BACKGROUND. E-cadherin is expressed on the surface of normal epithelial cells.

The purpose of our study was to evaluate the frequency of hypermethylated tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) in peripheral blood, mouth and throat (M&T) rinsing fluid and nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients. Six normal NP tissues, 43 M&T rinsing fluid, 37 NP swabs and 43 peripheral blood from healthy non-smokers and non-drinkers without a family history of NPC, and 30 NPC tumors and their matched body fluid were analyzed for the presence of hypermethylated p15, p16, Ras association domain family 1 (RASSF1A), E-cadherin, and death-associated protein kinase (DAPK) by methylation-specific PCR. Sequencing analysis was carried out on selected NPC tumors and body fluid samples. Twenty-nine (97%) tumors displayed methylation in at least 1 of the 5 genes. The methylation frequencies were 80% for p15, 77% for DAPK, 67% for RASSF1A, 53% for Ecadherin and 33% for p16. The frequency range of aberrant methylated genes in the body fluids were NP swabs (17-63%) and M&T rinsing fluid (17-50%). Methylation was found in <20% of peripheral blood for each respective gene. Methylation was, however, detected in 1 M&T rinsing fluid in which the primary tumor showed methylation free for RASSF1A. Key words: promoter hypermethylation; tumor suppressor gene; nasopharyngeal swab; M & T rinsing fluid; nasopharyngeal carcinomaNasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is classified by WHO into 3 histologic types including the squamous cell carcinoma (Type I), non-keratinizing carcinoma (Type II) and undifferentiated carcinoma (Type III). Undifferentiated carcinoma is more prevalent in southern Chinese and Asians. The development of NPC might be attributable to a complex interaction of genetic factors, dietary exposure to chemical carcinogen and EBV infection. 1 Hypermethylation of CpG-island in promoter region of proven or candidate TSGs has been increasingly implicated as an early event in carcinogenesis. [2][3][4] Although promoter hypermethylation of many of these genes can be found in different histological types of cancers, the patterns of promoter hypermethylation are distinctly different in different cancers. 5 The reported frequencies of promoter methylation in NPC were 84% for RASSF1A, 80% for RARbeta2, 46% for p16, 17% for p15, 20% for p14, 20% for MGMT, and 3% for GSTP1. 6 In our previous study of DAPK, hypermethylation was found in 24 (75%) NPC primary tumors. 7 Our studies suggest promoter hypermethylation of TSGs are commonly found in NPC and play a significant role in the development of NPC.There is no accurate clinical screening method for NPC. Radiological imaging including CT or MRI scan and endoscopic guided nasopharyngeal (NP) biopsy for histological examination are expensive and invasive. These radiologic and surgical procedures are not suitable for screening of NPC, and they cannot be repeated serially in monitoring residual or recurrent tumor after treatment.We have previously done a population screening of 67,891 healthy southern Chinese with EBV serology, it has reasonably high sensitivity but has lo...

Our findings demonstrated that RLS is common in Taiwanese dialysis patients. Clinicians should have a high suspicion for the presence of RLS symptoms in patients with ESRD, especially those with type 2 diabetes, anemia, low serum iron status and long duration of dialysis.

BACKGROUND The consumption of tobacco and alcohol has been implicated in the development of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Promoter methylation of tumor suppressor genes is common in HNSCC. In this study, the authors evaluated the effects of tobacco and alcohol on p15 gene methylation of cells in cells from the mouth and throat of physically healthy individuals and patients with HNSCC. METHODS The study participants were divided into 3 groups, including a group of 37 healthy nonsmokers and nondrinkers, a group of 22 healthy smokers and/or drinkers and a group of 31 patients with HNSCC. RESULTS Methylation of p15 was detected in cells obtained from mouth and throat (M&T) rinsing fluid samples from 3 of 37 healthy individuals (8%) who did not drink or smoke, from 15 of 22 healthy smokers and/or drinkers (68%), and from 15 of 31 patients (48%) with HNSCC. Among 31 patients with HNSCC, 20 patients (65%) had methylated p15 gene in their tumor biopsies. With the use of β‐actin as a reference, the ratio of methylated p15 to β‐actin was calculated as an index of the percentage of cells with p15 methylation. The percentage of exfoliated cells from M&T rinsing fluid samples that had p15 methylation ranged from 0% to 11% for patients with HNSCC and from 0% to 21% for healthy smokers/drinkers, respectively. The methylation index of tumor cells with p15 methylation ranged from 0% to 65%. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that p15 gene methylation can be induced by chronic smoking and drinking and may play a role in the very early stages of carcinogenesis in HNSCC. Cancer 2004. © 2004 American Cancer Society.

ESRD patients with RLS demonstrated an increased likelihood of cardio/cerebrovascular events and mortality.

We have demonstrated that attenuated miR-203 expression in APAs increases aldosterone production and the tumorigenesis of adrenal cells by activating the Wnt5a/β-catenin pathway.

Here we conducted a retrospective analysis of hospital-based trauma registry database for evaluating the impacts of comorbidities on the prognosis for traumatized patients using Index of Coexistent Comorbidity Disease (ICED) scores. We analyzed the data of patients with blunt trauma who visited emergency department between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2015 in Chang-Gung Memorial Hospital, Keelung branch, a single level I trauma center in the Northern Taiwan. All consecutive patients with blunt trauma who admitted to the intensive care unit or ordinary ward after initial managements in the emergency department were included. We measured the hospital mortality of blunt traumatized patients using alive discharge as a competing risk. To investigate conditional independence of mortality and ICED scores given Injury Severity Score (ISS), we used log-linear models for modeling independence structures. Overall, we included 4997 patients (median age [IQR], 59 years old (44–75 years); 55.3% male). The mortality rate of blunt traumatized patients was higher in the higher ICED scores group compared to lower ICED scores group (4.7% vs 1.8%, p < 0.001). Meanwhile, the higher ICED scores group were associated with older age, higher ISS, and longer hospital stay than lower ICED scores group. Higher ICED group had higher probability of transition-to-death and lower probability of transition-to-discharge under the competing risk model. In the multivariable analysis of transition-specific Cox models, higher ICED group were associated with higher risk for hospital mortality compared to lower ICED group (HR 1.60; [95% CI 1.04–2.47]; p = 0.032). Also, higher ICED group were associated with lower probability of transition-to-discharge (HR 0.79; [95%CI 0.73–0.86]; p < 0.001). Additionally, higher ICED scores accounted for hospital mortality among patients with ISS < 25. In conclusion, our study suggested that severity of comorbidity was associated with higher hospital mortality among traumatized patients, particularly lower ISS.

The genetic variants of primary RLS candidate genes did not play a major role in our uremic RLS populations. The ethnic difference and heterogeneous etiologies underlying renal failure may partly explain the minor genetic contribution to uremic RLS in our populations. Further studies for other ethnicities will be of worth.