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Cholangiolocarcinoma (CLC) is an extremely rare tumor classified as a subtype of small duct-type intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA). There are few detailed reports on CLC and the prognostic impact of tumor heterogeneity is not clear. Between April 2006 and June 2022, of the 774 primary liver cancer resection cases who presented at Kanazawa University Hospital, 14 patients were pathologically diagnosed with CLC through immunohistochemical analysis of their molecular and biological features. Clinicopathological features and prognoses were evaluated retrospectively. Additionally, tumor heterogeneity was assessed and tumors were classified into pure and partial types according to the CLC component proportion in a single tumor. Chronic liver disease was observed in nine patients (64.3%). All tumors were mass-forming, and pathological R0 resection was achieved in 11 patients (78.6%). Tumor heterogeneity was classified as pure in 11 (78.6%) and partial in three (21.4%) patients. The median follow-up was 59.5 months (12–114 months). There was no difference in the 5-year disease-specific survival rates between the pure and partial (90.0% vs. 100.0%; P=0.200) types, but rates were significantly higher in the R0 resection group compared with those in the R1 resection group (100.0% vs. 50.0%; P=0.025). In conclusion, these results suggest that it is important for CLC patients to achieve curative resection, and CLC may have a good prognosis regardless of the proportion of CLC components in a single tumor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the present study was to investigate the association between zinc finger protein (ZNF) 689 expression and the clinicopathological features and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A total of 102 paired HCC and paired non‑cancerous tissues, and 16 normal liver tissues were collected. ZNF689 expression was examined in HCC tissues, paired‑noncancerous tissues, and normal liver tissues using RT‑qPCR and immunohistochemistry analysis, and the association between ZNF689 expression and HCC prognosis was analyzed using the Kaplan‑Meier method. ZNF689 expression was not significantly different between HCC tissues and paired‑noncancerous tissues (P=0.61). ZNF689 expression in HCC and paired‑noncancerous tissues was significantly increased compared with that in normal liver tissues (P<0.01). Positive expression of ZNF689 protein in HCC was significantly associated with a tumor size of ≥10 cm, tumor capsule infiltration, and microvascular invasion (P<0.05). Positive expression of ZNF689 was a prognostic factor for overall survival time [hazard ratio (HR):1.961; P=0.048] and progression‑free survival time (HR:1.902; P=0.041). ZNF689 maybe a novel predictor for prognosis of patients with HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monoamine oxidase A (MAOA), a mitochondrial enzyme, is closely associated with neurological disorders. Recently, MAOA has been linked to the progression of prostate cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, and cholangiocarcinoma. However, MAOA was reported to have different effects on the progression of these types of cancer, and the role of MAOA in non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) progression remains unclear. The present study determined the expression of MAOA and epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers in 45 pairs of NSCLC and matched non‑tumor adjacent lung tissues, and further analyzed the correlation between MAOA expression and the EMT or the development of clinicopathological features. The results demonstrated that protein and mRNA expression levels of MAOA in NSCLC tissues were higher than those observed in the matched non‑tumor adjacent lung tissues. Furthermore, the increased MAOA expression in NSCLC tissues was positively correlated with N‑cadherin (r=0.525, P=0.002), Slug (r=0.515, P=0.001), and Twist (r=0.448, P=0.008) expressions, but negatively correlated with E‑cadherin expression (r=‑0.387, P=0.01). Additionally, the elevated MAOA expression in NSCLC tissues was associated with late stage NSCLC (Z=‑2.596, P=0.029) and lymph node metastases (Z=‑2.378, P=0.020). These findings suggest that MAOA may have a role in promoting NSCLC progression by mediating EMT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sex determining region Y-box 7 (SOX7) is known to function as a tumor suppressor in a number of types of cancer; however, its role in liver and pancreatic carcinoma remains unclear. The present study investigated the association between SOX7 expression and the clinical pathology of these carcinomas, in particular if SOX7 expression may be used to predict recurrence and patient prognosis following radical resection of liver and pancreatic carcinoma. SOX7 expression in human liver and pancreatic carcinoma was detected by immunohistochemical analyses and validated using mRNA data from a high-throughput sequencing dataset from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). SOX7 expression was significantly downregulated in liver and pancreatic carcinoma relative to the adjacent benign tissues [immunoreactivity scores: Liver carcinoma (3.53±1.57) vs. benign (7.00±0.00), P<0.001; and pancreatic carcinoma (2.39±1.88) vs. benign (4.80±0.45), P=0.005]. In addition, downregulation of SOX7 was significantly associated with advanced stage liver carcinoma, and the primary pathological tumor stage and regional lymph node stages. These findings were further validated in the TCGA dataset. However, SOX7 down regulation was closely associated with the only pathological grade in pancreatic patients. Kaplan-Meier analyses revealed significant differences in overall and disease-free survival between patients with high and low levels of SOX7 expression. In addition, a multivariate analysis with Cox regression indicated that SOX7 may be an independent predictor of disease-free survival. The results indicate that SOX7 may inhibit the progression of liver carcinoma and that SOX7 downregulation may accurately predict poor prognosis in liver carcinoma patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite tremendous efforts to develop curative agents, there are few effective drugs for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This is predominantly due to the variations in individual HCC cases. As numerous HCC cases have no mutations in known tumor-associated genes, identification of novel genes involved in the development and progression of human cancers is considered to be an urgent issue. In the present study, surgical specimens of HCC were analyzed for the expression patterns of ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme, cell division cycle 34 (CDC34), which is hypomethylated in its promoter region and exhibits elevated expression levels in mouse skin tumors. The results of the current study clearly indicated that the elevated CDC34 expression level in cancerous regions was significantly associated with favorable clinicopathological features, such as reduced alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels and histological grades. Similarly, a higher T/N ratio, which is the ratio of CDC34 expression in HCCs to that in non-tumorous tissues, was significantly associated with favorable features, such as a lower indocyanin green retention rate after 15 min (ICG15R), reduced a-fetoprotein and smaller tumor size. These results indicate that the CDC34 expression level in HCC is a marker for predicting the HCC prognosis and that CDC34 acts as a tumor suppressor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MicroRNA (miRNA or miR)-298 has been reported to be downregulated and to modify the expression of the polycomb protein enhancer of zeste 2 (EZH2) in recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). To date, no functional evidence of a miR-298-EZH2 axis in EOC has been documented. The present study aimed to investigate the associations of miR-298 and/or EZH2 expression with clinicopathological features of EOC patients, and revealed their roles in cell motility based on EOC cell lines. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was performed to detect the expression levels of miR-298 and EZH2 messenger RNA in human EOC tissues and cell lines. Wound healing and transwell assays were performed to determine the function of the miR-298-EZH2 axis on cell migration and invasion, respectively. Compared with normal tissues, miR-298 expression was significantly downregulated, while EZH2 expression was significantly upregulated, in human EOC tissues (both P=0.001). In addition, miR-298 downregulation and EZH2 upregulation were significantly associated with high clinical stage (both P=0.01) and pathological grade (both P=0.02) of EOC patients. Furthermore, the ectopic expression of miR-298 could efficiently inhibit cell migration and invasion. Notably, the overexpression of EZH2 could restore the cell migration and invasion abilities suppressed by miR-298. Our data offer convincing evidence that the dysregulation of the miR-298-EZH2 axis may be important in tumor progression of EOC patients. The present study also confirmed a tumor-suppressive role of miR-298 in modulating EOC cell motility by regulating the expression of EZH2, implying its potential as a novel miRNA-based therapeutic target for the treatment of human EOC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma (SACC) is a common salivary malignancy. The current treatment option for SACC is complete surgical excision with postoperative radiotherapy. The prognosis remains unsatisfactory, due to frequent local recurrence and distant metastases that directly reduce the overall survival time. Previous studies have shown that overexpression of tumor-associated calcium signal transducer 2 (TACSTD2) is associated with poor prognosis in various human epithelial cancers. The expression of TACSTD2 in SACC is currently unknown. The present study therefore aimed to retrospectively investigate TACSTD2 protein expression by immunohistochemistry on paraffin-embedded primary tumor tissue samples from a series of consecutive SACC patients (n=81). The correlation of TACSTD2 expression with clinicopathological variables was evaluated using either the Kruskal-Wallis or Mann-Whitney statistical tests. The survival curves were plotted using the Kaplan-Meier method. The parameters of prognostic significance found by univariate analysis were verified in a multivariate Cox regression model. Overexpression of TACSTD2 was detected in 35/81 (44%) SACC patients and was significantly associated with a decreased overall survival (P<0.01). Univariate analysis showed that TACSTD2 overexpression was correlated with TNM stage (P=0.020), local recurrence (P=0.002) and distant metastasis (P=0.001). Multivariate analyses further revealed that TACSTD2 may be an independent prognostic indicator. In conclusion, TACTSD2 could be recognized as an independent prognostic indicator for SACC. Gene therapy targeting TACSTD2 may be a possible treatment approach for patients with SACC overexpressing this cell-surface marker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]