Metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the colon: a conundrum in colorectal malignancies

Small-cell carcinoma of the colon is an extremely rare tumour, with poorly understood pathogenesis and unestablished treatment guidelines. The first case was documented in 1919, and only about 100 cases of this condition have been reported to this date. In this case report, we present a case of sigmoid squamous cell carcinoma that eventually led to bowel perforation and was diagnosed on histopathology after emergent surgical intervention. Additionally, we also review the incidence, epidemiology, pathogenesis, immunohistological markers, neogenomics and therapeutic strategies for the same.

Comparison of single and module-based methods for modeling gene regulatory networks

MOTIVATION

Gene regulatory networks describe the regulatory relationships among genes, and developing methods for reverse engineering these networks is an ongoing challenge in computational biology. The majority of the initially proposed methods for gene regulatory network discovery create a network of genes and then mine it in order to uncover previously unknown regulatory processes. More recent approaches have focused on inferring modules of co-regulated genes, linking these modules with regulatory genes and then mining them to discover new molecular biology.

RESULTS

In this work we analyze module-based network approaches to build gene regulatory networks, and compare their performance to single gene network approaches. In the process, we propose a novel approach to estimate gene regulatory networks drawing from the module-based methods. We show that generating modules of co-expressed genes which are predicted by a sparse set of regulators using a variational Bayes method, and then building a bipartite graph on the generated modules using sparse regression, yields more informative networks than previous single and module-based network approaches as measured by: (i) the rate of enriched gene sets, (ii) a network topology assessment, (iii) ChIP-Seq evidence and (iv) the KnowEnG Knowledge Network collection of previously characterized gene-gene interactions.

AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION

The code is written in R and can be downloaded from https://github.com/mikelhernaez/linker.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Peripheral type squamous cell carcinoma of the lung: clinicopathologic characteristics in comparison to the central type

BACKGROUND

Squamous cell carcinomas (SqCCs) of the lung are known to arise more often in a central area but reports of peripheral SqCCs have increased, with a pathogenesis that is obscured. In this study, the clinicopathologic characteristics of peripheral lung SqCCs were studied and compared with those of the central type.

METHODS

This study included 63 peripheral lung SqCCs and 48 randomly selected central cases; hematoxylin and eosin-stained slides of surgically resected specimens were reviewed in conjunction with radiologic images and clinical history. Cytokeratin-7 immunohistochemical staining of key slides and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)/KRAS mutations tested by DNA sequencing were also included.

RESULTS

Stages of peripheral SqCCs were significantly lower than central SqCCs (p=.016). Cystic change of the mass (p=.007), presence of interstitial fibrosis (p=0.007), and anthracosis (p=.049) in the background lung were significantly associated with the peripheral type. Cytokeratin-7 positivity was also higher in peripheral SqCCs with cutoffs of both 10% and 50% (p=.011). Pathogenic mutations in EGFR and KRAS were observed in only one case out of the 72 evaluated. The Cox proportional hazard model indicated a significantly better disease-free survival (p=.009) and the tendency of better overall survival (p=.106) in the peripheral type.

CONCLUSIONS

In peripheral type, lower stage is a favorable factor for survival but more frequent interstitial fibrosis and older age are unfavorable factors. Multivariate Cox analysis revealed that peripheral type is associated with better disease-free survival. The pathogenesis of peripheral lung SqCCs needs further investigation, together with consideration of the background lung conditions.

FOXA1-induced LINC01207 facilitates head and neck squamous cell carcinoma via up-regulation of TNRC6B

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a common cancer in China, which was mainly caused by smoking and HPV infection. With the advancement of molecular research, it is meaningful to explore the biomarkers of HNSCC. LINC01207 (small integral membrane protein 31, also known as SMIM31) is a verified oncogene in colorectal adenocarcinoma. Present study aimed to explore the function of LINC01207 in HNSCC cells. Function assays including EdU, colony formation, TUNEL and JC-1 assay revealed that LINC01207 was an oncogene in HNSCC cells. Next, by some mechanism assays including RIP assay and luciferase reporter assay, miR-5047 was identified as the downstream gene of LINC01207. Subsequently, trinucleotide repeat containing adaptor 6B (TNRC6B) was verified as the target of miR-5047. LINC01207 boosted HNSCC cell proliferation and stemness characteristics via acting as a ceRNA of TNRC6B to bind miR-5047. Then, we identified that transcription of both LINC01207 and TNRC6B was induced by FOXA1, which played a tumor facilitator role in HNSCC cells. In a word, present study uncovered a novel ceRNA mechanism of LINC01207/miR-5047/TNRC6B in HNSCC cells, which might contribute to HNSCC treatment.

ALDH1A1 maintains the cancer stem-like cells properties of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by activating the AKT signal pathway and interacting with β-catenin

Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A1 (ALDH1A1) is a marker of cancer stem-like cells (CSCs), but knowledge about the molecular mechanism of ALDH1A1 in maintaining the properties of CSCs remains limited. ALDH1A1 immunohistochemistry was performed in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) tissues, Western blotting was used to detect relationship between ALDH1A1 and AKT or β-catenin. Subcutaneous transplantation of tumors and drug resistance, spherogenesis experiments were used to test the ESCC cell stemness. Co-IP and confocal were used to detected the co-localization of LADH1A1 and β-catenin. ALDH1A1 expression maintained the CSC properties of ESCC cells. It enhanced the chemo-resistance ability, clonogenicity, and spherogenesis in vitro and tumorigenicity in vivo. High ALDH1A1 expression is an adverse prognostic factor of ESCC patients. Small-molecule inhibitor NCT-501 down-regulates ALDH1A1 expression and inhibits the AKT-β-catenin signaling pathway. ALDH1A1 overexpression activates the AKT signaling pathway. ALDH1A1 interacts with β-catenin, co-localization in KYS-510 cells.

Long noncoding RNA HAGLR acts as a microRNA-143-5p sponge to regulate epithelial-mesenchymal transition and metastatic potential in esophageal cancer by regulating LAMP3

Homeobox D gene cluster antisense growth-associated long noncoding RNA (HAGLR) functions as a crucial regulator in the progression and development of human cancers. We analyzed effects of HAGLR, microRNA (miR)-143-5p and lysosome-associated membrane glycoprotein (LAMP)3 on esophageal cancer (EC) and the related mechanisms. Microarray analysis was used to screen out EC-related genes and the regulation network among HAGLR, miR-143-5p, and LAMP3. The regulatory mechanisms of HAGLR and miR-143-5p in EC were analyzed following the treatment of miR-143-5p mimic, miR-143-5p inhibitor, HAGLR vector, or small interfering RNA against HAGLR in EC cells. The expression of N-cadherin, vimentin, Twist1, Snail1, and E-cadherin as well as the abilities of cell proliferation, invasion, and migration were measured. The effects of the HAGLR/miR-143-5p/LAMP3 axis were determined in vivo by assessing tumor formation in nude mice. The expression of HAGLR and LAMP3 was increased, whereas that of miR-143-5p was diminished in EC tissues and cells. HAGLR could competitively bind to miR-143-5p, and miR-143-5p targeted LAMP3. Down-regulated HAGLR or up-regulated miR-143-5p increased E-cadherin expression and significantly diminished expression of LAMP3, N-cadherin, vimentin, Twist1, and Snail1. Moreover, down-regulated HAGLR inhibited cell proliferation, invasion, migration, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and tumor growth. Moreover, down-regulation of HAGLR inhibited LAMP3 expression by sponging miR-143-5p, thereby suppressing the progression of EC. Taken together, our results suggest HAGLR acts as a competing endogenous RNA of miR-143-5p to increase the expression of LAMP3, thus promoting EMT, proliferation, invasion, and migration in EC cells.-Yang, C., Shen, S., Zheng, X., Ye, K., Sun, Y., Lu, Y., Ge, H. Long noncoding RNA HAGLR acts as a microRNA-143-5p sponge to regulate epithelial-mesenchymal transition and metastatic potential in esophageal cancer by regulating LAMP3.

High expression of cytokeratin CAM5.2 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is associated with poor prognosis

Esophageal cancer is a common human malignant tumor with high mortality. Glandular epithelial markers, such as CAM5.2, can be expressed in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), but the clinical significance of these cells in ESCC remains elusive.Immunohistochemical analysis of CAM5.2 was performed on 604 ESCC specimens using tissue microarray. Our study design and study population used retrospective cohorts based on the hospital information system and pathological information management system which included medical information, date of admission, procedures undergone, registration, examinations, and medication.In total, positive staining of CAM5.2 was 145 of 604 (24%). Statistical analysis showed that the expression of CAM5.2 had no relationship with sex, age, tumor differentiation, tumor size, tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) classification, and lymph node metastasis, but it was significantly associated with poor prognosis of overall survival (P = .0041) and disease-free survival (P = .0048) in ESCC patients.Herein, we report for the first time that the high expression of the CAM 5.2 is an independent predictor of poor prognosis in patients with ESCC.