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Endoscopy is essential for the diagnosis and treatment of cancers derived from the larynx. However, a laryngoscope with conventional white light (CWL) has technical limitations in detecting small or superficial lesions on the mucosa. Narrow band imaging especially combined with magnifying endoscopy (ME) is useful for the detection of superficial squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) within the oropharynx, hypopharynx, and oral cavity. A total of 3675 patients who have come to the outpatient clinic and complained of inspiratory stridor, dyspnea, phonation problems or foreign body sensation, were enrolled in this study. We describe the glottic conditions of the patients. All 3675 patients underwent laryngoscopy equipped with conventional white light (CWL) and NBI system. 1149 patients received a biopsy process. And 1153 lesions were classified into different groups according to their histopathological results. Among all the 1149 patients, 346 patients (312 males, 34 females; mean age 62.2±10.5 years) were suspected of having a total of 347 precancerous or cancerous (T1 or T2 without lymphnode involvement) lesions of the larynx under the CWL. Thus, we expected to attain a complete vision of what laryngeal lesions look like under the NBI view of a laryngoscope. The aim was to develop a complete description list of each laryngeal conditions (e.g. polyps, papilloma, leukoplakia, etc.), which can serve as a criteria for further laryngoscopic examinations and diagnosis.

BackgroundThe aim of the study was to investigate the effect associated with the protein expression of VEGF, JAK2 and STAT3 on the clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis in the development and progression of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).MethodsFifty NPC patients in addition to 20 patients with chronic nasopharyngitis (CNP) were recruited for the purposes of the study. Western blotting and immunohistochemistry methods were employed to evaluate the protein expressions of JAK2, STAT3 and VEGF in the NPC and CNP tissues, with their respective correlations with the clinicopathologic characteristics of NPC patients subsequently analyzed. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient and Kaplan–Meier method were conducted to evaluate the respective correlations of JAK2, STAT3 and VEGF with NPC as well as the survival rates of patients with NPC. Cox regression analyses was performed in determine the prognostic NPC factors.ResultsCompared with the CNP tissues, the NPC tissues exhibited elevated levels of JAK2, STAT3 and VEGF which were subsequently determined to share a positive correlation with T stages, lymph node metastasis (LNM), N stages and clinical stages, while a negative correlation with survival rates were observed in the NPC patients. Positive correlations between the expressions of JAK2, STAT3 and VEGF were detected among the NPC tissues. NPC patients survival time with negative expressions of JAK2, STAT3 and VEGF were observed to be longer than that of NPC patients with positive expressions of JAK2, STAT3 and VEGF. T stage, LNM, N stage, clinical stage. The expressions of JAK2, STAT3 and VEGF were discovered to be independent risk factors associated with the prognosis of patients with NPC.ConclusionThe results obtained from the present study support the notion that higher expressions of JAK2, STAT3 and VEGF may be correlated with the clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis of patients suffering from NPC.

Overall, our results suggest that LncRNA, HNF1A-AS potentially regulates NPC tumorigenesis. This could help in development of new strategies for NPC diagnosis and treatment.

Background: Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is characterized by persistent symptomatic inflammation of the nasal passage and sinus mucosa. Various microRNAs (miRs) have been implicated in CRS. Hence, the current study was conducted to explore the effect of microRNA-761 (miR-761) on remodeling of nasal mucosa and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT).Methods: Bioinformatics analysis was initially performed to predict the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with CRS. Gene targeting relationship between miR-761 and lipocalin 2 (LCN2) was analyzed by bioinformatics analysis and verified using dual-luciferase reporter gene assay. Histopathological analyses of the nasal mucosa tissues were conducted via hematoxylin-eosin (HE) and alcian blue (AB)-periodic acid Schiff (PAS) staining. ELISA was employed to determine the IL-8 and MMP-9 levels. To define downstream pathway of miR-761, levels of proteins related to LCN2/Twist1 signaling pathway were assessed. Additionally, the effects of miR-761 on EMT, proliferation, and apoptosis were determined.Results: LCN2 was highly expressed in CRS. LCN2 was a target of miR-761. miR-761 overexpression or LCN2 silencing decreased IL-8 and MMP-9 levels and morphological changes in nasal epithelial tissue from CRS mice. Overexpressed miR-761 or silenced LCN2 decreased the expression of LCN2 and Twist1, indicating LCN2/Twist1 signaling pathway was inactivated. Moreover, miR-761 overexpression or LCN2 silencing reduced the expression of N-cadherin and vimentin, while increased that of E-cadherin, suggesting inhibition of EMT. Furthermore, miR-761 overexpression or LCN2 silencing promoted cell proliferation and inhibited cell apoptosis in CRS.Conclusion: Taken together, miR-761 suppressed the remodeling of nasal mucosa through inhibition of LCN2 and the LCN2/Twist1 signaling pathway.

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The objective of this study is to investigate the chemoresistance of CD133(+) cancer stem cells in Hep-2 cells of laryngeal cancer and detect the expression mRNA and protein levels of BMI-1 in CD133(+) cells and CD133(-) cells. The response of Hep-2 cells to different chemotherapeutic agents was investigated, and the expression of CD133 was studied. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis was used to identify CD133, and the CD133(+) subset of cells was separated and analyzed chemotherapy resistance. Colony formation assays were studied and cells were injected subcutaneously into axillary fossa of node mice to measure the tumor-forming ability. RT-PCR and Western blot analyses were used to detect the expression levels of BMI-1 in the different subpopulation cells. It was concluded that chemotherapy enriched the CD133(+) subpopulation 2-fourfold, relative to the untreated cells. 1.55 ± 0.28% of Hep-2 cells were observed to be CD133(+) cells. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that after the treatment with these chemotherapeutic agents, the expression of CD133 was up to 5.16 ± 0.86%, 4.94 ± 0.58%, 3.66 ± 0.59%. After 5-FU treatment, the expression of CD133 was 6.7 ± 1.6% relative to the untreated mice 2.6 ± 0.96% by nude mice tumor xenograft model. CD133(+) cancer stem cells were more resistant to chemotherapy; the proliferation capability and tumor-forming ability were no difference after chemotherapy. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR and Western blot analyses provided strong evidence that BMI-1 expression in CD133(+) cells is different from CD133(-) cells remarkably. Taken together, it was confirmed that CD133(+) cancer stem cells were chemoresistant and BMI-1 was highly expressed in these CD133(+) cells.

Overall, the data show that miR-185 could negatively target HOXC6 to suppress cell proliferation, promotes apoptosis and autophagy through inhibiting TGF-β1/mTOR axis in NPC. Thus, miR-185 is useful strategy for the treatment of NPC.