rates of HPV detection to CIN III and invasive cervical carcinoma as well as the total detection rate of lesions were significantly higher than that of TCT. Hence, HPV detection is a better method for screening of cervical cancer at present.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.14
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• pp.5945-5950
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• 2014

Objectives: To retrospectively review the safety and clinical efficacy of bevacizumab concomitant with chemotherapy in Chinese patients with advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSNSCLC). Methods: Clinical data for 79 patients with NSNSCLC who received bevacizumab concomitant with chemotherapy in Chinese PLA General Hospital from April 28th 2009 to May 5th 2013 were retrospectively reviewed to analyze the clinical efficacy including disease control rate (DCR), overall response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score and the safety. Results: The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score was 0-2. By the final cutoff date (June 9, 2013), 54 (68.4%) patients had disease progression and 37 (46.8%) died. The ORR was 32.9% and the DCR was 83.5%. The ORR of the first-, second-, and third- or later-line treatments were 51.4%, 25.0% and 12.5%, while the DCR were 94.3%, 80.0% and 70.8%, respectively. The median OS (mOS) and PFS (mPFS) were 13.5 and 5.83 months, respectively. The mOS of patients with the first-, second-, and third- or later- line treatments were 16.2, 10.9 and 8.30 months, while the mPFS were 7.27, 5.90 and 5.17 months, respectively. Chemotherapy-related adverse events included myelosuppression, vomiting, hepatic dysfunction and renal dysfunction, while the common serious bevacizumab-related adverse events were thromboembolic problems, gastrointestinal perforation and reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome, which could be well managed. Conclusions: Bevacizumab concomitant with chemotherapy is effective and the related toxicity can be well tolerated in Chinese patients with NSNSCLC.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.2205-2210
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• 2014

Objective: To retrospectively review the clinical characteristics and analyze the prognostic factors of Chinese patients with pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors. Materials and Methods: The clinical data of 176 patients with pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors in Chinese PLA General Hospital from Mar., 2000 to Oct., 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. The parameters were evaluated by univariate and multivariate analysis, including the gender, age, smoking history, family history, TNM staging, localization (central or peripheral), tumor size, nodal status, histological subtype and treatment (operation or non-operation). Results: There were 23 patients with typical carcinoids (TC) (13.1%), 41 with atypical carcinoids (AC) (23.3%), 10 with large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) (5.7%) and 102 with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) (57.9%). The median follow-up time was 64.5 months for AC, 38 months for LCNEC and 27 months for SCLC. The typical carcinoid censored data was 18 (more than 50% of the patients), so the median follow-up time was not obtained, and actuarial 5-year survivals for TC, AC, LCNEC and SCLC were 75.1%, 51.7%, 26.7% and 38.8%, respectively. COX univariate analysis revealed that the age (P=0.001), histological subtype (P=0.005), nodal status (P=0.000), treatment (P=0.000) and TNM staging (P=0.000) were the prognostic factors of the patients with pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors, whereas its multivariate analysis showed that only the age(P=0.001), TNM staging (P=0.002) and treatment (P=0.000) were independent prognostic factors. Conclusions: Radical surgery remains the treatment of choice, and is the only curative option. The age, TNM staging and treatment are confirmed to be the independent prognostic factors in multivariable models for pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.6019-6023
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• 2013

Lung cancer, one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths, usually appears as solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs) which are hard to diagnose using the naked eye. In this paper, curvelet-based textural features and clinical parameters are used with three prediction models [a multilevel model, a least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression method, and a support vector machine (SVM)] to improve the diagnosis of benign and malignant SPNs. Dimensionality reduction of the original curvelet-based textural features was achieved using principal component analysis. In addition, non-conditional logistical regression was used to find clinical predictors among demographic parameters and morphological features. The results showed that, combined with 11 clinical predictors, the accuracy rates using 12 principal components were higher than those using the original curvelet-based textural features. To evaluate the models, 10-fold cross validation and back substitution were applied. The results obtained, respectively, were 0.8549 and 0.9221 for the LASSO method, 0.9443 and 0.9831 for SVM, and 0.8722 and 0.9722 for the multilevel model. All in all, it was found that using curvelet-based textural features after dimensionality reduction and using clinical predictors, the highest accuracy rate was achieved with SVM. The method may be used as an auxiliary tool to differentiate between benign and malignant SPNs in CT images.