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Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapies have significantly improved the prognosis and shown considerable promise for cancer therapy; however, differences in ICB treatment efficacy between the elderly and young are unknown. We analyzed the studies enrolled in the meta-analysis using the deft approach, and found no difference in efficacy except melanoma patients receiving anti–PD-1 therapy. Similarly, higher treatment response rate and more favorable prognosis were observed in elderly patients in some cancer types (e.g., melanoma) with data from published ICB treatment clinical trials. In addition, we comprehensively compared immunotherapy-related molecular profiles between elderly and young patients from public trials and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and validated these findings in several independent datasets. We discovered a divergent age-biased immune profiling, including the properties of tumors (e.g., tumor mutation load) and immune features (e.g., immune cells), in a pancancer setting across 27 cancer types. We believe that ICB treatment efficacy might vary depending on specific cancer types and be determined by both the tumor internal features and external immune microenvironment. Considering the high mutational properties in elderly patients in many cancer types, modulating immune function could be beneficial to immunotherapy in the elderly, which requires further investigation.

Background Several studies have focused on the relationship between MMP-8 variants and cancer risk, but they have been unsuccessful in drawing reliable conclusions. Methods We employed odds ratio (OR) together with 95% confidence interval (CI) to assess the correlation between MMP-8 C-799 T, Lys460Thr, and Lys87Glu polymorphisms and cancer risk. We further employed in silico tools to evaluate the effect of MMP-8 expression on cancer susceptibility and overall survival time. Results A total of 8140 patients with malignant carcinoma and 10,529 healthy individuals (control) were enrolled. Overall, the analysis showed that the relationship between three MMP-8 variants and cancer susceptibility was not significant (allelic contrast, C-799 T: OR = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.92–1.04, Pheterogeneity = 0.068; Lys460Thr: OR = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.67–1.32, Pheterogeneity = 0.905; Lys87Glu: OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 0.93–1.18, Pheterogeneity = 0.968). Similar results were observed in subgroup analysis by ethnicity, cancer type, and source of control. In silico analysis indicated that MMP-8 expression was elevated in bladder cancer tissue compared to that in the control. However, both the higher and lower MMP-8 expression groups did not show an impact on the overall survival time of the patients. Conclusions MMP-8 C-799 T, Lys460Thr, and Lys87Glu variants are not participant with the susceptibility of cancer.

Previous studies have indicated that miR-200c is a promising cancer biomarker. However, different studies have presented conflicting results. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to perform a meta-analysis of miR-200c based on 34 relevant studies. The Materials and methods sections of papers were carefully identified using the databases PubMed, Web of Science and Embase for publications up to December 4, 2015. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were systematically calculated to investigate the association between the expression of miR-200c and cancer prognosis. The results demonstrated that elevated expression levels of miR-200c indicated significantly worse overall survival rates (HR=1.37, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.85), and a high level of miR-200c was considered an indicator of an unfavorable prognosis in patients from Europe and America (HR=1.85, 95% CI: 1.27, 2.69). Furthermore, overexpression of miR-200c was significantly associated with progression of the disease in the subgroups of tissue and blood samples (HR=0.68 and 2.45, respectively), and inferior overall survival rates for the blood subgroup were revealed (HR=2.21, 95% CI: 1.04, 4.72). In addition, miR-200c was of prognostic value in several disease subgroups. Taken together, high expression levels of miR-200c are of significant prognostic value in various human malignancies.

Objectives To evaluate whether there is a relation between expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and any of the paraneoplastic syndromes (PNS) in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) patients. Materials and methods A total of 667 patients with ccRCC and at least one PNS were included. Thorough history taking, physical examinations, and laboratory tests were used to diagnose PNS. Immunohistochemistry was performed for VEGF evaluation. Results There were 10 different PNS identified in the population. Sixty patients had a single paraneoplastic presentation. In all patients, presence of cachexia ( n = 267, P n = 40, P = 0.0014), and hypercalcemia ( n = 48, P = 0.0006) was correlated to VEGF expression. Correlation was neither acquired in Stauffer's syndrome, pyrexia, elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), anemia, thrombocytosis, hypertension, neuromyopathy nor obtained within patients with single PNS. Conclusions Relations between PNS and VEGF expression in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has not been studied yet. The results we gained hereby can help us further understand the mechanistic of PNS in RCC.

Objective: To investigate any association between renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and paraneoplastic syndromes (PNS). Subjects and Methods: The retrospective analysis included 1,028 patients of Chinese Han nationality with resectable RCC and PNS. The PNS included elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), hypertension, cachexia, anemia, pyrexia, abnormal liver function, hypercalcemia, polycythemia, varicocele and neuromyopathy. Staging was categorized as local (T1–2N0M0) and locally advanced (T3–4NxM0). Results: Among patients with at least one PNS, elevated ESR (p = 0.008), cachexia (p = 0.000), varicocele (p = 0.000) and pyrexia (p = 0.021) were related to advanced stage of RCC. Among patients with only one PNS, hypertension (p = 0.012) and hypercalcemia (p = 0.000) were related to advanced stage. The remaining PNS were not associated with tumor stage. Conclusion: Pyrexia, elevated ESR, cachexia and varicocele were related to advanced RCC. Hypertension and hypercalcemia occurring as single PNS, although also correlated with advanced stage, require further investigation.

To investigate the correlation between parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP), erythropoietin (EPO), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Immunohistochemical studies on PTHrP, EPO and VEGF were performed in 249 patients with ccRCC. Serum calcium level and haematocrit were analyzed. The expression of the factors and clinicopathological parameters were studied statistically for possible correlations. The incidence for hypercalcaemia and polycythaemia were 15.3 % and 2.0 % respectively. Expression of PTHrP, EPO, and VEGF were respectively related to advanced stage (P

Extramammary Paget’s disease (EMPD) is considered an intraepithelial adenocarcinoma. Paget’s disease of the penis is the most common disease of EMPD in male patients. The objective of this study was to investigate and improve our knowledge of the clinical features, diagnosis, therapeutic methods and outcome of penile Paget’s disease. Eleven patients from 2007 to 2012 with Paget’s disease of the penis were analyzed retrospectively based on diagnosis, treatment and the results on follow-up. All patients received local expanding resection with intraoperative frozen sections and reconstruction of defects with split-thickness skin graft from autologous thigh tissue. All surgeries were successful, and the postoperative course was uneventful with complete wound healing and graft survival. No lymph node metastasis was obtained. Both the morphology of the penis and its function were well maintained. Chronic skin lesions of the penis should be biopsied as soon as possible, if they are suspected to be due to Paget’s disease. Paget’s disease of the penis should be treated with wide local excision and intraoperative frozen section examination. In addition, reconstruction of defects with split-thickness skin graft from the patient’s thigh is an ideal choice for treatment.