Cancer Biomarkers - Volume 17, issue 4

Authors: Huang, Zhiliang | Ai, Zenan | Li, Nan | Xi, Haofeng | Gao, Xucan | Wang, Feng | Tan, Xiaojun | Liu, Haiying

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Over expression of galectin-3 (gal-3) has been associated with tumor invasion and distant metastases, but few reports investigated the relation between gal-3 expression and prognosis in stage II colon cancer. OBJECTIVE: We studied the expressions of gal-3, E-cadherin, and vimentin in stage II colon cancer to identify predictive factors of clinical outcome. METHODS: Clinical and laboratory data from 117 consecutive patients of stage II colon cancer during 2008-2010 were collected and analyzed retrospectively. Expressions of gal-3, E-cadherin, and vimentin in tumor tissue were investigated by immunohistochemistry. Potential correlations between these markers and …various clinicopathological parameters as well as clinical outcomes were studied. Human colon cancer cell line SW480 was used to test the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) inducing effects of gal-3 in vitro . RESULTS: High expression of tumoral gal-3 was associated with tumor size, poor differentiation and negatively related to low E-cadherin expression. Compare with adjacent normal colon tissue, most tumor tissues strongly expressed gal-3 and vimentin, but had lower E-cadherin expression. Univariate analysis showed that expressions of gal-3 and vimentin in tumor were predictors of tumor recurrence and overall survival. Multivariate analysis revealed that tumoral gal-3 expression was the only independent predictor of both tumor recurrence and overall survival after resection. Cell experiments and western blotting showed exogenous gal-3 could induce SW480 cells become more aggressive and express more hallmarks of EMT. CONCLUSIONS: Galectin-3 may be a useful marker for identification of poor prognosis in stage II colon cancer. Cell experiments and western blotting showed exogenous gal-3 could induce SW480 cells become more aggressive and express more hallmarks of EMT. Show more

Keywords: Galectin-3, E-cadherin, vimentin, colon cancer, prognosis

DOI: 10.3233/CBM-160661

Citation: Cancer Biomarkers, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 445-455, 2016

Authors: Khan, Fatima | Vogel, Rachel I. | Diep, Gustave K. | Tuttle, Todd M. | Lou, Emil

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Appendiceal cancer is a rare malignancy. The optimal pathologic classification and prognostic factors for survival and treatment strategies remain poorly understood. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to determine prognostic factors, including markers of systemic inflammation, for survival in a cohort of patients with advanced appendiceal adenocarcinomas. METHODS: The study included patients with advanced appendiceal carcinoma that were treated between January 2006 and June 2012. The associations between age, gender, histopathologic subtype of appendiceal malignancy and treatment with heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) and overall survival (OS) were assessed. The …relationship between various markers of inflammation (platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio) and OS was also evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 49 patients met eligibility criteria. Female gender and low-grade adenocarcinoma were associated with increased OS. These data suggest that the use of HIPEC treatment may also be associated with improved OS, but the difference was not statistically significant (HR = 0.37 [0.12-1.18], p = 0.09). We found no evidence of an association between markers of inflammation at diagnosis and OS. CONCLUSIONS: Histopathologic subtype and gender are associated with OS in patients with advanced appendiceal carcinoma. Baseline platelet levels, NLR, and PLR do not appear to be predictive of OS in this setting. Show more

Keywords: Appendiceal cancer, HIPEC, prognostic factors, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio

DOI: 10.3233/CBM-160662

Citation: Cancer Biomarkers, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 457-462, 2016

Authors: Wang, Lei | Ma, Hong | Zhu, Lixia | Ma, Liping | Cao, Lanting | Wei, Hui | Xu, Jumei

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To investigate novel gene sets related to breast cancer (BC) using differential co-expression and differential expression (DECODE). METHODS: T statistics was used to quantify the degree of DE of each gene, and then Z was adopted to quantify the correlation difference between expression levels of two genes. Two optimal thresholds for defining substantial change in DE and DC were selected for each gene using chi-square maximization, and the corresponding gene was defined as the optimal gene. Based on the optimal thresholds, genes were categorized into four partitions with either high or low DC and DE …characteristics. Finally, we evaluated the functional relevance of a gene partition with high DE and high DC, and the gene set with best association was considered as the optimal functional gene set. RESULTS: The optimal thresholds for DC and DE were respective 2.254 and 1.616, and the optimal gene was UBE2Q2L. Based on the optimal thresholds, genes were divided into four partitions including HDE-HDC (875 genes), HED-LDC (8038 genes), LDE-HDC (678 genes), and LDE-LDC (10516 genes). The best associated gene set was ``fatty acid catabolic process'' with 34 HDC and HDE partitions. Among these partitions, UBE2Q2L attained the highest minimum FI gain of 18.973. CONCLUSION: UBE2Q2L and fatty acid catabolic process might be potentially useful signatures in diagnostic purposes for BC. Show more

Keywords: Breast cancer, differential co-expression and differential expression, functional information

DOI: 10.3233/CBM-160663

Citation: Cancer Biomarkers, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 463-471, 2016

Authors: Lee, Deok Heon | Lee, Jae-Ho | Keum, Dong Yoon | Kim, Dae-Kwang

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The genetic alteration of mitochondrial DNA has been regarded as an important step in the development of several human tumors. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to identify frequency of mitochondrial microsatellite instability (mtMSI) and alterations in mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtCN) in pulmonary hamartoma. METHODS: DNA was isolated from tumor tissue and matched non-tumor tissue in 30 patients with pulmonary hamartoma. BAT 25 and 26 were used as nucleus MSI (nMSI) markers, and (C)n and (CA)n in D-loop were used as mtMSI markers. MtCNs were quantified using a competitive quantitative …real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: nMSI was detected in 5 patients (23.8%) and mtMSI was detected in 2 patients (9.5%) of total 21 hamartoma. There were 14 patients (46.7%), 2 patients (6.7%), and a further 14 patients (46.7%) in the decreased, no change, and increased mtCN groups, respectively. The mean relative mtCN were 0.4 ± 0.3 in the decreased and 3.9 ± 5.1 in the increased mtCN groups, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: nMSI was more frequently appeared than mtMSI in hamartomas, and we also found measurements of mtCNs in patients with pulmonary hamartoma to be extremely variable without any characteristic pattern. Show more

Keywords: Hamartoma, microsatellite instability, DNA copy number

DOI: 10.3233/CBM-160664

Citation: Cancer Biomarkers, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 473-478, 2016

Authors: Orsaria, Maria | Londero, Ambrogio P. | Marzinotto, Stefania | Di Loreto, Carla | Marchesoni, Diego | Mariuzzi, Laura

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To analyze the expression profile of placental type alkaline phosphatase (PLAP), cancer antigen 125 (CA125), and human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) in serous ovarian cancer and to correlate their expression with the tumor aggressiveness and progression. METHODS: Retrospective study considering a tissue microarray of 82 women affected by ovarian serous cancer. Protein expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry on ovarian serous cancer tissue samples. Immunohistochemical staining was semiquantitatively evaluated as H-score. RESULTS: Median H-score values were lower for PLAP, 1 (IQR 0-4) than CA125, 10 (IQR 6-12) or HE4, 8 (IQR 5-12). Even …if PLAP was less expressed in the cells of serous ovarian cancer than CA125 or HE4 it was relatively more expressed in the fourth quartile of its H-score distribution among cases with low CA125 or HE4 expression. Furthermore, PLAP and HE4 high expression resulted to be significantly correlated with a better prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: PLAP could be an additional marker for early detection of serous ovarian carcinoma, together with the established CA125 and HE4. In addition, PLAP expression is correlated with prognosis, giving, in this way, an additional tool for improving treatment approach. Show more

Keywords: PLAP, HE4, CA125, survival, prognostic factors, ovarian serous cancer

DOI: 10.3233/CBM-160665

Citation: Cancer Biomarkers, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 479-486, 2016

Authors: Juodzbalys, Gintaras | Kasradze, David | Cicciù, Marco | Sudeikis, Aurimas | Banys, Laurynas | Galindo-Moreno, Pablo | Guobis, Zygimantas

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: INTRODUCTION: Nearly half of the head and neck cancer cases are diagnosed in late stages. Traditional screening modalities have many disadvantages. The aim of the present article was to review the scientific literature about novel head and neck cancer diagnostics - epigenetic biomarkers. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: A comprehensive review of the current literature was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines by accessing the NCBI PubMed database. Authors conducted the search of articles in English language published from 2004 to 2015. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: A total of thirty three relevant studies were included in the review. …Fifteen of them concerned DNA methylation alterations, nine evaluation of abundancies in histone expressions and nine miRNA expression changes in HNC. CONCLUSIONS: Considerable number of epigenetic biomarkers have been identified in both tumor tissue and salivary samples. Genes with best diagnostic effectiveness rates and further studying prospects were: TIMP3, DCC, DAPK, CDH1, CCNA1, AIM1, MGMT, HIC1, PAX1, PAX5, ZIC4, p16, EDNRB, KIF1A, MINT31, CD44, RARβ , ECAD. Individual histone and miRNA alterations tend to be hnc specific. Prognostic values of separate biomarkers are ambiguous. No established standards for molecular assay of head and neck cancer was found in order to elude the paradoxical results and discrepancies in separate trials. Show more

Keywords: Head and neck cancer, DNA methylation, head and neck cancer histone, head and neck cancer miRNA

DOI: 10.3233/CBM-160666

Citation: Cancer Biomarkers, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 487-502, 2016

Article Type: Other

Citation: Cancer Biomarkers, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 503-509, 2016