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Introduction: Anti-programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) therapies have shown promising clinical activity against gastric cancer (GC). We evaluated the clinical significance of immune-related gene expression in GC tissues to better understand the tumor immune microenvironment., Methods: PD-1, PD-1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) and CD8 mRNA levels and clinicopathological factors, including survival, were examined by quantitative RT-PCR in 155 GC patients who underwent surgery. PD-1 and PD-L1 expression in tumor tissue from 24 GC patients was investigated by immunohistochemical analysis., Results: PD-1, PD-L1 and CD8 mRNA levels were significantly lower in tumor tissue than in normal tissue (p < 0.0001, p < 0.05, and p < 0.0001). GC patients with low PD-1, PD-L1 and CD8 mRNA levels had significantly poorer overall survival (OS) than those with high PD-1, PD-L1 and CD8 mRNA levels, respectively (p < 0.001, p < 0.01 and p < 0.05). Low PD-1, PD-L1 and CD8 mRNA levels were more significantly associated with poor prognosis in undifferentiated-type GC patients than in differentiated-type GC patients (PD-1: differentiated p = 0.0071 vs. undifferentiated p = 0.0024; PD-L1: p = 0.6527 vs. p < 0.0001; CD8: p = 0.4465 vs. p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that lymph node metastasis, peritoneal dissemination, distant metastasis, low PD-1 mRNA levels and low CD8 mRNA levels were independent prognostic factors for worse OS (low PD-1 mRNA level: OR 2.16, 95% CI 1.10-4.58, p < 0.05; low CD8 mRNA level: OR 2.55, 95% CI 1.12-6.90, p < 0.05). PD-1 and PD-L1 mRNA levels in immune cells were significantly associated with PD-1 and PD-L1 protein levels (both p < 0.05), respectively., Conclusions: PD-1, PD-L1 and CD8 mRNA levels may reflect antitumor immunity in GC, and low PD-1 and CD8 mRNA levels are potential predictive biomarkers for poor prognosis in GC patients who underwent surgery., (© 2020 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Background: High mobility group 1 (HMGB1) is a highly conserved non-histone nucleosomal protein in mammals. We investigated the clinical significance of HMGB1 expression in colorectal cancer (CRC)., Patients and Methods: The expression of HMGB1 mRNA in 140 tumor and normal tissues from CRC patients was examined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We immunohistochemically investigated HMGB1 expression in tumor and metastatic lymph nodes in CRC., Results: HMGB1 expression was significantly higher in tumor than in normal tissues. High HMGB1 expression was associated with larger tumor volumes, higher rates of lymphatic invasion, more frequent lymph node metastases and poorer prognoses for overall survival. Multivariate analyses showed that HMGB1 expression was an independent prognostic indicator of overall survival. Immunocytochemical analysis revealed that HMGB1 was overexpressed in both CRC tissues and regional lymph node metastases., Conclusion: Investigating HMGB1 expression may be a predictor of postoperative lymph node metastasis and prognosis in CRC., (Copyright© 2014 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Identification of useful markers associated with poor prognosis in breast cancer patients is critically needed. We previously showed that expression of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 mRNA in peripheral blood may be useful to predict distant metastasis in gastric cancer patients. However, expression of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 mRNA in peripheral blood of breast cancer patients has not yet been studied., Methods: Real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR was used to analyze vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 mRNA expression status with respect to various clinical parameters in 515 patients with breast cancer and 25 controls., Results: Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 mRNA in peripheral blood was higher in breast cancer patients than in controls. Increased vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 mRNA expression was associated with large tumor size, lymph node metastasis and clinical stage. Patients with high vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 mRNA expression also experienced a poorer survival rate than those with low expression levels, including those patients with triple-negative type and luminal-HER2(-) type disease., Conclusions: Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 mRNA in peripheral blood may be useful for prediction of poor prognosis in breast cancer, especially in patients with triple-negative type and luminal-HER2(-) type disease.

FBXW7 is a tumor suppressor gene that plays a role in cell cycle regulation via Myc degradation. However, the clinical significance of FBXW7 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has not been evaluated. The purpose of this study was to assess the clinical significance of FBXW7 for prognosis in human ESCC. Real-time RT-PCR was used to examine the expression of FBXW7 to determine its clinicopathological significance in 75 cases of ESCC. Overall survival rate was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method, while multivariate survival was analyzed with the Cox hazard model. FBXW7 suppression analysis was performed to examine proliferation potency and Myc expression in the FBXW7 siRNA groups. The relationship between FBXW7 expression and the copy number loss of FBXW7 was examined in clinical samples of ESCC. Finally, FBXW7 copy number loss was linked to prognosis in 42 ESCC patients. FBXW7 expression in cancer was lower compared to non-cancer tissues (P=0.003) and is an independent prognostic factor. The proliferation rates and Myc protein expression were significantly enhanced in FBXW7 siRNA cells compared to the controls. Cases with a loss of FBXW7 copy number had low FBXW7 expression and a poorer prognosis than cases with no loss of copy number. Genetic alterations in esophageal cancer lead to the loss of FBXW7 expression and increased cell proliferation. These genetic alterations of FBXW7 status may provide a prognostic factor for ESCC patients.

CDC28 protein kinase regulatory subunit 2 (CKS2) is a cyclin-dependent kinase subunit (CKS) family member that participates in cell cycle regulation. Few studies have investigated its involvement in gastric cancer. In this study, we focused on the clinical and biological significance of CKS2 over-expression in gastric cancer. The expression of CKS2 mRNA was studied by real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, and the expression status in each tumor was examined to varify whether any correlation existed with clinical and pathological factors. In addition, an immuno-histochemical study was performed in selected samples. Moreover, we examined the impact of CKS2-siRNA in a gastric cancer cell line. A significantly higher expression of CKS2 mRNA was found in tumor tissues compared to paired normal tissues (p<0.01). Immunohistochemical analyses led to similar results. The overall five-year survival rate was significantly higher in the low CKS2 expression group (59.9%) than in the high CKS2 expression group (23.9%) (p<0.01). Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that CKS2 expression status was an independent prognostic factor (relative risk, 1.41; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.97; p<0.05). Moreover, the inhibition of cellular proliferation by CKS2-siRNA was observed in a gastric cancer cell line. CKS2 is one of the gastric cancer-related genes that correlates with biological aggressiveness and poor prognosis of gastric cancer. Thus, CKS2 is a possible candidate gene for diagnosis, as well as targeted molecular diagnosis and therapy in gastric cancer.

Aim: Gastric mucosal changes associated with chronic gastritis are known to be precancerous lesions of gastric cancer. We aimed to identify individuals with a high risk of gastric cancer by detection of microRNAs (miRNA) in the blood as biomarkers. Methods: Of 1206 individuals screened, 144 who were positive for Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) by the serum antibody test and who underwent endoscopy were the subjects of this study. For the gross assessment of mucosal inflammation, we applied the Kimura–Takemoto classification, in which normal mucosa was defined as grade 0, and atrophy was categorized as grade 1 (C‐1 and C‐2), grade 2 (C‐3 and O‐1), and grade 3 (O‐2 and O‐3). Serum samples were divided into two phases and used for miRNA microarray profiling. We compared the expression of miRNAs in grade 3 mucosa and other grades. Expression in gastric cancer was confirmed with TCGA data. Results: miR‐196b‐3p was significantly upregulated, and miR‐92a‐2‐5p was downregulated (P <.05 and q < 0.2). TCGA data showed a high expression of miR‐196b‐3p in gastric cancer cases (P <.001). Comparing grade 3 and the others, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve using the detected miRNAs was as high as about 0.7. Furthermore, the combination of miRNAs resulted in higher accuracy. In terms of the significance of the combinatory mRNAs, the combination of three miRNAs (miR‐196b‐3p, miR‐92a‐2‐5p, and miR‐6791‐3p) revealed high sensitivity and specificity, with the area under the curve exceeding 0.8. Conclusion: The identified combinatory miRNAs may represent promising biomarkers of precancerous lesions in gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: The risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) persists in a condition of sustained virologic response (SVR) after hepatitis C virus (HCV) eradication. Comprehensive molecular analyses were performed to test the hypothesis that epigenetic abnormalities present after an SVR play a role in hepatocarcinogenesis. Methods: Whole‐genome methylome and RNA sequencing were performed on HCV, SVR, and healthy liver tissue. Integrated analysis of the sequencing data focused on expression changes in transcription factors and their target genes, commonly found in HCV and SVR. Identified expression changes were validated in demethylated cultured HCC cell lines and an independent validation cohort. Results: The coincidence rates of the differentially methylated regions between the HCV and SVR groups were 91% in the hypomethylated and 71% in the hypermethylated regions in tumorous tissues, and 37% in the hypomethylated and 36% in the hypermethylated regions in non‐tumorous tissues. These results indicate that many epigenomic abnormalities persist even after an SVR was achieved. Integrated analysis identified 61 transcription factors and 379 other genes that had methylation abnormalities and gene expression changes in both groups. Validation cohort specified gene expression changes for 14 genes, and gene ontology pathway analysis revealed apoptotic signaling and inflammatory response were associated with these genes. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that DNA methylation abnormalities, retained after HCV eradication, affect the expression of transcription factors and their target genes. These findings suggest that DNA methylation in SVR patients may be functionally important in carcinogenesis, and could serve as biomarkers to predict HCC occurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Fanconi anemia complementation group E (FANCE) is a Fanconi anemia (FA) pathway gene that regulates DNA repair. We evaluated the clinical relevance of FANCE expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: First, the associations between the expression of FA pathway genes including FANCE and clinical outcomes in HCC patients were analyzed in 2 independent cohorts: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA, n = 373) and our patient cohort (n = 53). Localization of FANCE expression in HCC tissues was observed by immunohistochemical staining. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and gene network analysis (SiGN_BN) were conducted using the TCGA dataset. Next, an in vitro proliferation assay was performed using FANCE-knockdown HCC cell lines (HuH7 and HepG2). The association between mRNA expression of FANCE and that of DNA damage response genes in HCC was analyzed using TCGA and Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia datasets. Finally, the association between FANCE mRNA expression and overall survival (OS) in various digestive carcinomas was analyzed using TCGA data. Results: FANCE was highly expressed in HCC cells. Multivariate analysis indicated that high FANCE mRNA expression was an independent factor predicting poor OS. GSEA revealed a positive relationship between enhanced FANCE expression and E2F and MYC target gene expression in HCC tissues. FANCE knockdown attenuated the proliferation of HCC cells, as well as reduced cdc25A expression and elevated histone H3 pSer10 expression. SiGN_BN revealed that FANCE mRNA expression was positively correlated with DNA damage response genes (H2A histone family member X and checkpoint kinase 1) in HCC tissues. Significant effects of high FANCE expression on OS were observed in hepatobiliary pancreatic carcinomas, including HCC. Conclusions: FANCE may provide a potential therapeutic target and biomarker of poor prognosis in HCC, possibly by facilitating tumor proliferation, which is mediated partly by cell cycle signaling activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The involvement of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has not been fully elucidated. Here, we aimed to identify EMT-related genes associated with TGF-β in ESCC and to clarify the role of these genes in the progression of ESCC. Methods: EMT-related genes associated with TGF-β expression were identified in patients with ESCC using microarray analysis and public datasets. The effects of ubiquitin-like with PHD and ring finger domains 2 (UHRF2) expression were analyzed in ESCC cell lines. Cell proliferation and invasion were measured using MTT and invasion assays, respectively. UHRF2 mRNA expression was also analyzed in 75 ESCC specimens to determine the clinical significance of UHRF2 in ESCC. Results: Treatment of ESCC cell lines with TGF-β increased UHRF2 expression. UHRF2 overexpression increased CDH1 (E-cadherin) expression and decreased invasive capacity. The 75 ESCC specimens were divided into the UHRF2 high-expression group (n = 61) and the UHRF2 low-expression group (n = 14). Low UHRF2 expression was significantly correlated with vascular invasion (p = 0.034) and was an independent prognostic factor for poor prognosis (p = 0.005). Conclusion: UHRF2 may be a negative regulator of EMT and a novel prognostic biomarker for ESCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colon cancer-associated transcription 2 ( CCAT2 ) was recently identified as a novel long noncoding RNA transcript encompassing the single-nucleotide polymorphism rs6983267. CCAT2 is overexpressed in colorectal cancer (CRC) where it promotes tumor growth, metastasis, and chromosomal instability, although the clinical relevance of this enhanced expression is unknown. In this retrospective study, CCAT2 expression was evaluated using real-time polymerase chain reaction in 149 CRC patients, and its associations with clinicopathological characteristics, outcome, rs6983267 genotypes, microsatellite status, DNA ploidy, and BubR1 expression were analyzed. CCAT2 expression in cancer tissue was significantly higher than in noncancer tissue ( p < 0.001), particularly in cases of metastatic cancer ( p < 0.001). However, relative CCAT2 expression levels and rs6983267 genotypes were not correlated with clinicopathological features or patient prognosis. CRC cases demonstrating high CCAT2 expression were all microsatellite stable ( p < 0.005). Together, this indicates that CCAT2 expression was associated with microsatellite-stable CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: SIRT4, a mitochondria-localized sirtuin, represses glutamine metabolism by inhibiting glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH). The current study aimed to evaluate the clinical and biological significance of SIRT4 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Methods: The study comprised 172 patients with surgically resected ESCC in two independent cohorts. SIRT4 mRNA expression was analyzed in Cohort 1 (n = 79) and SIRT4 protein expression in Cohort 2 (n = 93). The association of SIRT4 expression with clinicopathological parameters and prognosis was assessed. Furthermore, the biological role of SIRT4 in ESCC cell lines was examined. Results: SIRT4 expression was not correlated with any clinicopathological parameters in both cohorts. In Cohort 1, low- SIRT4 -expression cases had poorer overall survival than high- SIRT4 -expression cases (p = 0.016). In Cohort 2, SIRT4- negative cases had poorer overall survival and disease-free survival than SIRT4-positive cases (p = 0.011 and 0.0026). Multivariate analysis revealed that SIRT4 expression was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival (HR = 2.06, p = 0.038). The rate of distant recurrence was significantly higher in SIRT4-negative cases than in SIRT4-positive cases (39.4 vs. 7.4%; p = 0.0023). In vitro, SIRT4 knockdown significantly increased GDH activity and promoted cell proliferation and migration. Conclusion: SIRT4 is a potential prognostic biomarker in ESCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CAFs induced the hypermethylation of the miR-200b promoter regions and reduced miR-200b expression and there was a negative correlation between miR-200b expression in gastric cancer specimens and α-smooth muscle actin expression in the stroma of gastric cancer.Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) have recently been linked to the invasion and metastasis of gastric cancer. In addition, the microRNA (miR)-200 family plays a central role in the regulation of the epithelial–mesenchymal transition process during cancer metastasis, and aberrant DNA methylation is one of the key mechanisms underlying regulation of the miR-200 family. In this study, we clarified whether epigenetic changes of miR-200b by CAFs stimulate cancer invasion and peritoneal dissemination in gastric cancer. We evaluated the relationship between miR-200b and CAFs using a coculture model. In addition, we established a peritoneal metastasis mouse model and investigated the expression and methylation status of miR-200b. We also investigated the expression and methylation status of miR-200b and CAFs expression in primary gastric cancer samples. CAFs (CAF-37 and CAF-50) contributed to epigenetic changes of miR-200b, reduced miR-200b expression and promoted tumor invasion and migration in NUGC3 and OCUM-2M cells in coculture. In the model mice, epigenetic changes of miR-200b were observed in the inoculated high-frequency peritoneal dissemination cells. In the 173 gastric cancer samples, the low miR-200b expression group demonstrated a significantly poorer prognosis compared with the high miR-200b expression group and was associated with peritoneal metastasis. In addition, downregulation of miR-200b in cancer cells was significantly correlated with alpha-smooth muscle actin expression. Our data provide evidence that CAFs reduce miR-200b expression and promote tumor invasion through epigenetic changes of miR-200b in gastric cancer. Thus, CAFs might be a therapeutic target for inhibition of gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a downstream integrator of essential pathways. mTOR signaling is frequently dysregulated in a variety of human cancers, and in silico analysis has revealed two miR-144 binding sites in the mTOR 3′ untranslated region. We investigated the clinicopathologic magnitude of the mTOR pathway regulating microRNA, miR-144 in colorectal cancer (CRC) cases. The regulation of mTOR by miR-144 was examined with inhibitor miR-144-transfected cells. We also investigated changes in sensitivity to the mTOR inhibitor, rapamycin, in inhibitor miR-144-transfected cells. Quantitative RT-PCR was used to evaluate the clinicopathologic significance of miR-144 expression in 137 CRC. Furthermore, we assessed the correlation between CRC prognosis and the expression of 16 genes in the Akt/mTOR pathway. In vitro assays showed that mTOR is a direct target of miR-144, and downregulation of miR-144 facilitated proliferation of CRC cell line, HT29. In addition, the viability of HT29 cells with downregulated miR-144 expression was significantly reduced with rapamycin treatment. Low expression levels of miR-144 were associated with enhanced malignant potential such as venous invasion (P = 0.0013), liver metastasis (P = 0.08), liver recurrence (P = 0.0058) and poor prognosis (P = 0.0041). Multivariate analysis indicated that low miR-144 expression was an independent prognostic factor for survival. Among many genes consisting of the mTOR pathway, only high expression of Rictor was associated with poor prognosis of CRC. miR-144 is a meaningful prognostic marker. Downregulation of miR-144 leads to poor prognosis of CRC patients via activation of the mTOR signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although cancer is a disease with genetic and epigenetic origins, the possible effects of reprogramming by defined factors remain to be fully understood. We studied the effects of the induction or inhibition of cancer-related genes and immature status-related genes whose alterations have been reported in gastrointestinal cancer cells. Retroviral- mediated introduction of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell genes was necessary for inducing the expression of immature status-related proteins, including Nanog, Ssea4, Tra-1-60, and Tra-1-80 in esophageal. stomach, colorectal, liver, pancreatic, and cholangiocellular cancer cells. Induced cells, but not parental cells, possessed the potential to express morphological patterns of ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm, which was supported by epigenetic studies, indicating methylation of DNA strands and the histone H3 protein at lysine 4 in promoter regions of pluripotency-associated genes such as NANOG. In in vitro analysis induced cells showed slow proliferation and were sensitized to differentiation-inducing treatment, and in vivo tumorigenesis was reduced in NOD/SCID mice. This study demonstrated that pluripotency was manifested in induced cells, and that the induced pluripotent cancer (iPC) cells were distinct from natural cancer cells with regard to their sensitivity to differentiation-inducing treatment Retroviral-mediated introduction of iPC cells confers higher sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents and differentiation-inducing treatment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The fragile histidine triad ( FHIT) functions as a tumor suppressor, and giving adenoviral -FHIT (Ad -FHIT) is thus expected to be clinically beneficial. Much attention has recently been focused on which genes are commonly regulated by Ad -FHIT, and which genes are dominant in Ad -FHIT-induced apoptotic cells. Methods: Ad -FHIT apoptosis-induced cells (H1299 and TE4) and non-apoptosis-induced cells (TE2) were used in the current experiments. The total RNA extracted from Ad -FHIT or control was labeled with Cy3-dCTP or Cy5-dCTP and hybridized with 19 192 genes on a chip. A microarray analysis for each gene was carried out with high reproducibility provided by seven independent experiments and duplicated oligos on a chip. Results: We listed the upregulated genes based on the TE4:TE2 expression ratio, such as c- Src, Jak-1, and sialyltransferase, which are expected to be target pathways as well as the downregulated genes, including CASP8 and CASP10, after Ad -FHIT treatment in esophageal cancer. Conclusions: The current microarray analysis indicated that the apoptosis of esophageal cancer observed after giving Ad -FHIT was possibly induced by activation of the c -Src gene and inactivation of the CASP8 gene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous studies suggest that human RAD9 (hRad9), encoding a DNA damage checkpoint molecule, which is frequently amplified in epithelial tumor cells of breast, lung, head and neck cancer, participates in regulation of the tumor suppressor p53-dependent transactivation of pro-survival P21WAF1. This study examined the exact mechanism of the hRad9 function, especially through the phosphorylation of the C-terminus, in the transcription regulation of P21WAF1. Results: The transfection of phosphorylation-defective hRAD9 mutants of C-terminus resulted in reduction of the p53-dependent P21WAF1 transactivation; the knockdown of total hRad9 elicited an increased P21WAF1 mRNA expression. Immunoprecipitation and a ChIP assay showed that hRad9 and p53 formed a complex and both were associated with two p53-consensus DNA-binding sequences in the 5′ region of P21WAF1 gene. The association was reduced in the experiment of phosphorylation-defective hRAD9 mutants. Conclusion: The present study indicates the direct involvement of hRad9 in the p53-dependent P21WAF1 transcriptional mechanism, presumably via the phosphorylation sites, and alterations of the hRad9 pathway might therefore contribute to the perturbation of checkpoint activation in cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We isolated the MAL (T-lymphocyte maturation associated protein) gene from differentially expressed products of esophageal epithelium relative to esophageal carcinoma tissues. The Mal protein has been demonstrated as being a component of the protein machinery for apical transport in epithelial polarized cells. In this study, we describe the reduced expression of MAL in all 39 cases of esophageal carcinoma tested and 60 other human carcinomas. MAL gene transcription was induced in three out of 13 esophageal carcinoma cell lines by treatment with the demethylating agent 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (DAC), and in nine additional cell lines by simultaneous treatment with trichostatin A, an inhibitor of deacetylation, and DAC. We established a stable MAL gene transfectant whose expression was regulated by subcutaneous doxycycline injection in nude mice. Tumor growth was suppressed in cells expressing TE3-MAL compared with TE3 parent cells or cells not expressing TE3-MAL with doxycycline injection (20?ug/body) (P<0.01). Additionally, the TE3-MAL transfectant cells exhibited decreased cellular motility, a G1/S transition block and increased levels of apoptosis, concomitant with increased expression of Fas receptor in vitro. The apoptotic staining in MAL-expressing tumors was confirmed by TUNEL assay. Therefore, we conclude that expression of MAL was frequently decreased or diminished in gastrointestinal tract cancers, and that Mal expression confers reduced tumorigenicity in vivo to tumor TE3 cells through the induction of apoptosis via the Fas signaling pathway.Oncogene (2003) 22, 3463-3471. doi:10.1038/sj.onc.1206378 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]