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Background: Esophageal cancer (EC) is one of the most common human malignant tumors worldwide. Chromobox (CBX) family proteins are significant components of epigenetic regulatory complexes. It is reported that CBXs play critical roles in the oncogenesis and development of various tumors. Nonetheless, their functions and specific roles in EC remain vague and obscure. Methods and Materials: We used multiple bioinformatics tools, including Oncomine, Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis 2 (GEPIA2), UALCAN, Kaplan–Meier plotter, cBioPortal, Metascape, TIMER2 and TISIDB, to investigate the expression profile, gene alterations and prognostic roles of CBX family proteins, as well as their association with clinicopathologic parameters, immune cells and immune regulators. In addition, RT-qPCR, Western blot, CCK8, colony formation, wound healing and transwell assays were performed to investigate the biological functions of CBX3 in EC cells. Results: CBX3 and CBX5 were overexpressed in EC compared to normal tissues. Survival analysis revealed that high expression of CBX1 predicted worse disease-free survival (DFS) in EC patients. Functionally, CBXs might participate in mismatch repair, spliceosome, cell cycle, the Fanconi anemia pathway, tight junction, the mRNA surveillance pathway and the Hippo signaling pathway in EC development. Furthermore, CBXs were related to distinct immune cells infiltration and immune regulators. Additionally, depletion of CBX3 inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion abilities of EC cells. Conclusions: Our study comprehensively investigated the expression pattern, prognostic value, and gene alterations of CBXs in EC, as well as their relationships with clinicopathologic variables, immune cells infiltration and immune regulators. These results suggested that CBX family proteins, especially CBX3, might be potential biomarkers in the progression of EC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Cytoreductive surgery is one of the recommended treatments for metastatic renal cell carcinoma, while the prognostic information of these patients treated with cytoreductive surgery is limited. In this study, we aimed to investigate the survival profiles based on conditional survival (CS) estimates in metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (mccRCC) patients treated with cytoreductive surgery of primary tumor. Methods and materials: We identified and extracted mccRCC patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. We used Kaplan–Meier method to perform CS analyses. A multivariate Cox regression model was applied to explore the changes of well‐known prognostic factors. Results: Conditional overall survival (COS) and conditional cancer‐specific survival (CCSS) improved increasingly at all periods of survivorships compared to survival estimates at baseline in overall population of mccRCC. The 36‐month COS improved by 3.3%–6.4% given per 12 additional months of survivorships and the CCSS improved significantly from 45.1% (95% CI 42.8–47.3) at 12 months to 67.1% (95% CI 62.0–71.7) at 60 months. Much more survival gain was observed in patients with advanced disease. Furthermore, the prognostic significance of age and pathological factors diminished and even disappeared in a long‐term survivorship. Conclusions: Conditional overall survival and CCSS improved with time dynamically in mccRCC patients treated with cytoreductive surgery of primary tumor. Patients with advanced disease achieved significant survival gain and even could harvest a better prognosis given that the time of survivorship exceeds a certain period. Our findings could provide valuable and practical data for patient counseling and surveillance strategy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are the major immune cells in tumor microenvironment. The prognostic significance of TAMs has been confirmed in various tumors. However, whether TAMs can be prognostic factors in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is unclear. In this study, we aimed to clarify the prognostic value of TAMs in ccRCC. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, and the Web of Science for relevant published studies before December 19, 2020. Evidence from enrolled studies were pooled and analyzed by a meta-analysis. Hazard ratios (HRs) and odd ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed to evaluate the pooled results. Results: Both of high CD68+ TAMs and M2-TAMs were risk factors for poor prognosis in ccRCC patients. The pooled HRs indicated that elevated CD68+ TAMs correlated with poor OS and PFS (HR: 3.97, 95% CI 1.39–11.39; HR: 5.73, 95% CI 2.36–13.90, respectively). For M2-TAMs, the pooled results showed ccRCC patients with high M2-TAMs suffered a worse OS and shorter PFS, with HR 1.32 (95% CI 1.16–1.50) and 1.40 (95% CI 1.14–1.72), respectively. Also, high density of TAMs was associated with advanced clinicopathological features in ccRCC. Conclusions: TAMs could be potential biomarkers for prognosis and novel targets for immunotherapy in ccRCC. Further researches are warranted to validate our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic role of AR-V7 in terms of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) in CRPC patients treated with novel hormonal therapy (NHT) (Abiraterone and Enzalutamide) or taxane-based chemotherapy (Docetaxel and Cabazitaxel). Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted on PubMed, Embase, and the Web of Science from inception to February 2020. Studies focusing on the prognostic values of AR-V7 in CRPC patients treated with NHT or chemotherapy were included in our meta-analysis. The OS and PFS were analyzed based on Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Furthermore, Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs were summarized for the AR-V7 conversion after treatment and the PSA response. Results: The AR-V7 positive proportion increased significantly after NHT treatment (OR 2.56, 95% CI 1.51–4.32, P<0.001), however, it declined after chemotherapy (OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.28–0.93, P=0.003). AR-V7-positive patients showed a significantly decreased PSA response rate after NHT (OR 0.13, 95% CI 0.09–0.19, P<0.001) but not statistically significant for chemotherapy (OR 0.63, 95% CI 0.40-1.01, P=0.06). Notably, PFS (HR 3.56, 95% CI 2.53–5.01, P<0.001) and OS (HR 4.47, 95% CI 3.03–6.59, P<0.001) were worse in AR-V7-positive ttreated with NHT. Similarly, AR-V7 positivity correlated with poor prognosis after chemotherapy as evidenced by shorter OS (HR 1.98, 95% CI 1.48-2.66, P<0.001) and a significantly shorter PFS (HR 1.35, 95% CI 0.97-1.87, P=0.07). Conclusion: NHT treatment increased AR-V7 positive proportion whereas chemotherapy decreased it. Moreover, AR-V7 positivity correlated with lower PSA response, poorer PFS, and OS in CRPC treated with NHT, and shorter OS in patients receiving chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although tremendous improvement has been seen in cancer diagnosis and treatment, its morbidity and mortality is still high due to lack of ideal biomarkers. An increasing number of studies have demonstrated that the expression of lncRNA small nucleolar RNA host gene 6 (SNHG6) has significantly negative correlation with various cancer prognosis. The present meta-analysis was aimed to clarify the potential of clinical application of SNHG6 in cancers. Methods: A detailed literature review was conducted by searching through PubMed and Web of Science databases. The expression level of SNHG6, clinicopathological features and survival outcomes were extracted from eligible studies. Pooled analysis was performed with a DerSimonian-Laird random-effect model. The results were further validated through the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset. Results: Five studies with a total of 487 cases were finally included in this meta-analysis. The results demonstrated that a high expression of SNHG6 was significantly associated with an increased risk of poor overall survival (OS) in cancer patients (HR = 2.06, 95% CI 1.56–2.73). Similar results from the TCGA dataset further confirmed our findings. Conclusions: Overexpressed SNHG6 was significantly associated with poor prognosis in various cancers. Therefore, SNHG6 may become a novel molecular target for treatment and prognostic evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]