Int J Med Sci
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There is a great interest in searching for diagnostic biomarkers in prostate cancer patients. The aim of the pilot study was to evaluate free amino acid profiles in their serum and urine. The presented paper shows the first comprehensive analysis of a wide panel of amino acids in two different physiological fluids obtained from the same groups of prostate cancer patients (n = 49) and healthy men (n = 40). ⋯ Moreover, free amino acid profiles enabled to classify samples to one of the studied groups with high sensitivity and specificity. The presented research provides a strong evidence that ethanolamine, arginine and branched-chain amino acids metabolic pathways can be a valuable source of markers for prostate cancer. The altered concentrations of the above-mentioned metabolites suggest their role in pathogenesis of prostate cancer and they should be further evaluated as clinically useful markers of prostate cancer.
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Congenital heart disease (CHD), the most common form of developmental abnormality in humans, remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in neonates. Genetic defects have been recognized as the predominant causes of CHD. Nevertheless, CHD is of substantial genetic heterogeneity and the genetic defects underlying CHD in most cases remain unclear. ⋯ Functional analyses by using a dual-luciferase reporter assay system showed that the mutant TBX20 lost the ability to transactivate the target gene ANF. Furthermore, the mutation reduced the synergistic activation between TBX20 and NKX2.5 as well as GATA4, two other transcriptional factors previously associated with various CHD, encompassing TOF. This study firstly links TBX20 loss-of-function mutation to familial TOF or sporadic persistent truncus arteriosus, providing novel insight into the molecular pathogenesis of CHD.
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Globally, morbidity and mortality due to cancer are predicted to increase in both men and women in the coming decades. Furthermore, it is estimated that two thirds of these cancer-related deaths will occur in low-and middle-income countries (LMIC). In addition to morbidity and mortality, cancer also causes an enormous economic burden, especially in developing countries. ⋯ Because of its low cost, for patients from LMIC with inoperable tumors, RT may be the only option. With the overall increase in the number of cancer patients especially in resource-starved LMIC, the need for more RT facilities further affects the economic growth of those countries. Therefore, an advanced molecular-targeted and more integrated approach involving either RT alone or with surgery and improved cancer drug access worldwide are urgent needs for cancer care.
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EGF-like domain 6 (EGFL6), a member of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) repeat protein superfamily, is a secreted protein that promotes endothelial cell migration and angiogenesis. The current study investigated the association between the clinicopathological characteristics and plasma level of EGFL6 in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). We measured the plasma EGFL6 levels of 392 OSCC patients by using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. ⋯ Similar results were observed for the TCGA bioinformatics database. Moreover, plasma EGFL6 levels were significantly higher in the patients with advanced T status (p = 0.002), distant metastasis (p = 0.001), and higher TNM stage (p=0.033). In conclusion, our results suggest that plasma level of EGFL6 may be useful to assess disease progression, and especially advanced T status and higher TNM stage in patients with OSCC.
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Background: Currently, sorafenib is the only systemic chemotherapy drug for advanced stage Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, emerging data from some clinical HCC patients indicate that sorafenib alone has only moderate antitumor efficacy, and could not inhibit disease metastasis and progression. KU-55933 is a specific ATM inhibitor, which has pro-apoptotic effect on tumor cells. ⋯ The combination treatment with sorafenib and KU-55933 resulted in a strong synergistic effect in vitro. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that sorafenib combined with KU-55933 treatment does effectively inhibit proliferation of HCC cell lines synergistically. These data suggests that KU-55933 may be a promising chemosensitizer to sorafenib in the treatment of HCC.