Metabolic gene variants, smoking, and alcohol consumption are important upper digestive tract cancer (UDTC) risk factors. However, the gene-gene and gene-environment interactions remain unclear. A case-control study in a high incidence area for upper digestive tract cancer was conducted in China. DNA was extracted from buffy coat samples for PCR or PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Smoking and alcohol drinking status was determined by questionnaires. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the associations. After adjusting for confounding factors, smoking increased esophageal cancer (EC), gastric cardia cancer (GCC) and gastric antral carcinoma (GAC) risk by 3.594, 4.658, and 3.999-fold, respectively. Alcohol consumption increased EC, GCC and GAC risk by 1.953, 2.442 and 1.765-fold, respectively. The cytochrome P4501A1 ( CYP1A1) rs4646903 T>C polymorphism increased GCC risk, the cytochrome P4502E1 ( CYP2E1) rs2031920 C>T polymorphism increased EC risk, while the GSTM1 null genotype decreased EC risk. An association existed between the following: CYP1A1 rs4646903 and smoking in EC, GCC and GAC; CYP1A1 rs4646903 and alcohol consumption in EC and GCC; CYP2E1 rs2031920 and smoking in EC, GCC and GAC and CYP2E1 rs2031920 and alcohol consumption in EC and GCC. No association was observed between CYP1A1 and CYP2E1 . The glutathione S-transferase mu 1 ( GSTM1 ) null genotype decreased EC risk (OR=0.510). Smoking/drinking are upper digestive tract cancer risk factors. The CYP1A1 rs4646903 and CYP2E1 rs2031920 polymorphisms were risk factors of GCC or EC, and the GSTM1 null genotype may serve a protective role against EC. The results of the present study indicated that gene-environment interactions increase the risk of UDTC.

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Background: Our previous studies demonstrate that the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is associated with the progression of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). HLA-DQA1, which belongs to the MHC Class II family, may be a potential biomarker in ESCC progression. However, the association between HLA-DQA1 and ESCC in high-incidence area of northern China has not been well characterized. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship of HLA-DQA1 expression with the progression and prognosis of ESCC. Methods: We analyzed the expression profiles of HLA-DQA1 in esophageal cancer (EC) samples in the TCGA database and validated HLA-DQA1 expression by immunohistochemistry, western blotting, and quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction in matched EC and normal tissues, respectively. The correlation between HLA-DQA1 expression and clinicopathologic characteristics of ESCC was further analyzed. Result: Immunohistochemical analysis indicated that the expression level of HLA-DQA1 in ESCC tissues was significantly higher than the matched normal tissues ( P < .001). HLA-DQA1 mRNA and protein expression were significantly higher in ESCC tissues compared to the matched normal tissues. Patients with family history negative or with tumor sizes >4 cm were associated with higher HLA-DQA1 expression levels. A prognostic significance of HLA-DQA1 was also found by the Log-rank method, in which high expression of HLA-DQA1 was correlated with a shorter overall survival time. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis yielded the area under the ROC curve value of 0.693. Univariate and multivariate analyses also suggest that high expression of HLA-DQA1 is a potential indicator for poor prognosis of ESCC. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that HLA-DQA1 plays an important role in ESCC progression and may be a biomarker for ESCC diagnosis and prognosis, as well as a potential target for the treatment of patients with ESCC.

Diffuse large cell lymphomas are aggressive tumors of B-cell origin. In some cases they arise from low-grade follicular lymphomas carrying the t(14;18) translocation, an event that leads to the overexpression of the BCL-2 gene product. More frequently, however, they lack the t(14;18) translocation. Rearrangements of the c-MYC proto-oncogene and mutations of the p53 tumor suppressor gene have also been documented in these lymphomas. This study examines the extent to which alterations in the BCL-2, c-MYC, and p53 genes co-exist within individual lymphomas. Eight diffuse large cell lymphoma cell lines and 11 diffuse large cell lymphoma tumors were assessed for genetic alterations in these three genes. Our results indicate that there is a heterogeneity in the oncogene/suppressor gene profile among diffuse large cell lymphomas. Two cell lines and one tumor carried alterations in all three genes, one cell line carried alterations of c-MYC and p53, and one primary tumor and one cell line carried p53 mutations and the t(14;18). Single alterations of BCL-2 and p53 were also observed. Another cell line had no alterations in any of these genes. The heterogeneity indicates that varied mechanisms may be involved in the generation of diffuse large cell lymphomas.

Objective: The study aims to investigate the factors causing the difference of stroke patients' in-hospital cost and study these factors on health outcome in terms of mortality. Methods: Eight hundred and sixty-two in-patients with stroke in a tertiary hospital in China from 2017 to 2019 were included in the database. Descriptive statistics indexes were used to describe patients' in-hospital cost and mortality. Based on Elixhauser coding algorithms, multiple linear regression and logistic regressions (LRs) were used to evaluate the impact of factors identified from univariate analysis on in-hospital cost and mortality, respectively. In addition to LRs, a comparison study was then carried out with random forest, gradient boosting decision tree and artificial neural network. Results: Factors affecting both cost and mortality are age, discharged day-of-week, length of stay, stroke subtype, other neurological disorders, renal failure, fluid and electrolyte disorders and total number of comorbidities. Conclusion: With the increase of age, the mortality rate of in-patients (except for the juvenile) with stroke increases and the cost of hospitalization decreases. Intracerebral haemorrhage is the most devastating stroke for its highest mortality in short length of stay. Medical services should focus on these specific comorbidities.

To evaluate the effectiveness of human restoration in species conservation, in this study, we undertook a field survey of giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) habitat and man-made forest habitat in Wanglang Nature Reserve of China. Our results revealed that giant panda did not use the man-made forest in this area so far, and that there were significant differences between the giant panda habitat and the man-made forest habitat. Compared with giant panda habitat, the man-made forest habitat was characterized by lower shrub coverage, thinner trees and lower bamboo density. To improve the effectiveness of human restoration, the habitat requirement of giant panda should be fully consider in the whole process of habitat restoration.

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Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a lethal gastrointestinal malignancy worldwide. We aimed to identify an angiogenesis-related lncRNAs (ARlncRNAs) signature that could predict the prognosis in ESCC. The GSE53624 and GSE53622 datasets were derived from the GEO database. The differently expressed ARlncRNAs (DEARlncRNAs) were retrieved by the weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), differential expression analysis, and correlation analysis. Optimal lncRNA biomarkers were screened from the training set and the six-DEARlncRNA signature comprising AP000696.2, LINC01711, RP11-70C1.3, AP000487.5, AC011997.1, and RP11-225N10.1 could separate patients into high- and low-risk groups with markedly different survival. The validation of the reliability of the risk model was performed by the Kaplan-Meier test, ROC curves, and risk curves in the test set and validation set. Predictive independence analysis indicated that risk score is an independent prognostic biomarker for predicting the prognosis of ESCC patients. Subsequently, a ceRNA regulatory network and functional enrichment analysis were performed. The IC50 test revealed that patients in the high-risk group were resistant to Gefitinib and Lapatinib. Finally, the six DEARlncRNAs were detected by qRT-PCR. In conclusion, we demonstrated a novel ARlncRNA signature as an independent prognostic factor to distinguish the risk of ESCC patients and benefit the personalized clinical applications.