Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are causally associated with the tumorigenesis of several classes of cancers. However, the prevalence of HPV in gastric cancer (GC) has not yet been systematically reviewed. Hence, a meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the HPV prevalence in patients with GC, and its potential etiologic significance was assessed.

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a common Mendelian multi-system disorder that is characterized by café-au-lait spots (CLS), axillary freckling, optic glioma and plexiform neurofibroma. Various mutations of the NF1 gene are widely accepted to be the main cause of this disease, while whether there are still certain other modifier genes that could influence the phenotypes of NF1 is our concern.

Purpose: Autophagy is a major catabolic system by which eukaryotic cells undergo self-degradation of damaged, defective, or unwanted intracellular components. An abnormal autophagic level is implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple diseases, including cancers. The aim of this study is to explore the prognostic value of autophagy in bladder cancer (BC), which is a major cause of cancer-related death globally. Patients and methods: First, 27 differentially expressed autophagy-related genes (ARGs) were identified in BC patients based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Functional enrichment analyses hinted that autophagy may act in a tumor-suppressive role in the initiation of BC. Then, the Cox proportional hazard regression model were employed to identify three key prognostic ARGs (JUN, MYC, and ITGA3), which were related with overall survival (OS) significantly in BC. The three genes represented important clinical significance and prognostic value in BC. Then a prognostic index (PI) was constructed. Results: The PI was constructed based on the three genes, and significantly stratified BC patients into high- and low-risk groups in terms of OS (HR=1.610, 95% CI=1.200-2.160, P=0.002). PI remained as an independent prognostic factor in multivariate analyses (HR=2.355, 95% CI=1.483-3.739, P<0.001). When integrated with clinical characteristics of age and stage, an autophagy-clinical prognostic index (ACPI) was finally validated, which had improved performance in predicting OS of BC patients (HR=2.669, 95% CI=1.986-3.587, P<0.001). The ACPI was confirmed in datasets of GSE13507 (HR=7.389, 95% CI=3.645-14.980, P<0.001) and GSE31684 (HR=1.665, 95% CI=0.872-3.179, P=0.122). Conclusion: This study provides a potential prognostic signature for predicting prognosis of BC patients and molecular insights of autophagy in BC.

The phenomenon that cancer cells avidly exhibit glycolysis with lactate secretion and decrease in mitochondrial activity under aerobic conditions is known historically as the Warburg effect. Rho GTPase-activating protein 4 (ARHGAP4) is an important negative regulator of the Rho signaling pathway that was associated with the tumorigenesis. Our study aims to determine the function of ARHGAP4 in controlling the glycolytic process of pancreatic cancer in vitro and possible molecular mechanism involved.

Sorafenib is the standard first-line treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), even though acquired resistance to sorafenib has been found in many HCC patients, resulting in poor prognosis. Accumulating evidence demonstrates that liver cancer stem cells (LCSCs) contribute to sorafenib resistance in HCC. The inflammatory factor interleukin 6 (IL-6) plays a role in sorafenib resistance in HCC. However, the mechanism by which IL-6 in LCSCs is involved in the process of HCC sorafenib resistance remains elusive.

Small molecular inhibitors such as gefitinib (Gefi), which target EGF receptor (EGFR), are considered to be a viable pathway for the selective inhibition of pancreatic cancer (PC) development. However, the large difference in Gefi response between PC patient individuals and PC cell lines severely limits the clinical efficacy of Gefi. Berbamine (BBM) is a well-known natural-derived antitumor agent. However, no study yet exists on whether BBM can enhance the sensitivity of PC cells to Gefi or its underlying mechanisms.

In this study, we investigated the prevalence of CD79B and MYD88 mutations and their relation to clinical characteristics in a cohort of Chinese patients with primary testicular diffuse large B cell lymphoma (PT-DLBCL).

Recent studies showed that signal transducer and activator of transcription 4 (STAT4) was downregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues. However, the role of STAT4 in HCC is still unknown. The aim of this study is to explore the association between STAT4 expression and other clinicopathological features in HCC and to test the effect of STAT4 on cell growth and apoptosis in vitro.

Centrosomal protein 55 (CEP55) is an important prognostic biomarker that plays an essential role in the proliferation, migration and invasion of multiple tumors. We aimed to investigate the prognostic value of CEP55 in pN0 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and explore its biological function in ESCC cells.

Decoy receptor 3 (DcR3) has been reported to be involved in different cancers. However, few related researches have been accomplished on the role of DcR3 in lung cancer.

It has been reported that deregulation or dysfunction of microRNAs (miRNAs) plays an essential part in the hepatocarcinogenesis. However, the contribution and mechanism of microRNA-30a-5p (miR-30a-5p) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains largely unknown. Therefore, our aim was to investigate the clinicopathological role of miR-30a-5p in HCC tissues and explore its potential pathways in this study.

Studies which focused on the character of miR-144-3p in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are limited. This study aimed to explore the expression, clinical significance and the potential targets of miR-144-3p in HCC.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are essential for tumorigenesis and progression of diverse cancers. This study aims to investigate the roles of lncRNAs on renal carcinoma.

Rho GTPase-activating protein 4 (ARHGAP4) is a GTPase-activating protein for the small GTPases of the Rho family that is involved in tumorigenesis. We recently reported that ARHGAP4 can mediate Warburg effect and malignant phenotype of pancreatic cancer. However, the regulation of ARHGAP4 remains unclear.

Previously, we found that the expression of decoy receptor 3 (DcR3) in gliomas was significantly upregulated compared to normal brain tissues. However, the effect of DcR3-specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) on cell biological function of glioma cells remains incompletely understood.

It has been discovered that miR-133a-3p acts as a tumor suppressor in bladder cancer (BC). Nevertheless, the function of miR-133a-3p in BC remains unclarified. Thus, we carried out this study to validate the expression of miR-133a-3p in BC and provide insights into the molecular mechanism underlying it. To assess the expression of miR-133a-3p in BC, we searched eligible studies from literature and Gene expression Omnibus (GEO) to perform a meta-analysis. We also plotted the summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve to evaluate the diagnostic ability of miR-133a-3p in BC. Additionally, the potential target genes of miR-133a-3p were acquired from 14 online software programs and GEO database. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was created to identify the hub genes. Then, Gene Ontology (GO) functional annotation analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis were carried out to investigate the regulatory network of the target genes. From the meta-analysis, miR-133a-3p was remarkably downregulated in BC tissues compared with that in non-cancer tissues (standard mean difference =-3.84, 95% confidence interval =-6.99-0.29). Moreover, results from SROC suggested that miR-133a-3p exhibited the ability to diagnose BC (area under curve =0.8418). As for the bioinformatics study, 488 genes were chosen as the potential targets of miR-133a-3p in BC, among which 10 genes were defined as hub genes (all degrees >5). Further GO and KEGG pathway analysis indicated that the target genes of miR-133a-3p aggregated in specific biological process and pathways. In conclusion, miR-133a-3p possessed great diagnostic potential with its downregulation in BC, and miR-133a-3p might serve as a novel biomarker for BC.

Growing evidence has demonstrated that Ki-67/MIB-1 has an effect on the clinical progression and prognosis in cancers. However, the diagnostic and prognostic values of Ki-67/MIB-1 in thyroid cancer remain unclear.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal malignancies. Accumulating evidence supports for the critical contribution of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) to the cancer development and progression. We tried to identify novel lncRNAs involved in the pancreatic carcinogenesis.

To investigate the clinicopathological value and potential roles of microRNA-198 (miR-198) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

MIR22HG has a reported involvement in the tumorigenesis of a variety of cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the exact molecular mechanism of MIR22HG in HCC has not been clarified.