Prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA), a member of the LY-6/Thy-1 family of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored cell surface proteins, is considered to be involved in the cell-proliferation inhibition and/or cell-death induction activity. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs2976392 and rs2294008) in the PSCA gene were recently identified as the susceptibility loci of gastric cancer, especially in diffuse type. Therefore, this study was to investigate whether these 2 SNPs were associated with the risk of gastric cancer in Chinese population. We genotyped rs2976392 and rs2294008 in PSCA in a case-control study including 1,053 incident gastric cancer patients and 1,100 cancer-free controls in a high-risk Chinese population. We found that variant genotypes of rs2976392 (GA/AA) were associated with a significantly 37% increased risk of gastric cancer (adjusted OR 51.37, 95% CI 5 1.15-1.62), compared with variant homozygote GG, and the associations were all consistently significant in both intestinal and diffuse subtypes, and among different subgroups stratified by age, sex, drinking or smoking status. Interestingly, a significant multiplicative interaction between rs2976392 (GA/AA) and alcohol drinking was detected on the development of intestinal-type gastric cancer (p 5 0.009). However, rs2294008 variant genotypes (CT/TT) were associated with a nonsignificant increased risk of gastric cancer (adjusted OR 5 1.14, 95% CI 5 0.96-1.36). A small meta-analysis including 5 case-control studies showed undoubtedly associations between PSCA rs2294008 and rs2976392 and gastric cancer risk (OR 5 1.83, 95% CI: 1.29-2.60 and OR 5 1.84, 95% CI: 1.33-2.56, respectively). These findings provide further evidence supporting that the genetic variants of PSCA gene may contribute to the gastric carcinogenesis.Approximately 40% gastric cancer cases occur in China, 1 which remains a huge burden for Chinese and is one of the key public health issues in cancer prevention and control for Chinese government. Gastric cancer, predominantly adenocarcinoma, could be further classified as intestinal and diffuse subtypes.2 Intestinal-type tumors are characterized by a corpus-dominated gastritis with gastric atrophy and intestinal metaplasia, whereas diffuse-type tumors are characterized by gastritis throughout the stomach.3 Intestinal-type tumors are found predominantly in geographic areas with a high incidence of gastric cancer, whereas diffuse-type tumors are found more uniformly throughout the world.The exact mechanism of gastric cancer development remains unclear. Although some exogenous factors, such as diet, tobacco smoke and Helicobacter pylori, have been proposed to play important role in gastric carcinogenesis, the genetic susceptibility factors may also contributed to gastric cancer development, especially to diffuse-type gastric cancer. 4,5 The prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA) gene encodes a 123-amino acid glycoprotein, which is a cell surface antigen. PSCA is highly expressed by a large proportion of human prostate tumors, incl...

No abstract

Chromosome 5p15.33, containing TERT and CLPTM1L genes, was recently identified as one of the susceptible regions for lung cancer in Caucasian populations. We hypothesized that single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) identified in this region in Caucasians are also important in the development of lung cancer in Chinese population. To test this hypothesis, we genotyped two most significant SNPs reported in Caucasians, rs2736100A/C and rs402710C/T at 5p15.33, in a case-control study with 1221 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cases and 1344 cancer-free controls in a Chinese population. We found that rs2736100C allele in TERT gene was associated with a significantly increased risk of NSCLC with adjusted odds ratios of 1.26 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.05-1.51] and 1.31 (95% CI = 1.04-1.66) for one or two copies of the variant C allele, respectively. This significant association was more prominent among female (P for heterogeneity: 0.044), non-smokers (P for heterogeneity: 0.054) and/or the subjects with adenocarcinoma (P for heterogeneity: 0.058). However, no significant association was found between rs402710C/T and NSCLC risk. These results suggest that genetic variants in 5p15.33, especially in TERT gene, may also predispose the susceptibility of lung cancer, especially adenocarcinoma, in Chinese population.

Interleukin-23 receptor (IL-23R) is a key element in T helper (Th)17 cell-mediated inflammatory process, which plays an important role in pathogenesis of gastric cancer. Genetic variants of IL-23R have been identified as the predisposing factors for immunopathologic process. In this study, we hypothesized that the functional genetic variants of IL-23R gene may modify the risk of gastric cancer. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a case-control study including 1043 gastric cancer patients and 1089 controls in a Chinese population to assess the association between two potentially functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs6682925 T>C and rs1884444 T>G of IL-23R and risk of gastric cancer. We found that the variant allele (G) of rs1884444 T>G, with amino acid His substituted by Gln at codon 3, was significantly associated with a decreased risk of gastric cancer [adjusted allelic odds ratio (OR) = 0.78, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.68-0.88]. In the stratified analysis, we found that this protective effect of rs1884444 G allele was mainly evident in intestinal-type gastric cancer (adjusted allelic OR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.65-0.87) other than in diffuse-type gastric cancer (adjusted allelic OR = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.76-1.22). However, we did not find any significant association of rs6682925 T>C with gastric cancer risk. These findings indicate, for the first time, that the nonsynonymous variant rs1884444 T>G of IL-23R may contribute to gastric cancer susceptibility, especially in intestinal-type gastric cancer, in Chinese population.

Background Thoracogastric airway fistula (TGAF) is a serious complication of esophagectomy for esophageal cancer. We conducted a systematic review of the appropriate therapeutic options for acquired TGAF. Methods We performed a literature search to identify relevant studies from PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science using the search terms “gastric airway fistula”, “gastrotracheal fistula”, “gastrobronchial fistula”, “tracheogastric fistula”, “bronchogastric fistula”, “esophageal cancer”, and “esophagectomy”. Result Twenty-four studies (89 patients) were selected for analysis. Cough was the main clinical presentation of TGAF. The main bronchus was the most common place for fistulas (53/89), and 29 fistulas occurred in the trachea. Almost 73% (65/89) of patients underwent non-surgical treatment of whom 87.7% (57/65) received initial fistula closure. Twenty-three patients underwent surgery, including 19 (82.6%) with initial closure. The 1-, 2-, 3-, 6-, and 9-month survival rates in patients who underwent surgical repair were 95.65%, 95.65%, 82.61%, 72.73%, and 38.10%, respectively, and the equivalent survival rates in patients with tracheal stent placement were 91.67%, 86.67%, 71.67%, 36.96%, and 13.33%, respectively. Conclusion TGAF should be suspected in patients with persistent cough, especially in a recumbent position or associated with food intake. Individualized treatment should be emphasized based on the general condition of each patient.