Background: Accumulating evidence suggests that necroptosis, or programmed necrotic cell death, may play a significant role in cancer. We evaluated the expression of key molecules in necroptosis and their association with clinical features and prognosis in NSCLC. Methods: A total of 253 NSCLC patients (96 squamous cell carcinoma [SCC] cases and 157 adenocarcinoma [AC] cases) who underwent curative resection were included. Tumor tissues and corresponding normal tissues were investigated for relative mRNA expression levels of RIPK1, RIPK3, and MLKL. Difference in disease free survival (DFS) was analyzed according to the expression levels of these molecules in tumor tissues. Results: NSCLC tissues had significantly lower expression of RIPK1, RIPK3, and MLKL than normal tissues (P = 1 x 10-4 , P = 8 x 10-6 , and P = 4 x 10-8 , respectively). In subgroup analysis, SCCs had significantly lower RIPK1, RIPK3, and MLKL expression (P = 5 x 10-4 , P = 3 x 10-15 , P = 1 x 10-5 , respectively), and ACs had significantly lower RIPK1 and MLKL expression (P = 0.01 and P = 6 x 10-4 , respectively) than normal tissues. Low expression of RIPK1, RIPK3, and MLKL in tumors was associated with a worse DFS (HR = 1.71, P = 0.01; HR = 1.53, P = 0.04; and HR = 1.53, P = 0.04, respectively) in a multivariate analysis. In SCC, none of the RIPK1, RIPK3, and MLKL expression was significantly associated with DFS. However, in AC, low expression of RIPK1, RIPK3, and MLKL was significantly associated with worse DFS (HR = 1.67, P = 0.03; HR = 1.70, P = 0.03; and HR = 1.81, P = 0.02, respectively). Conclusions: Key regulatory genes in necroptosis, RIPK1, RIPK3, and MLKL, were downregulated in NSCLC, and their lower expression in NSCLC may be used to predict early recurrence after curative resection, especially in AC.

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss that presents as the initial sign of haematological disease is very rare. Chronic myelogenous leukaemia has been implicated as a causative factor of sudden sensorineural hearing loss. A 49-year-old male presented with unilateral sudden sensorineural hearing loss. The patient was found to have chronic myelogenous leukaemia during a work-up for his hearing loss. We present a case of a chronic myelogenous leukaemia patient whose first manifestation was sudden sensorineural hearing loss. We presume that cochlear vessel occlusion as a result of elevated blood viscosity was responsible for this patient's hearing loss. Early onset of sudden deafness in a chronic myelogenous leukaemia patient may be due to the hyperviscosity syndrome and it may be possible to reverse hearing loss through early leukapheresis.

BackgroundGenome‐wide association studies have indicated that most of the currently identified disease and trait‐associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are intronic or intergenic. RegulomeDB is a recently developed database that provides functional annotations for regulatory features of SNPs located in non‐coding regions. We evaluated the potential regulatory SNPs in the EGFR gene region using RegulomeDB and their associations with prognosis after surgery in non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.MethodsA total of 698 patients with surgically resected NSCLC were enrolled and seven SNPs were selected based on the RegulomeDB database. All SNPs were genotyped using SEQUENOM MassARRAY iPLEX assay.ResultsAmong the seven SNPs evaluated, rs9642391 (EGFR ivs19+2851C>G) was significantly associated with survival outcome (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] for overall survival = 0.70, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.56–0.87, P = 0.001; adjusted HR for disease‐free survival = 0.82, 95% CI 0.70–0.97, P = 0.02; under a codominant model). According to RegulomeDB, rs9642391C>G, which is located in intron 19 of EGFR, was predicted to influence the expression of GBAS but not EGFR. As predicted, rs9642391C>G was associated with GBAS (P = 0.024) but not EGFR messenger RNA expression in tumor tissues.ConclusionIn conclusion, our study provides evidence that rs9642391C>G in the intron of EGFR is associated with GBAS expression and survival outcomes of patients with surgically resected early‐stage NSCLC.

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BackgroundAchaete‐scute homolog 1 (ASCL1) is a basic helix‐loop‐helix transcription factor and is essential in the differentiation of neuroendocrine cells and neural tissues. ASCL1 is frequently overexpressed in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of SCLC.MethodsThis study was conducted to identify the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in ASCL1 target genes and clinical outcomes of patients with SCLC after chemotherapy. A total of 261 patients diagnosed with SCLC were enrolled in this study. The association between 103 SNPs in 58 ASCL1 target genes and the response to chemotherapy and survival of patients with SCLC were analyzed.ResultsAmong the 103 SNPs, 10 SNPs were significantly associated with the response to chemotherapy, and 19 SNPs were associated with OS in multivariate analyses. Among these, Dopa Decarboxylase (DDC) rs12666409A>T was significantly associated with both a worse response to chemotherapy and worse OS (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.18–0.90, P = 0.03; adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.10–2.10, P = 0.01, respectively, under a dominant model). In a stage‐stratified analysis, the association was significant only in the extensive disease subgroup (aOR = 0.19, 95% CI = 0.06–0.60, P = 0.01; aHR = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.16–2.56, P = 0.01, respectively, under a dominant model), but not in the limited disease subgroup.ConclusionThe results of our study suggest that DDC rs12666409A>T may be useful markers for predicting the clinical outcomes of patients with SCLC undergoing chemotherapy.