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Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has a distinctive geographical distribution in China, especially southern China. There are several risk factors for NPC, such as Epstein-Barr virus, genetics, and environmental exposures. Although the incidence of eye metastasis (EM) is lower than metastasis in other body parts, it often indicates poor prognosis. We assessed several serum biomarkers for their ability to predict EM in NPC. Patients with NPC were selected (n = 963), and were separated into two groups, EM and no eye metastasis. Ten factors were analyzed in both groups including triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, alkaline phosphatase, alpha fetoprotein, carbohydrate antigen-199, cancer antigen-153, apolipoproteins AI, apolipoprotein B, and cytokeratin fragment 19 (CYFRA21-1). Independent t tests, binary logistic regression, and receiver operating characteristic curves were used to assess the data. The EM group had significantly higher CYFRA21-1 and lower TG compared with the no eye metastasis group. Areas under the curve for CYFRA21-1, TG and CYFRA21-1/TG were 0.966, 0.771, and 0.976, respectively. The corresponding cut-off values were 12.12 ng/ml, 0.41 mmol/L, and 13.5. The sensitivity and specificity of CYFRA21-1/TG were 100% and 92.2%, respectively. The increased ratio of CYFRA21-1 to TG can be an accurate method to detect EM in patients with NPC.

Background: It has been reported that the expression of aldo-keto reductase family 1 member B10 (AKR1B10) is abnormal in various types of cancer, and could be used as a prognostic biomarker. However, the results are controversial. Therefore, the aim of this study was to comprehensively evaluate the prognostic value of AKR1B10 expression in solid tumors by conducting a meta-analysis.Methods: The pooled hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for overall survival and disease-free survival/relapse-free survival were calculated to estimate the prognostic significance of AKR1B10 using the random effects model. Subgroup, meta-regression, and sensitivity analyses were used to investigate sources of heterogeneity. Begg’s test and Egger’s test were used to evaluate publication bias.Results: Eleven studies involving 1,389 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled analysis displayed that high expression of AKR1B10 was not associated with OS(HR=1.22; 95% CI: 0.73–2.04) and DFS/PFS (HR=1.23, 95% CI 0.75–2.01) in solid tumors. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the results of the meta-analysis were stable. Begg’s test and Egger’s test also confirmed the absence of publication bias.Conclusions: We demonstrated that high expression of AKR1B10 was not associated with survival outcomes in patients with solid tumors. Further large-sample, prospective, multi-centric, and well-designed studies are warranted to investigate the prognostic role of AKR1B10 in various cancers.

Purpose. Liver metastasis is the final stage of cancer progression and is associated with poor prognosis. Although numerous indicators have been identified as having prognostic value for lung cancer and liver metastasis, liver metastases are still not diagnosed by imaging in many patients. To provide a more accurate method for clinical prediction of liver metastasis, we analyzed multiple factors to identify potential predictive factors for liver metastasis of lung cancer. Methods. Patients first diagnosed with lung cancer between 2002 and 2016 ( n = 1746 ) were divided into two groups, with and without liver metastasis. Serum concentrations of calcium, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cancer antigen-125 (CA125), cancer antigen-153 (CA153), carbohydrate antigen-199 (CA199), cytokeratin fraction 21-1 (CYFRA21-1), total prostate-specific antigen (TPSA), and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) were analyzed in both patient groups. Results. There was no significant difference in age or sex between the two groups. CA125 and NSE were significantly associated with liver metastasis. Compared with CA125, NSE was more specific, while it was less sensitive ( P < 0.001 ). Further analysis of NSE concentrations was conducted in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer and indicated that NSE concentration differed significantly between those with and without liver metastasis ( P = 0.023 ). We conducted analysis with NSE and CA125 combined, resulting in acceptable sensitivity (51.2%), specificity (72.6%), and area under the curve (0.64) values; sensitivity and area under the curve values were higher than those for individual factors, while specificity was higher than that for CA125. Conclusions. The combination of CA125 and NSE can assist prediction of liver metastasis of lung cancer, providing improved diagnostic accuracy.

It has been reported that microRNA-206(miR-206) plays an important role in cancers and could be used as a prognostic biomarker. However, the results are controversial. Therefore, we summarize all available evidence and present a meta-analysis to estimate the prognostic value of miR-206 in various cancers. The relevant studies were collected by searching PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases until August 21, 2020. Hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were applied to explore the association between miR-206 and survival results and clinicopathologic features. Sources of heterogeneity were investigated by subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis. Publication bias was evaluated using Egger’s test. Twenty articles involving 2095 patients were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled HR showed that low miR-206 expression was significantly associated with unfavourable overall survival (OS) ( HR = 2.03 , 95 CI%: 1.53-2.70, P < 0.01 ). In addition, we found that low miR-206 expression predicted significantly negative association with tumor stage (III-IV VS. I-II) ( OR = 4.20 , 95% CI: 2.17-8.13, P < 0.01 ), lymph node status (yes VS. no) ( OR = 3.58 , 95%: 1.51-8.44, P = 0.004 ), distant metastasis (yes VS. no) ( OR = 3.19 , 95%: 1.07-9.50, P = 0.038 ), and invasion depth ( T 3 + T 4 vs. T 2 + T 1 ) ( OR = 2.43 , 95%: 1.70-3.49, P < 0.01 ). miR-206 can be used as an effective prognostic indicator in various cancers. Further investigations are warranted to validate the present results.

Background: several epidemiological studies on whether proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use promotes the occurrence and development of pancreatic cancer have reported conflicting results. Therefore, we aimed to assess the association between PPI use and pancreatic cancer risk by conducting a meta-analysis. Methods: A comprehensive search for relevant studies was conducted until September 10, 2019. Studies that evaluated the association between PPI use and pancreatic cancer risk were included. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using a random-effects model. All data analyses were performed using STATA 12.0 software. Results: Eight studies, involving 546,619 participants, were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled OR of pancreatic cancer for PPI use and histamine 2 receptor antagonist (H2AR) use were 1.85 (95% CI: 1.25–2.73) and 1.26 (95% CI: 1.02–1.57), respectively. Obvious heterogeneity could not be clearly explained by the subgroup analysis. We also found that chronic pancreatitis, diabetes, and smoking status were associated with increased risk of pancreatic cancer. Sensitivity analyses confirmed that the results were stable, and Begg’s test indicated that there was no publication bias. Conclusions: There was an 85% increased risk of pancreatic cancer in patients with PPI use. Future large prospective studies are needed to further explore the relationship between PPI use and pancreatic cancer. Funding Statement: This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No:81660158); Natural Science Key Project of Jiangxi Province (No: 20161ACB21017); Youth Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province (No: 20151BAB215016, 20161BAB215198) Declaration of Interests: The authors deny any conflict of interest.

As a flavonoid, naringin (Nar) has been shown to have multiple pharmacological effects including lowering blood cholesterol, reducing thrombus formation and improving microcirculation. However, effects of Nar on function and autophagy of vascular endothelial cells under high glucose and high fat (HG/HF) stress are largely unclear. This study was designed to investigate such effects of Nar in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and to determine whether such effects are related to autophagy. Our present results show that 86 μM of Nar inhibits the autophagy levels and protects the cells against the dysfunction induced by HG/HF stress. Moreover, Nar increases the phosphorylation levels of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (Akt) and mammalian rapamycin target protein (mTOR). However, pretreatment with rapamycin (RAPA, 5 μM, autophagy inducer), LY294002(10 μM, PI3K inhibitor) and Akt inhibitor Ⅳ (0.5 μM, Akt inhibitor) partially abrogates the protective effects of Nar, suggesting that the protective effects of Nar are achieved by activating the PI3K-Akt-mTOR pathway to inhibit autophagy. In conclusion, Nar improves the function of HUVECs under HG/HF stress through activating the PI3K-Akt-mTOR pathway to inhibit autophagy. The findings offer an insight into HG/HF stress-induced autophagy and indicate that Nar might have potential to prevent and treat the diabetic angiopathy.

Background Numbers of studies have reported that the expression of aldo-keto reductase family 1 member B10 (AKR1B10) is abnormal in digestive system cancers, and could be used as a prognostic biomarker. However, the results are argued. Therefore, we conduct a meta-analysis to comprehensively evaluate the prognostic value of high AKR1B10 expression for overall survival (OS), disease specific survival (DSS), and disease-free survival/recurrence-free survival (DFS/PFS) in digestive system cancers. Methods Hazard ratios (HRs) with its 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to assess the prognostic value of AKR1B10 by using the random effects model. The STATA version 12.0 software were used to perform all the analyses. Results Eleven articles including 1428 patients involved in this meta-analysis. The pooled analysis suggested that high AKR1B10 expression was not associated with OS (HR: 1.18; 95% CI: 0.69-2.00) and DFS/PFS (HR: 1.08, 95% CI: 0.67-1.76) in digestive system cancers. However, Further analysis revealed that high AKR1B10 expression indicated poor OS in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) (HR: 2.92, 95% CI: 1.86-4.58) and favorable DSS in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (HR: 0.71, 95% CI: 0.52-0.97). Conclusions The prognostic value of high AKR1B10 expression varied in different types of digestive system cancers. Further studies exploring the prognostic role of AKR1B10 in digestive system cancers are needed.