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Chronic inflammation is associated with increased risk of gastric cancer (GC), and GC risk is significantly associated with lifestyle. The aim of the present study was to explore the association between serum inflammatory cytokines and lifestyle factors in GC. A total of 20 serum inflammatory cytokines were measured in a hospital-based case-control population with 142 GC patients and 98 healthy controls. Controls without the selected healthy lifestyle factors were regarded as baseline, and correlation analysis was conducted to establish the association between serum inflammatory cytokines and lifestyle factors. The results demonstrated that several lifestyle factors (including eating fried and salty foods, eating quickly, smoking and drinking) could increase the risk of GC, while only eating fresh fruits could decrease the risk of GC. Correlation analysis revealed that increased serum interleukin (IL)-12/IL-23P40 levels was associated with GC risk as significant differences were observed in all lifestyle factors. Increased serum IL-8 was closely associated with smoking in GC patients, while increased IL-17α and IL-8 levels were associated with GC patients who ate salty foods. Increased IL-10 and decreased TGF-β levels were also associated with GC patients who ate fresh fruits. In conclusion, GC risk was strongly affected by lifestyle factors, which may regulate the expression of inflammatory cytokines and promote gastric carcinogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nutrition support is a common means for patients with gastric cancer, especially for those undergoing elective surgery. Recently, enteral immunonutrition (EIN) was increasingly found to be more effective than enteral nutrition (EN) in enhancing the host immunity and eventually improving the prognosis of gastric cancer patients undergoing gastrectomy. However, the results reported were not consistent. This meta-analysis aimed to assess the impact of EIN for patients with GC on biochemical, immune indices and clinical outcomes.Methods: Four electronical databases (Medline, EMBASE, Scopus and Cochrane library) were used to search articles in peer-reviewed, English-language journals. Mean difference (MD), Relative risk (RR), or standard mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated. Heterogeneity was assessed by Cochrane Q and I2 statistic combined with corresponding P-value. The analysis was carried out with RevMan 5.3.Results: Seven studies involving 583 patients were eligible for the pooled analysis. EIN, when beyond a 7-day time-frame post-operatively (D ≥ 7), increased level of CD4+ (SMD = 0.99; 95% CI, 0.65-1.33; P < 0.00001), CD4+/ CD8+ (SMD = 0.34; 95% CI, 0.02-0.67; P = 0.04), the IgM (SMD = 1.15; 95% CI, 0.11-2.20; P = 0.03), the IgG (SMD = 0.98; 95% CI, 0.55-1.42; P < 0.0001), the lymphocyte (SMD = 0.69; 95% CI, 0.32-1.06; P = 0.0003), and the proalbumin (SMD = 0.73; 95% CI, 0.33-1.14; P = 0.0004). However, those increased effects were not obvious within a 7-day time-frame post-operatively (D < 7). The levels of CD8+ and other serum proteins except proalbumin were not improved both on D ≥ 7 and D < 7. Clinical outcomes such as systemic inflammatory response syndrone (SIRS) (MD, - 0.89 days; 95% CI, - 1.40 to - 0.39; P = 0.005), and postoperative complications (RR, 0.29; 95% CI, 0.14-0.60; P = 0.001) were significantly reduced in EIN group. Pulmonary infection and length of hospitalization (LHS) were not improved no matter what time after surgery.Conclusions: EIN was found to improve the cellular immunity, modulate inflammatory reaction and reduce postoperative complication for GC patients undergoing radical gastrointestinal surgery. Exclusion of grey literature and non-English language studies was the key limitation in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-α) correlates with deep invasion, advanced stage and poor prognosis in gastric cancer. Genetic variants in the 3′ untranslated region (UTR) of TGF-α gene may influence the stability and post-transcriptional regulation of mRNA and contribute to gastric cancer predisposition. To test this hypothesis, we genotyped five polymorphisms in 3′UTR (rs3771527, rs503314, rs473698, rs3732253 and rs538118) and one in 3′ near region (rs11466306) of the TGF-α gene by polymerase chain reaction-ligation detection reaction methods (PCR-LDR). We found that GA/AA genotype of rs11466306 in the 3′ near gene could increase the risk of overall gastric cancer (adjusted OR = 1.499, 95%CI: 1.101-2.041), compared to the wild homozygous GG genotype. Meanwhile, the risk effect was more obvious in the intestinal gastric cancer and gastric noncardia cancer (adjusted OR = 1.682, 95%CI: 1.188-2.380; adjusted OR = 1.495, 95%CI: 1.072-2.086, respectively), but not for the diffuse type and gastric cardia cancer ( p > 0.05). CT/TT genotype for rs3732253 in the 3′ UTR was associated with increased risk of intestinal gastric cancer (adjusted OR = 1.464, 95%CI: 1.036-2.069), compared to their wild homozygous genotypes. These findings indicate that potentially functional TGF-α gene variant may contribute to the risk of intestinal gastric cancer and/or gastric noncardia cancer and could be used as molecular markers for detecting intestinal gastric cancer and/or gastric noncardia cancer in Chinese Han population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene plays a key role in tumor survival, invasion, angiogenesis, and metastatic spread. Recent studies showed that gastric cancer (GC) was associated with polymorphisms of the EGFR gene and environmental influences, such as lifestyle factors. In this study, seven known SNPs in EGFR exons were investigated in a high-risk Chinese population in Jiangsu province to test whether genetic variants of EGFR exons and lifestyle are associated with an increased risk of GC. Methodology/Principal Findings: A hospital-based case-control study was performed in Jiangsu province. The results showed that smoking, drinking and preference for salty food were significantly associated with the risk of GC. The differences of lifestyle between males and females might be as the reason of higher incidence rates in males than those in females. Seven exon SNPs were genotyped rs2227983,rs2072454,rs17337023,rs1050171,rs1140475, rs2293347, and rs28384375. It was noted that the variant rs2072454 T allele and TT genotype were significantly associated with an increased risk of GC. Interestingly, our result suggested the ACAGCA haplotype might be associated with decreased risk of GC. However, no significant association was examined between the other six SNPs and the risk of GC both in the total population and the age-matching population even with gender differences. Conclusions: Smoking, drinking and preference for salty food were significantly associated with the risk of GC in Jiangsu province with gender differences. Although only one SNP (rs2072454) was significantly associated with an increased risk of GC, combined the six EGFR exon SNPs together may be useful for predicting the risk of GC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: Inflammation induced by H.pylori colonization in the stomach is related to the development of gastric cancer and the genetic variations of the genes involved in the immune responses modify the host response to the infection. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether polymorphisms in the toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) gene, a key regulator of both innate and adaptive immunity, were related to the susceptibility to gastric cancer in a Chinese population. Methods: Two variations in the 5′-flanking region of TLR4 (rs1927914 T > C and rs10759932 T > C) were genotyped by using the PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) assay in a case-control study of 1,053 incident gastric cancer cases and 1,100 cancer-free controls in a Chinese population. Results: Individuals carrying the C allele of rs10759932 had a significantly reduced risk of gastric cancer (adjusted OR = 0.81; 95%CI = 0.67-0.96), compared with the wild-type homozygote (TT), and the protective effect was not significantly different among subgroups stratified by age, sex, smoking, drinking and H.pylori infection status (P for heterogeneity > 0.05). No significant association was observed between rs1927914 and gastric cancer risk in this study population. Conclusion: The T to C allele substitution of rs10759932 may play a protective role in gastric carcinogenesis in a Chinese population. Large studies with different ethnic populations are warranted to confirm these findings. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Gastric cancer (GC) is an increasing global health problem and is one of the leading cancers worldwide. Traditional therapies, such as radiation and chemotherapy, have made limited progress in enhancing their efficacy for advanced GC. The development of immunotherapy for advanced GC has considerably improved with a deeper understanding of the tumor microenvironment. Immunotherapy using checkpoint inhibitors is a new therapeutic option that has made substantial advances in the treatment of other malignancies and is increasingly used in other clinical oncology treatments. Particularly, therapeutic antibodies targeting the programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) pathway have been effectively used in the clinical treatment of cancer. Monoclonal antibodies blocking the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway have been developed for cancer immunotherapy to enhance T cell function to restore the immune response and represent a breakthrough in the treatment of GC. This review provides an outline of the progress of PD-1/PD-L1 blockade therapy and its expression characteristics and clinical application in advanced GC. • PD-1/PD-L1 pathway obstruction using monoclonal antibodies enhances T-cell function. • PD-1/PD-L1 blockade immunotherapy is more effective than traditional GC therapies. • PD-1/PD-L1 blockade immunotherapy is less toxic than traditional GC therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Purpose The study aims to explore the characteristic microorganisms of the common tongue coatings in patients with gastric cancer (GC). Methods A total of 115 GC patients were assigned to four groups: White-thin coating (W-thin) group, White-thick coating (W-thick) group, Yellow-thin coating (Y-thin) group and Yellow-thick coating (Y-thick) group. Thirty-five healthy volunteers with White-thin coating were recruit as controls. High-throughput sequencing was used to describe the microbial community of the tongue coatings based on 16S rRNA and 18S rRNA genes. Multi-factors statistical analysis was carried out to present the microbial biomarkers of the tongue coating in GC patients. Results At bacterial phylum level, Saccharibacteria had higher relative abundance in W-thick group than W-thin group, Proteobacteria was more abundant in W-thin group than Y-thick group and less abundant in Y-thick group than Y-thin group. At fungal genus level, Guehomyces and Aspergillus presented to be significantly different among the common tongue coatings. Forteen significantly increased taxa were sorted out as the microbial biomarkers of common tongue coatings by LEfSe and ROC analysis. At species level, bacterial Capnocytophaga leadbetteri and fungal AmpelomycesspIRAN_1 may be the potential biomarkers of W-thin coating, four bacterial species (Megasphaera micronuciformis , Selenomonas sputigena ATCC 35185 , Acinetobacter ursingii , Prevotella maculosa) may be the potential biomarkers of W-thick coating. In general, the white coatings held more complex commensal relationship than the yellow coatings. Conclusion The common tongue coating owned characteristic microorganisms and special commensal relationship in the GC patients. Highlights • The microbial community participated in the variation of common tongue coatings in GC patients. • The white-thick tongue coating owed the most dramatically different microbiome. • In each tongue coating, positive correlations dominated the increased bacterial taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]